Salesian School, Chertsey

Salesian School is a split-site Roman Catholic comprehensive secondary school in Chertsey, Surrey. The two sites were originally a pair of single-sex education Roman Catholic private schools maintained by the Salesian Fathers and Sisters. The Salesian College at Highfield Road (previously Salesian Sixth Form), founded in 1919,[1] was for boys and the later Guildford Road school was for girls. In 1971 they merged to form one comprehensive school but still maintained single-sex education on separate sites.

Salesian School
Salesian School crest
Address
Map
Guildford Road, Chertsey KT16 9LU
Coordinates51°22′54″N 0°31′07″W / 51.3816°N 0.5185°W / 51.3816; -0.5185
Information
TypeAcademy
MottoEnlightening minds, uplifting hearts
Established1919 (As Salesian College)
FoundersSalesian Brothers
Department for Education URN143367 Tables
OfstedReports
Head teacherPaul Gower
Staff>200
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1500
HousesMazzarello, Rinaldi, Rua, Savio, Zatti
Websitewww.salesian.surrey.sch.uk

In 1981 it became a coeducational school with pupils located on sites according to their age or subject taught. As of 2009, however, years 7 to 11 (aged 11–16 years) began to exclusively study at the larger Guildford Road, while the college (ages 16–18) remains at Highfield Road – the students currently following a two-week timetable.

Staff

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James Curran was headmaster until 1963, followed by Vincent Ford (1964–1967), Edward O'Shea (1967–1977), John Gilheney (1977–1990), David Cleworth (1990–2005) and Eric Doherty (2005–2006). In September 2006, James Kibble took on the post of head teacher. Currently, there are over 200 members of staff, either working as teachers, learning and teaching assistants or associate staff.

A former member of staff was Sean Devereux, the Salesian missionary and aid worker murdered in Kismayo, Somalia in 1993 while working for UNICEF, who taught physical education at Salesian School from 1986 to 1988. The Devereux building which contains the Geography and English departments is named after him.

Conspiracy of Faith, a book published in 2007 by Graham Wilmer MBE, recounts Wilmer's experience of being sexually abused as a child by a teacher at the then Salesian College in Chertsey in the late 1960s. [2][3]

Ofsted

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Following a two-day inspection in early September, on 4 October 2013, Ofsted published its most recent report on the school, declaring it to be outstanding in all four categories of inspection.[4]

Partnerships

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From December 2010 to August 2011, head teacher James Kibble worked as interim executive head for St John Bosco College, London, while overseeing the winding down of two schools: Salesian College (London) and John Paul II School in Wimbledon. In this capacity he worked with a range of stakeholders and appointed the new school's first head teacher. In March 2013, an Ofsted inspection judged the new school to be 'good'.[4]

In May 2012, a neighbouring school, Jubilee High, Addlestone, was given a 'notice to improve' by Ofsted and the head teacher resigned. Salesian head teacher James Kibble, was appointed executive head of Jubilee High, until a permanent appointment could be made.[5] He returned to the full-time headship of Salesian with the appointment of Stephen Price as head teacher of Jubilee in the spring of 2013.[6]

In July 2013, deputy head teacher Ciran Stapleton, who served as head of school during the Salesian/Jubilee partnership, was seconded to St Joseph's Catholic High School in Slough as interim head teacher.[7] He has since been employed as the head teacher.

In September 2014, Salesian became a teaching school, as leader of the Salesian Teaching School Alliance.[8] In September 2015 the school started training teachers as a School Centre for Initial Teacher Training (SCITT),[9] in partnership with St John the Baptist School, Woking, under the umbrella body Teach SouthEast.[10] The school is also supporting the work of the Bourne Education Trust[11] to open a new free school in Chertsey, following approval by the Department for Education in May 2015.[12]

Alumni

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Extra-curricular activities

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The school has staged productions of Sweet Charity, Bugsy Malone and Grease, The Wizard of Oz and Oliver!. It produces two bi-annual community musical concerts. The school takes part in Young Enterprise events as well as the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.

References

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  1. ^ "Salesian School – Enlightening minds, uplifting hearts".
  2. ^ Wilmer, Graham (2007). Conspiracy of faith : fighting for justice after child abuse. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press. ISBN 978-0-7188-3058-8. OCLC 148801597.
  3. ^ Beckett, Francis (3 August 2007). "Breaking the silence". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b Ofsted Communications Team (21 August 2019). "Find an inspection report and registered childcare". reports.ofsted.gov.uk.
  5. ^ "Jubilee High head quits after poor Ofsted report". Get Surrey. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  6. ^ Live, Surrey (28 January 2013). "New Jubilee head makes 'long haul' pledge". getsurrey.
  7. ^ "A Level Results at St Joseph's". Archived from the original on 18 August 2013.
  8. ^ "Teach Salesian | Home". www.salesiantsa.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Teach Salesian | Teacher Training". www.salesiantsa.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014.
  10. ^ "Teach Southeast". www.teachsoutheast.co.uk.
  11. ^ "Chertsey High School update". Bourne Education Trust. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  12. ^ Talbot, Charlotte (13 March 2015). "Headteacher 'delighted' as free school gets green light for 2017 opening". getsurrey.
  13. ^ "One hundred hopefuls for 2012 : Tim Brabants". The Guardian. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Martin Freeman: No ordinary Bilbo Baggins". The Independent. 30 November 2012.
  15. ^ Youlton, Clive (4 November 2021). "Ex-Arsenal and Fulham midfielder aiming for play-offs with Chertsey Town". Surrey Live. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Sarah Harding 1981-2021: The rockstar of Girls Aloud who transcended pop's confines". NME. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  17. ^ Crisell, Hattie (29 June 2022). "'Getting cancer made me realise you can do anything in life: I felt so alive making a tiny impact' — the astonishing legacy of Deborah James". Evening Standard. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
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