St Laurence School
| Motto | Care, Inspire, Succeed |
|---|---|
| Type | Voluntary controlled school and Academy |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Headteacher | Fergus Stewart (January 2013–) |
| Founder | Lord Fitzmaurice |
| Location |
Ashley Road Bradford-on-Avon Wiltshire BA15 1DZ United Kingdom 51°21′08″N 2°15′33″W / 51.35209°N 2.25919°WCoordinates: 51°21′08″N 2°15′33″W / 51.35209°N 2.25919°W |
| DfE URN | 137057 Tables |
| Ofsted | Pre-academy reports |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11+ |
| Houses | Ashley, Budbury, Conigre, Huntingdon, Westfield |
| Former name | Fitzmaurice Grammar School and Trinity Secondary Modern |
| Diocese | Salisbury |
| Website | st-laurence.com |
St Laurence School is a secondary school in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, England. It became an Academy in August 2011.
Besides Bradford on Avon, the school takes pupils from Atworth, Monkton Farleigh, Winsley, Limpley Stoke, South Wraxall, Bradford Leigh and Trowbridge. It is situated in the northwest of the town, off the road towards Little Ashley.
History
The school was founded in 1980 as a result of the merger of Fitzmaurice Grammar School and Trinity Secondary Modern school, opening on the Trinity site. It is named after the historically-important Saxon St Laurence's Church, Bradford-on-Avon.
Under the Specialist schools programme of 1997–2010 the school had Arts College status, resulting in extra investment in drama, music and dance facilities.
The school's teaching departments are spread across numerous buildings on the school site. The site also has a large sports hall and several sports courts, pitches and playing fields. A lecture theatre was built in 2007 and was joined by a state-of-the-art independent learning centre in 2011.
In October 2005, a helium balloon launched at a school fete on 24 September 2005 was found by 53-year-old Isak Toyra in Karesuando, Sweden who sent it back to the school, and claimed a £10 prize.[1] Karesuando is 1,430 miles (2,300 km) from the school, and information about the school was also sent to him.
Wiltshire Music Centre
The Wiltshire Music Centre opened in 1998. Private and curriculum-based music lessons are held in the classrooms and teaching rooms in this building; and school collective worships, exam presentations, and other special events are held in its main auditorium. The Music Centre also contains a recording studio.
Roman villa remains
Aerial photographs and minor archaeological excavations in 1976 indicated the presence of the remains of a Roman Villa underneath the school's sports fields.[2] A more major excavation in 2003 uncovered Roman era floor mosaics and walls once belonging to this villa, along with a stone structure believed to have once been part of an early Christian baptistery.
Model United Nations
St Laurence is one of only a handful of state-sector schools in the country to have taken part in Model United Nations. The school's inaugural MUN conference was held in November 2007, and was attended by delegates from state and private schools across the south west of England. The MUN conference is now a routinely run conference, hosting up to 150 students, over two days of debating. It is deemed as a conference of learning how the MUN debating system works, and thus does not hand out prizes (best delegate etc.). It is highly regarded as a fun, but serious conference for the schools who attend. However, the school has not taken part for several years.
Academic performance
In 2016 79% of the school's GCSE pupils achieved grades 5 A* to C including English and Mathematics. Currently there are 1358 pupils attending the school, across key stages 3–5.Alumni
Alumni of St Laurence School include Premiership footballer Nathan Dyer and Olympic gold medalist Edward McKeever.
References
- ↑ http://archive.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/2005/11/11/254035.html%5Bpermanent+dead+link%5D Helium balloon
- ↑ Wiltshire County Council | Bradford on Avon Roman Villa Archived 10 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine.