Prospectus 2015/16

Chiltern Edge School

A happy and harmonious school

Foun

dation

School serving

South Oxfordshire and the N

orth o

f Rea

ding

Chiltern Edge SchoolReades Lane, Sonning Common, Reading, Berkshire, RG4 9LN

Vision Statement

The community as a whole will be proud of the school and will regard it as a valued resource. It will be the school of rst choice for the

majority of children in local primaries and will be recognised as a school with high standards and high expectations of all. Students and their parents will play an increasingly signicant role in inuencing the

future of Chiltern Edge School.

Students learning experiences during and beyond the school day will challenge and excite them as they prepare for adult life in an ever changing world. Academic success will be balanced by opportunities to shine in sports, the Arts and community service. Decisions they make about their futures will be well judged and will make the most of their skills and interests.

The school will continue to attract high quality sta who will make the

most of the opportunities to enhance their skills and extend themselves professionally. They will enjoy working at the school and will continue to explore best practice and improve on previous best. Through their eorts the school will continue to develop as a vibrant

learning community.

Welcome to Chiltern Edge School

We are very proud of our school and the achievements of our students. We look forward to showing you round!

Chiltern Edge is a very distinctive and vibrant community. We believe that as the smallest secondary school in Oxfordshire and Reading we oer a very supportive learning environment. This enables teachers to know their students well and each young person to feel that they can succeed and make their own contribution to school life.

Whatever your priorities, we believe that Chiltern Edge would be a very positive choice for your child. We oer outstanding pastoral care, a competitive academic curriculum with excellent exam results and a wide range of sporting and artistic extra-curricular activities. As an International School we recognise the importance of an outward looking and culturally diverse education. Community Service is a key aspect of life in our school. The brilliant work of our Houses in fundraising for their chosen charities and the campaigning of our active Amnesty International group demonstrates how Chiltern Edge students learn the importance of making a signicant contribution to the world they want to grow up in. The eorts of our anti-bullying Power Group were recently recognised nationally when they received the prestigious Diana Award.

Thank you for considering Chiltern Edge as a choice for your son or daughter. I hope that you will take the opportunity to visit us on our Open Evening and Open Mornings in the Autumn term to see what we have to oer. Of course we also conduct tours throughout the school year and these can be arranged by contacting our Receptionist.

Daniel Sadler, Head Teacher

Chiltern Edge is located on a spacious eleven hectare site on the edge of Sonning Common Village. Most of our well drained sports pitches are located in the South Chilterns AONB. The school regularly hosts large sporting events such as the South Oxfordshire primary school cross country series. We have excellent sports facilities including a full size sports hall, tennis courts, gymnasium, tness training room and squash courts.

Over ten million pounds has been spent on our site over the last decade. Upgraded facilities include; Performing Arts block with professional standard Dance and Drama studios. Dedicated Design Technology suite with specialist rooms for Food, Textiles and Resistant Materials. Modern Foreign Languages suite School library New school reception and meeting rooms Upgraded Science labs

The school has a state of the art wireless network and computer technology is a regular feature of learning from programming in PC suites to composing music on mini iPads. We have a full size lecture theatre with excellent AV equipment. This space is used regularly for activities as wide ranging as House assemblies, visiting speakers and the daily lunchtime Film Club. The school is wheelchair friendly which underlines our commitment to working in partnership with the co-locat-ed Bishopswood Special School and to making the school site accessible to the whole community.

SchoolSite

Students are prepared well for the next stage of their education, training or employment

- Ofsted Report

The Head teacher provides highly eective leadership

- Ofsted Report

Students view the school as safe and secure

- Ofsted Report

Support for learning

At Chiltern Edge we aim to give every learner the challenge and support they need to make outstanding progress. We conduct a comprehensive testing programme on entry to ensure that we know the potential of our year 7 students. Challenging but achievable targets are set for each subject and these are tracked carefully. Students who hit their targets early have them uplifted to ensure they maintain momentum.

Teachers work hard to plan and deliver interesting and varied lessons which stretch and engage the whole class. Intervention programmes and one to one support ensure that students who fall behind have the help they need to get back on track.Our GATE programme identies and engages students who show high ability in one subject or across the curriculum. A regular programme of extra learning opportunities such as Maths Challenges and external visits is designed to help these pupils aim for the top. Teachers regularly organise activities in lessons which take learning to another level for GATE students. In Year 11 our PORTAL programme has a strong track record in helping more able students hit the top

grades. We regularly consult with GATE students to ensure that they are receiving the support they want.In our Curriculum Support Department a team of highly trained teachers and teaching assistants work with numerous external experts such as Educational Psychologists to ensure that students with SEND receive both the academic and the pastoral help that they need to be happy and successful.The school provides strong support for independent on-line learning through excellent software packages such as Doddle, SAM Learning and GCSE Pod. These enable students and parents to focus on the particular areas where pupils need extra help or challenge.Parents are kept well informed through detailed progress sheets and annual written reports.

Regular Learning Review and Subject Teacher evenings give opportunities for face to face conversations. Heads of House, Tutors and Teachers meet much more regularly with parents when there are concerns about progress on either side.

Throughout the school, Careers education and work related learning have a high prole. This programme starts as early as Year 7 and builds to a very focused series of guidance events in Year 11. Chiltern Edge students move on to a wide variety of destinations ranging from those who gain entry to Oxbridge and Russell Group Universities after A Level to others who move straight into employment through apprenticeships with local and national employers.

Our four Houses Draco, Lyra, Orion and Pegasus are small communities of around 125 students led by an experienced Head of House.

They are designed to ensure that every student can access;

1. Skilled pastoral care

2. Academic challenge and mentoring

3. Community activities such as charity fundraising

4. Opportunities to compete for the House in Sports and other competitions

5. Student leadership roles

The Tutor groups meet for twenty minutes at the end of each day to review learning and focus on our SEAL curriculum (Social and Emotion-al aspects of Learning). During this time the House Council

will also meet and other House business such as the organisation of sports teams takes place.Formal House assemblies take place once per week and range from House celebration events to talks from senior sta and presentations from external speakers. Whole year group assemblies take place periodically to focus on specic topics such as Option choices and Year 7 Camp. Students who benet from an especially nurturing environment also receive excellent support and care in our Curriculum Support Department where the school Power Group is based.

The Heads of House are supported by a strong team of specialist non-teaching sta including our Attendance Ocer, Pastoral Manager, Counsellor, Careers Co-ordinator and a full time School Nurse. Students are all part of a vertical tutor group containing around ve pupils from each year in the school. This arrangement helps to build cohesive relationships between students of dierent ages and, for example, benets new Year 7 pupils by giving them support from older mentor prefects in their own group.

HouseSystem

Improvements in students outcomes can be attributed to a well-planned and evolving curriculum that is designed to meet their needs

- Ofsted Report

A positive atmosphere permeates the school

- Ofsted Report

A comprehensive programme of extra-curricular visits is designed to enrich the experiences of our pupils and to bring their learning to life. Of course, we retain the core of traditional residential opportunities such as the German Exchange to Hollfeld, Year 7 camp in Henley, trips to Kilvrough Outdoors Centre, the geography eld visit to Yenworthy and the Austrian Ski trip whilst many more have been added in recent years.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award programme in Year 9 brings opportunities for expeditions in the South Chilterns and in recent years a wide range of Performing Arts visits to workshops and performances in the West End has inspired our students. Another highlight in Year 7 is the day trip to Boulogne with the legendary visit to a chocolate factory! We aim to ensure that many trips are aordable and accessible to all students and we work with parents to help spread the costs when they do arise.

SportFor many students, the most memorable and formative events in school take place outside the classroom. At Chiltern Edge we are passionate about getting every student involved in the wider life of the school. We participate in a huge range of sports xtures ranging from Rugby and Netball to Canoeing and Triathlon In a small school like Chiltern Edge every student has the chance of being involved in a team if they want to. Chiltern Edge students perform at the highest level. For instance, in 2014 one of our girls captained the Wales U16 Football team, our Head Boy achieved a place in the Wasps Rugby Academy and three students were County Champions in Athletics.

Former students have gone on to Olympic and National representation in a range of sports including Sam Townsend, current World Cup champion in Rowing and Fran Kirby who is part of the England Football squad. After school clubs, practic-es and xtures take place on a regular basis. All students are actively encouraged to take part in our Inter-House competitions including Sports Day.

Performing ArtsDrama, Music and Dance play a pivotal role in life at Chiltern Edge. Our students love to rehearse and perform.From an outstanding series of autumn musical productions to the vibrant summer festival organised by the students themselves and the annual Amnesty International concert the standard and variety of talent on display never ceases to amaze. As in sport, participation and excellence are the keynotes. All who rehearse for the school production are oered a role and leads in the show in recent years have gone on to places in the National Youth Theatre, RADA and Trinity Laban. Former pupils perform at the highest level. Natalie Dormer lately star in Game of Thrones was Head Girl at Chiltern Edge.

Public SpeakingAnother distinctive strand in the life of students at Chiltern Edge is our long standing strength in Public Speaking. All students are taught the principles in English lessons and many take part in the school competition. Chiltern Edge students have regularly won awards in the local Youth Speaks contest.

Beyondthe classroom

The emphasis placed on behaving well, showing respect and being polite contributes well to the students spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

- Ofsted Report