The Downs School is a comprehensive

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 ...

in the village of Compton,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

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 ...

. It is a state school run by

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Dist ...

Education Authority.

Overview

Starting at age 11 in Year 7, The Downs has approximately 1150 pupils, which includes 260 students in the sixth-form. The head-teacher is Chris Robert Prosser, previously Deputy Head-teacher before Valerie Holdey's retirement in December 2013. The school is located on Manor Crescent, with the nearest major town being Newbury 8 miles away. Other neighbouring towns include Wantage, Didcot,

Thatcham Thatcham is an historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, centred 3 miles (5 km) east of Newbury, 14 miles (24 km) west of Reading and 54 miles (87 km) west of London. Geography Thatcham straddles t ...

and

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

. For the past 2 years it has been the highest attaining school in West Berkshire using the measure of 5A*-C

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

s including higher passes in English and mathematics.It is also the last remaining West Berkshire Authority secondary school to retain its own swimming pool after St Bartholomew's School removed its pool in Summer 2009.

Specialisms

The school specialises in

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

. The school has exchange visits to France, Germany and Spain. Sports tours are also annually organised. Teams have been to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The Downs also has specialisms in science and maths.

Sixth-form

The school has a sixth-form centre of about 260 students. Previously located on the bottom floor of the Graham Taylor building (GT), It is located in the newly renovated old science block, after moving there when the new Science building (Hubble) was built. Subjects range from all the sciences to politics, economics, law and media studies. The current head of sixth-form is Phil Wilson. Its results at

A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

are exceptional for a non-selective state school.

Notable former pupils

Tessa Kennedy Tessa Georgina Kennedy (born 6 December 1938) is a British interior designer, whose clients include multi-national corporations, royalty, celebrities and many European hotels, restaurants and clubs. Her elopement with society portrait painter D ...

, British interior designer (b. 1938) *

Joe Romanski Joseph Rio Romanski (born 3 February 2000) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a defender for Melksham Town. Career Progressing through the Swindon Town youth ranks following spells at Theale Tigers and Eversley & Califo ...

Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Southampton and previously for the English national team. Walcott is a product of the Southampton Academy and started his career with ...

References

External links

The Downs School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Downs School Secondary schools in West Berkshire District Foundation schools in West Berkshire District Specialist science colleges in England Specialist language colleges in England