It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the Holyhead School website.

The academic year 2006/7 proved to be yet another very exciting time for everyone at Holyhead School, as standards of attainment continued to rise beyond all expectations.

Once again Year 11 achieved record breaking GCSE results with 68% per cent of students gaining five or more GCSE passes at Grade C and above. Most significantly, 41 per cent of students gained five or more GCSEs at Grade C and above including Mathematics and English and with Year 9 achieving ‘best ever’ Key Stage 3 SAT results, this has been another pleasing year for the school.

Attendance levels remain exceptionally high and “value added” statistics suggest that Holyhead continues to perform alongside the top schools nationally.

Holyhead was subject to a full Ofsted inspection at the end of June 2006 and inspectors agreed that standards at the school are excellent. In their report, inspectors drew particular attention to various outstanding features including the curriculum, the personal development and well being of learners, the behaviour of students and the quality of leadership and management at the school. Inspectors also felt that provision for students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, the promotion of healthy lifestyles and the development of workplace skills were also outstanding. The school was particularly pleased that its partnership work and the contribution students made to the community at large were singled out as exceptional features.

From September 2007, Holyhead has ‘divided’ itself into four smaller schools or ‘Colleges’ in order to promote an even more personalised experience for students, staff and parents. Extra funding from the Human Scale Schools Project has provided the encouragement needed for us to work with students in smaller groups of all ages, particularly at tutor time. (For more information, click on the College link on the home page).

We are still not satisfied. We are moving in the right direction, but we all share the view that the young people of Holyhead can and will continue to break records in achievement and attainment in the years ahead.

Martin Bayliss - Head Teacher

Curriculum Outline Like all other state funded schools in England, Holyhead School follows the national curriculum, designed to provide a broad and consistent academic framework that caters to the educational needs of KS3/ KS4 students. Within these guidelines the National Curriculum allows schools considerable flexibility to develop their own curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils. At Holyhead School we then implement the National Curriculum in our own way, taking into account the specific needs and interests of all our students. Key Stage 4 and GCSEs Care is taken throughout the KS4 programme of years 10 & 11 to meet the needs of the individual, while seeking to avoid the premature specialisation of any student, to any given field of study. All pathways have a large and varied number of GCSE and Vocational examinations for the students to study. Most students will take between 8 – 10 GCSEs or their equivalent, with many taking up to 14 GCSEs if they wish to do so! Key Stage 3 Students follow a broadly based curriculum that includes the subject areas displayed in the left-hand menu. They also follow courses in Business and Enterprise and Personal Effectiveness throughout Years 7, 8 and 9. The curriculum is further enhanced by a range of extra-curricula activities such as a residential at Ingestre Hall Art centre; Athletics meets at local and regional level and Business and Enterprise workshops (visit the Summer 06 newsletter). Additional music tuition is also available on a wide range of instruments. ICT The use of ICT is both widely represented and encouraged throughout the curriculum. We have an extensive computer network that can be accessed by students and teachers alike. Within our Opening Learning Centre, students have a wide array of reference material at their disposal. Career guidance and post-sixteen educational literature is on hand in the form of Books, Catalogues, Periodicals, CD-ROMs and via the Internet. Assistance, where needed, is also provided to help each student access the information they need. As students approach Key Stage 4, usually after the first term of Year 9, they will choose to follow one of three available pathways that will enable them to achieve their full potential by the end of Year 11. Year 9 students are advised which Key Stage 4 Pathway would be appropriate to meet their needs, based upon interests, abilities, and academic standing. Homework/ Self Study Holyhead actively encourages the discipline of homework and self-study as a vital ingredient in achieving academic success. Individual student planners are provided from years 7 to11 that enable Students, Teachers, Parents /Carers to monitor the progression of academic development.