Churchmead School is a co-educational

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 Brit ...

voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

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 '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

that caters for 11- to 16-year-olds. It is located in

Datchet Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, located on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the village was eventual ...

, near

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of 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 ...

. The school's motto is "Believe to Achieve". The school has also gained Specialist Arts College status. Churchmead was established as a

secondary modern A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...

school for

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier local authority for the administrative county and later the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888 ...

, who, in the south of the county, operated a system of 11- to 18-year-old

secondary schools 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) ...

, fed by 5-11

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s (or 5-7

infant school An infant school is a term used primarily in England and Wales, for the education of children between the ages of four and seven years. It is usually a small school serving a particular area. It is sometimes a department in a larger primary school ...

s and 7-11

junior school A Junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at Infant school which covers the age range 5–7. (As both Infant and Junior schools are giving Primary ...

s). Changes to administrative county boundaries in 1974 led to the school transferring to

Berkshire County Council The Council of the Royal County of Berkshire, also known as the Berkshire County Council, was the top-tier local government administrative body for Berkshire from 1889 to 1998. The local authority had responsibilities for education, social servi ...

, who operated it as a school within

's education system, by then modified for the change from primary to secondary education to take place at age 12 rather than 11. Further changes led to the

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It is named after both the towns of Maidenhead and Windsor, the borough also covers the nearby towns of Ascot and Eton. It is home to Wind ...

becoming the

Education Authority The Education Authority ( ga, Údarás Oideachais) is a non-departmental body sponsored by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland. It was established under the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 (c. 12) which was passed by the Northe ...

in 1998. The rest of the Windsor area of Windsor and Maidenhead uses a system with age 9-13

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

s so leaving Churchmead as the only 11-18 school in its area of the borough. This in turn results in most students being drawn from Slough, which has resumed secondary education starting at age 11.Ofsted report February 2005 accessed 5 August 2007
/ref> Starting September 2008, the four

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

that has been in existence since the school was founded, was scrapped for a three house inter-year form system.

Prefects

The school maintains a prefect system. Several prefects including a ''head boy'', ''head girl'', four ''deputy head boys'', and four ''deputy head girls''.

School links

Churchmead School is in co-operation with

East Berkshire College Windsor Forest Colleges Group is a group of further education colleges located in Berkshire, England. It was formerly known as East Berkshire College. This dynamic group of colleges comprises two vibrant Sixth Form Colleges at Strode’s and ...

, this means that sixth form students from both schools can study advanced level courses including media and photography at Churchmead.

References

External links

DCSF - Churchmead Church of England (VA) School
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1950 Secondary schools in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 1950 establishments in England Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Oxford Voluntary aided schools in England Datchet