Becket Keys Church of England School is a free school established in Brentwood,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England in 2012. It was the first

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

to be established as part of the free schools programme. The school is sponsored by

Russell Education Trust The Russell Education Trust (RET) is a Multi-Academy Trust. It provides educational support services in the creation and operation of free schools. It is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, with exempt charity status, regulated by the De ...

. The head teacher of Becket Keys is Andrew Scott-Evans. He was also the original proposer for the school. The school was officially dedicated by Bishop

John Wraw John Michael Wraw (4 February 195925 July 2017) was a British Anglican bishop. He served as the Bishop of Bradwell, an area bishop in the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford, from 2012 until his death in post in July 2017. Early life and ed ...

on 5 October 2012. It has been established at the former campus of Sawyers Hall College. The school received a judgement of Outstanding at its first full

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

inspection in May 2014. The school also received a judgement of Outstanding at its first full

inspection in January 201
Becket Keys Church of England School SIAMS Inspection

Pre-opening History

The idea for Becket Keys Church of England School was put forward by Andrew Scott Evans who was then the head teacher of St Thomas of Canterbury Junior School and Iain Gunn head teacher of St Peter's Primary School South Weald. Emma-Jane Sharp, who is now the deputy head, also had a huge impact on the opening of the school. They said there was a need for a Church of England secondary school in Brentwood, as there were eleven Church of England primaries, but no equivalent secondary option. They formed a project steering group, comprising local parents; local primary head-teachers; and the

Diocese of Chelmsford The Diocese of Chelmsford is a Church of England diocese, part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers Essex and the five East London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Newham, Redbridge, and Waltham Forest (most of which wer ...

. In April 2011 the group selected the

as their educational partner. Collectively they formed the Becket Keys CofE Free School Trust. In June 2011, the Becket Keys CofE Free School Trust submitted a Free School proposal to the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

(DfE) along with evidence of support from over 1,100 local parents. They were interviewed by the DfE about their proposal on 9 August 2011, and just over a month later they were granted approval by the

Secretary of State for Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

to establish the school. Andrew Scott Evans was appointed as the school's founding head-teacher in February 2012. A statutory public consultation period ran from March to April 2012, after which the school proposers signed a Model Funding Agreement with the Secretary of State. The school opened in September 2012 with 123

Year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 in the United ...

pupils, and nine teachers.

Opposition & Criticism

The statutory consultation that preceded the signing of the free school funding agreement, received 212 responses, of which 22 (10.5%) were against the Becket Keys CofE Free School Trust entering into an agreement with the Secretary of State. The approval of Becket Keys was opposed by some people who wanted the Sawyers Hall Lane site to be used for a studio school or a

university technical college A university technical college (UTC) is a type of specialist secondary school in England that is led by a sponsor university and has close ties to local business and industry. These university and industry partners support the curriculum developm ...

instead. The appointment of the founding head-teacher attracted comment because he had not previously taught at a Secondary School. Feedback received during the pre-opening statutory consultation led to a change in the school's proposed admissions policy, which in turn resulted in criticism from some of the school's original supporters. The admissions policy of the school has drawn criticism from other people too. The opening of the school in September 2012 was blamed by some people for a drop in pupil numbers at two other local secondary schools. The Department for Education later released the impact assessment used in their decision to open the school, and by 2014, following improvements in performance, all but one of the secondary schools in Brentwood was full. As a new school Becket Keys benefited from a start-up grant to cover its initial set-up costs. A local newspaper claimed that Becket Keys students would therefore receive more funding per head compared to students in established local schools, but that claim was refuted by the school's headteacher.

New Buildings and Facilities

The school has received Government funding for new buildings. T&B Contractors have completed two phases of extensive improvement works. Firstly a £3,400,000 phase 1 programme was completed which ensured the school opened on time and made the site secure with a new boundary fence and wall. Secondly, a £4,000,000 refurbishment programme of the buildings was concluded in 2015. These extensive works included landscaping, new security systems, redecorating every area of the school, installing new windows and doors, new heating and lighting. Also at this time all the new ICT infrastructure was installed. The IT management company ''Joskos'' have said that the

is one of their most significant customers with £750,000 being spent with the supplier. In 2017, Becket Keys added a new teaching block, 'The Welby Building', to house its new sixth form. This new building was opened by Bishop Stephen Cotterell. In 2018, Becket Keys added a new Sports Hall. This was opened by Joe Terrell ( West Ham FC) in September 2018

References

External links

* {{authority control Schools in Brentwood (Essex town) Free schools in England Free Schools in England with a Formal Faith Designation Educational institutions established in 2012 Secondary schools in Essex 2012 establishments in England Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Chelmsford