ABOUT US

St. Edward’s is a joint Roman Catholic - Church of England VA school, one of just a few nationally. The school is voluntary aided and supported by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth and the Anglican Diocese of Salisbury.

Our Mission Statement defines our core values and aims. A Covenant signed by the Bishops of both our Dioceses describes how we aim to function as a joint church school.

St. Edward’s is an ideal size for a comprehensive school with 897 students on roll including nearly 200 sixth formers.

As well as curriculum responsibilities teachers carry pastoral responsibility which are as important as their teaching commitment. The prime responsibility for day to day pastoral care lies with the Form Tutor who will be a member of a team led by a Year Leader. The tutor team usually moves up with the students from Year 8 to Year 11 to ensure continuity of care and progress monitoring.

All staff are expected to contribute to maintaining the school as a well ordered learning community by building positive relationships and following established routines.

The school makes high demands of the students in terms of behaviour and appearance and we have high expectations for performance in the classroom. We expect 100% to achieve 5 or more A*-G GCSE grades and this target is achieved most years. The number achieving five or more higher A*-C grades would normally be close to 70%.

A wide range of extra-curricular activities is offered to students. The school has particular strengths in performing arts. Field courses, retreats and exchange visits to France and Germany all enrich the curriculum. New staff who wish to try their hand at sailing in the beautiful Poole harbour are also welcome to join the sailing club!

Daily morning briefing, which all teaching staff and representative support staff attend, is a key feature of the school’s communication system.

Teachers and support colleagues are welcome to attend our weekly staff prayer session. The commitment of so many staff to the gospel values which underpin our school and the generosity of time and energy given by so many in pursuit of these values has helped the school develop a very distinctive ethos which is experienced and admired by so many who visit the school.

Another tradition of many years is the gathering for tea and cakes at the end of school on Friday to celebrate the achievement of another good week and to look forward to a more restful weekend.

SPORTS HALL with 4 badminton sized courts, indoor cricket, basketball and volleyball areas with changing facilities on upper and lower floors with showers; a fitness gym room and teaching classrooms.

SIXTH FORM TEACHING BLOCK with varied classrooms, meeting rooms, a common room area and a large open learning and resource centre offering sixth form students an excellent study area.

TECHNOLOGY SUITE with a modern suite of rooms allows all aspects of National Curriculum Technology to be delivered.

• Resistant Materials: Fully equipped workshop for wood, metal and plastic incorporating computer aided manufacture, industrial processes and traditional techniques.
• Graphics and ICT: Fully equipped for a range of presentation activities and computer aided design. A computer area is at the heart of the suite.
• Food Technology: The food area consists of 6 well equipped and attractive ‘mini-kitchens’. Students have access to different kinds of cookers as well as equipment such as pasta making machines and even ice cream making machines!
• Textiles Technology: This area is provided with the very latest equipment, including computer controlled sewing machines. There is also a separate area for computer aided design.

• Modern Language suite with speaking and listening technology and satellite TV to access foreign language TV programmes.
• English Rooms suite all designed to offer the ideal learning environment
• Resource areas adjoining each suite containing networked PCs with internet access.
• Drama Studio with state of the art lighting and sound systems