Stratton Upper School

Stratton Upper School
Established 1950
Type Academy
Acting Headteacher Ms Roz Hodges
Location Eagle Farm Road
Biggleswade
Bedfordshire
SG18 8JB
England
52°05′12″N 0°15′01″W / 52.08665°N 0.25015°W / 52.08665; -0.25015Coordinates: 52°05′12″N 0°15′01″W / 52.08665°N 0.25015°W / 52.08665; -0.25015
DfE URN 137886 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Students 1,053 as of June 2018
Gender Mixed
Ages 13–19
Website stratton.beds.sch.uk

Stratton Upper School [1] is a mixed upper school and sixth form located in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England. It is situated in the east of the town.

The school has previously proven to be a success, with Ofsted regarding the school as 'good with outstanding features' in 2015. In conjunction with the Central Bedfordshire Local Authority, the school has undergone considerable expansion in order to accommodate the growing population of Biggleswade. The centrepiece of the expansion was a state-of-the-art new science department.

In the summer of 2018, Ofsted reported that the school 'requires improvement' across a wide range of areas, other than the Sixth Form.

Admissions

The main body of the school educates both male and female students aged between 13 and 16, mainly from the town of Biggleswade and some surrounding villages (including some from Cambridgeshire). In addition, the school offers further education facilities for students up to the age of 19 through its Sixth Form department.

Stratton Upper School has been designated as a Training School. As a training school the school offers a postgraduate programme as well as a Graduate Teacher Programme, and an Access to Education Scheme. There is also a working farm on site.

History

The school was originally constructed during the late 1940s, being built in such a fashion that it could be used as a hospital in the event of another major conflict akin to the Second World War. The school first opened its doors to students in 1950 as "Stratton Grammar Technical School," though much of the facility remained unfinished at this time and construction would continue over the following years, with the site not finally completed until 1956.

In 1976 the facility was one of many grammar schools in Britain during the period to become a comprehensive. The consequences of transition from a selective-admissions school into a comprehensive were difficult, and for some years Stratton suffered a beleaguered reputation. This culminated in a transformative period during the late 1990s and early 2000s, with the school consistently rated highly by Ofsted and achieving successful results. Stratton was subsequently the first school in the Biggleswade area to apply for and gain academy status in 2011. The school was encouraged to sponsor one of its feeder schools Gamlingay Village College which was in Special Measures at the time and so the Stratton Education Trust was formed in 2012. Plans to extensively expand the Stratton site are expected to be put in place in the near future.


In April 2013, a fire in the Humanities Department of the school caused an estimated £30,000 worth of damage and resulted in temporary closure.[2] Another minor incident occurred at the school in January 2016, when on-site building workers accidentally cut through an ancillary gas pipe. Some parts of the site were temporarily closed to students as a result, but lessons were not affected.

During 2017, Stratton Education Trust agreed to transfer Gamlingay Village College to the CAM Academy Trust so as to focus on being a single academy trust.

In 2017, English teacher Ricky Sedani was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 years, after sexually assaulting a student. Sedani also had to sign the sex offenders register, and is not allowed to work children again. [3]

In 2018, Headteacher Rob Watson resigned after an investigation into alleged fraud.

Headmasters

Mr H. Blayney (1950-1973)
Mr G. Suggitt (1973-1982)
Mr B. Farman (1982-1996)
Mr N. Bramwell (1996-2010)
Mr R. Watson (2010–2018)[4]

Notable former pupils

Grammar school

References

  1. ↑ "Home". Stratton.beds.sch.uk. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
  2. ↑ "Fire causes £30,000 worth of damage at school". Biggleswade Today. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Biggleswade teacher groomed 16-year-old pupil before sending her picture of his penis". The Comet. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
  4. ↑ "Sixty years strong for Stratton". Biggleswade Today. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
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