Cheney School is a

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) ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

with academy status, located in

Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It serves the Headington and

East Oxford Oxford East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Anneliese Dodds of the Labour Party, who also serves as party chair. Created in 1983, the constituency covers the eastern and southern parts of Oxford ...

area as a destination for students from primary schools across the city. Rupert Moreton, was appointed as head teacher in 2017, replacing Jolie Kirby who now heads the Community School Alliance Trust, the multi-academy trust that runs Cheney. He was replaced in 2020 by Rob Pavey.

History

The foundation was around 1797. It then moved to New Inn Hall Street in 1901 under the name of Oxford Central Girls School. The building it occupied at that time is now part of St Peter's College of Oxford University. Eventually the school became Cheney Girls' School. The Junior Day Department of the Oxford Technical College moved to the same site under the name Cheney School, a separate, mixed secondary technical school. For four years, between 1957 and 1961 boys only were admitted (Cheney Boys School) after which girls were again admitted from 1962. Together they were usually known as Cheney Mixed. In 1972 the two schools merged to form the new mixed

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

, Cheney School. In 2003, Cheney School changed from being upper school, for children aged 13 to 18, to a secondary school serving children aged 11 to 18, in the two tier system. In January 2013, the school become an academy.

Students

The school has over 1500 pupils, aged 11–18.

Specialist Status

When the UK government began awarding grants to schools specialising in areas of the curriculum, Cheney School decided to become a

Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that successf ...

. Using the grant money, they built a language computer laboratory and added extra in-classroom IT equipment. Cheney School was awarded a second specialism and picked Student Leadership, which enables more "Student Leaders" (mostly in sports and languages), and concentrates primarily on the student voice. Cheney School is host to and also partner organisation for the Iris Community Classics Centre which is founded and run by The Iris Project Cheney School became the first school in the UK to host a museum working within the Arts Council Accreditation scheme, the

Rumble Museum Rumble or Rumbling may refer to: Sounds and vibrations * Rumble (noise), a form of low frequency noise * Rumble, a haptic feedback vibration feature in video game controllers * Rumbling, a quality of a heart murmur * Stomach rumble, or borbo ...

, in May 2015.

Notable former students

* Andy Bell - bass guitarist of

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

, singer, guitarist and songwriter of

Ride Ride may refer to: People * MC Ride, a member of Death Grips * Sally Ride (1951–2012), American astronaut * William Ride (19262011), Australian zoologist Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Ride'' (1998 film), a 1998 comedy by Millicen ...

Mark Gardener Mark Stephen Gardener (born 6 December 1969, in Oxford, England) is an English rock musician, and a singer and guitarist with the shoegazing band Ride. Ride Gardener formed Ride with Andy Bell (guitar), whom he met at Cheney School in Oxfo ...

- singer, guitarist and songwriter of

* Steve Queralt - bassist, synths and songwriter of

Emily Berrington Emily Berrington (born 7 December 1985) is an English actress who played Simone Al-Harazi in '' 24: Live Another Day'' (2014) and Niska in the Channel 4 and AMC TV series ''Humans'' (2015–2018). Early life Berrington's parents were social wor ...

- actress *

Bryony Shaw Bryony Elisabeth Shaw (born 28 April 1983, Wandsworth) is a British Olympic windsurfer. Early life She first began windsurfing in the south of France in 1992. She attended Cheney Upper School near Headington in Oxford (where her ...

- Olympic windsurfer *

Roy Thomason Kenneth Roy Thomason (born 14 December 1944) is a former British Conservative Party politician. He was a local government leader and served one term as a member of parliament. Local government experience Thomason was educated at Cheney School ...

- former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP * Clive Walker - footballer for

Chelsea FC Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...

and Sunderland *

Danny Dorling Danny Dorling (born 16 January 1968) is a British social geographer. Since 2013, he has been Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography of the School of Geography and the Environment of the University of Oxford. He is also a visiting professor ...

- Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at Oxford University
Adam Lee
- songwriter producer keyboard player of

Let Loose Let Loose is a British pop trio, with Richie Wermerling (born Richard John Wermerling, 11 May 1968 in Whitechapel, London) on lead vocals and keyboards, Rob Jeffrey (born Robert George Edward Jeffrey, 30 November 1967 in Romford, East London) o ...

, Skin Games making history as the first musicians to perform in Romania after the revolution

Buildings

*Chadwick (English, Art, PSHE, PE Offices) *Wainright (Maths, Science, Drama), school library, reception and medical room *Lane (History, Geography, Languages, RE) *John Brookes (DT, ICT, Business & Enterprise) *Russell (Science, Maths) *Music (Music) *Sports Hall/Gymnasium (PE) *Brighouse (Science, Maths) *Music is attached to the Assembly Hall and the Community Hall The Brighouse building was opened in November 2016, and is named after Sir Tim Brighouse.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Oxfordshire Educational institutions established in 1797 Schools in Oxford 1797 establishments in England Academies in Oxfordshire