Welcome to The George Ward School website. I hope that you will take some time to browse the website and discover more about our School. I am committed to creating a school in which each student matters and high aspirations are encouraged. My staff share this commitment and we will do everything possible to support each individual student in achieving their aspirations.
This is the basis of our growing success and this is a time of rapid transformation at The George Ward School as we enhance learning; from September will we have 75 minute lessons, a new layout for our school day and a new curriculum at each Key Stage.
We are a forward looking school, a Technology college, committed to delivering the best education, using the latest technology. This is an exciting time for the school as we have been selected for relocation and rebuild of our school as part of the Building Schools for the Future Pathfinder programme, details of the proposed plan are on this website.
As part of this move we are reinforcing our School’s core values of Pride, Aspiration, Respect and Trust so that our young people are well balanced citizens with positive attitudes who have the knowledge and skills to succeed in our society. Also on this website you will find our newsletters and important information. You will see a number of changes to this website in the forthcoming months, as we update information on the new build and add key policies.
Please do not hesitate to get in contact with the school if you would like to arrange a visit or to be sent further information.
Yours,
Stephen Clark
About the School
This school is a co-educational Comprehensive School maintained by the Wiltshire County Council acting as the Local Education Authority. It provides a variety of courses for pupils of all levels of ability between the ages of 11 and 19. There are approximately two hundred and sixty pupils in each Year Group with over 1400 pupils on roll.
The name of the School commemorates the life and work of Alderman George Ward, J.P. of Melksham, who was engaged in public affairs in the town and county for more than half a century. The original school, on a much smaller site, was opened in September, 1953, and was the first post-war secondary school in Wiltshire. Alderman Ward was its first Chairman of Governors and served in that capacity until his death in February, 1969. He was a man of high ideals, devoted to the service of his fellows, and immensely interested and active in the training and education of young people.
In its motto, "Learning, Loyalty and Service" the school seeks to perpetuate the qualities he displayed. We plan to do this through:
self-discipline, courtesy and good behaviour respect for other people and their property a commitment to learning and hard work a calm and purposeful atmosphere opportunities for all people to fulfil their potential support for the needs of individuals
Ofsted Report 2006
We were visited by OFSTED on the 8th and 9th November. The report is on this website and will be published on the OFSTED website (www.ofsted.gov.uk) within the next three weeks; a copy of the full report is available at School reception for £1.
The school was particularly pleased that the OFSTED team recognised that “There is a high level of commitment by governors and all staff to continuing improvement and raising standards further.”
Other specific comments I would like to highlight are: “Care for pupils is satisfactory and pupils feel their concerns are dealt with effectively. The school is a safe and secure environment throughout the day and during the wide range of evening school activities.”
OFSTED commented that “The new headteacher has good vision for the school’s development and has identified the major areas where improvement is needed, taking the views of staff, governors, parents and pupils into account.”
The inspectors recognised the progress we have made to improve behaviour of a group of students, but further work is needed. “Parents indicate that pupils’ attitudes to learning are increasingly positive. Pupils feel safe and free from bullying, and this is a recent improvement.”
We will all need to work together to maintain this progress, as the OFSTED team recognises in their letter to students overleaf and in their comment; “while the behaviour and attitudes of most pupils are good, the behaviour of a significant minority is poor and leads to some disruption of learning of other pupils, a concern expressed by pupils and parents. Behaviour is improving and the number of exclusions and detentions has declined significantly over the last year.”
OFSTED’s judgements confirm the improvements that we have seen since September, but this is only the start of the transformation of our school.
Yours
Stephen Clark Headteacher
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