Government Initiatives IQ

School Inspection Performance 2012

Turning the traditional into the progressive

by Victoria Overy, Headteacher, Chase High School and Sixth Form

Chase High is an 11-18 Foundation Trust School working in partnership with the King John School and Middlesex University. We have 1,000 students from 44 different countries. One in three of our children speaks an additional language, has a special need or is eligible to claim a free school meal. 42% come from three of the poorest wards in Southend.

We also welcome a significant number of students during the school year from home and abroad and must ensure they get as good a start as those who join us in Year 7. The first school was built on our site over a hundred years ago and our latest addition, a Sixth Form, only joined in last April. Our history has seen Special Measures, a Fresh Start and significant funding that has enabled us to become one of only a few National Challenge Trust Schools.

The improvements we have made have been dramatic and took some bold strategic thinking. One of the biggest changes we made was to move to vertical tutor grouping and a House system – a case of a traditional solution being used progressively.

We have created smaller school families that learn, play, eat, travel and succeed together.

Every member of staff belongs to a House, be they site staff, the SLT, even Governors. Our students led this change themselves and con-tinue to contribute to our progress. They have been happy to take on additional responsibili-ties as prefects, International Ambassadors, translators, Council Leaders and more. They embrace every charity event and celebrate every season and occasion. They sponsored a star at Christmas for Haven’s Hospice and are about to host a Jubilee afternoon tea for the lo-cal community.

Today, we are a happy, busy school where individualism is commended, difference is celebrated and the progress of every child and every adult is supported. We have worked hard to forge mutually beneficial partnerships with schools in the local region and as far afield as Ghana, San Francisco and Australia. Through our international work we promote exchange programmes for students and staff, and en-courage students to look beyond Southend, to understand their past and make the most of their present and future.

Chase High School & Sixth Form

School Inspection Performance 2012

Government Initiatives IQ

Our partnership with Middlesex University, and our commitment to providing highly personalised training for staff, has led to Chase being graded as outstanding by every training provider and every University who send their PGCE or GTP students to us. New teachers need a flexible range of strategies to make them fabulous, adapted to their strengths and weaknesses: we have grown our own qualified teachers using our expertise, subject specialists from Middlesex, professional voice coaches, life coaching and secondments to high performing schools. Meanwhile, our Chasing Leadership Programme and secondments to the SLT have enabled many promising staff to become exceptional leaders.

We are all of us proud of what we have accomplished so far together. In 2009 we achieved 18% A*-C including English and Maths. Last summer that rose to 40%. Our children are making good progress: RAISEonline placed us in the top 15% of schools in the country for progress from KS2 to KS4.

Of course, learning from past failings and achievements is important, but much more important is that we keep our minds, hearts and eyes on our future. Our success will be built on knowing where we want to go and then supporting each other to get there – and nowhere is this truer than in our Sixth Form.

Our Sixth Form is built on vocational programmes. Our Café Blue is a business venture that is open to the community and employs Business students. Likewise, our Blue Wave Hair & Beauty Salon trains and employs students, whilst our Apprentices work alongside the estate, housekeeping, site and office staff.

Our Student Employment Programme pays Sixth Form students to work within school departments as Technicians, LSAs, Peer Mentors and Sports Coaches - working for their own futures and for the future of the school, instead of skipping homework to join the late shift at the local burger bar.

Our House system, our local links and international perspective, the individual focus of our training – all are designed to help students and staff feel part of something. Our goal now is to ensure that our continuing success story is worthy of them.

For more information on Chase High School & Sixth Form please visit:

www.chasehigh.southend.sch.uk