The King John School
 | |
| Established | 1949 |
|---|---|
| Type | Academy |
| Location |
Shipwright's Drive South Benfleet Essex SS7 1RQ England  51°33′20″N 0°35′35″E / 51.5556°N 0.5931°ECoordinates: 51°33′20″N 0°35′35″E / 51.5556°N 0.5931°E |
| Local authority | Essex |
| DfE URN | 136577 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 2087[1] |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–18 (inc. Sixth Form) |
| Colours | Red and black |
| Website |
www |
The King John School, often abbreviated to King John, is a secondary academy school with a sixth form in South Benfleet, Essex, England. It is named after King John of England (1166-1216). The main school building was opened in 1949: contrary to popular belief this building was never designed, nor used, as a hospital. As of January 2017, the school has an enrolment of 2087 students[1], operating over its recommended capacity of 2000 students.[1] The school has been rated 'Outstanding' by Ofsted in 2013.[2]
History
Construction of the school was started in 1938, but suspended for the duration of the war and restarted in 1948. It was opened in May 1949 as Benfleet Secondary Modern, at which time only the South Wing was completed. The school took pupils from primary schools in Hadleigh, Thundersley, South Benfleet and New Thundersley. Before the official opening in 1953, the school was used as a shelter station after the Canvey Island flood tragedy, a gesture that led to the headmaster being awarded the OBE. It was then known as King John Secondary Modern School with 1100 pupils and became a comprehensive school in the early 1960s, it is now a secondary academy school with a sixth form.[3] During the period of headmastership by Mr. Evans football was only an after-school activity and rugby the boys major winter sport.
The earliest headteachers were Albert J Evans OBE 1949-66; Bernard Vaughan 1967-74; Kate Ward 1974-83.
Initially, the school had 4 houses, Rayleigh, Drake, Nelson, and xxxxx. In later years the school had six 'houses' each comprising a number of mixed-age tutor groups.
| House | Named after | Profession | House Subject(s) | House colour | Location |
| Fleming | Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) | Microbiologist | Science | Green | East wing, ground floor |
| Napier | John Napier (1550-1617) | Mathematician | Mathematics | White | East wing, upper floor |
| Grenville | Richard Grenville (1542–91) | Military sailor | Geography, history | Black | Middle wing, ground floor |
| Lawrence | David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) | Novelist, author | English | Blue | Middle wing, upper floor |
| Sutherland | Graham Vivian Sutherland (1903–80) | Artist | Art | Yellow | South wing, ground floor |
| Thorndike | Dame Agatha Sybil Thorndike (1882-1976) | Actor | Music, domestic science | Red | South wing, upper floor |
School tutor groups
The school has 12 tutor groups or 'forms', with around 30 pupils in each tutor. The tutor groups are set in a format of the year, then the number of the tutor group, for example, 7-07, 8-07, 9-07, 10-07, 11-07, the year changing as the students progress throughout the school. Each year group has a Head of Year, who is a step above the normal tutors, and organises activities such as the end of year trips, and also deals with some of the disciplinary aspects, such as detentions.
These tutor groups are designed to create a closer social group for students in Year 7 and Year 8. This is achieved by keeping tutor groups together for non-core subjects in the first two years. In Years 9, 10 and 11, however, the tutor groups become less prominent, and the classes are reorganised, allowing for a fresh experience, and space for change.
A similar system applies to the Sixth-Form, except each tutor group begins with 12 or 13 depending on what year the sixth former is in, for example, 12-01 and 13-01.
Prefects
In Year 10, students with a good behavioural record become eligible to apply for the role of Prefect. Prefects within the school are permitted a distinguishing tie (see right) and badge, similarly to other local secondary schools. Prefect Status, as it is referred to, is granted to about 80 students. These students take on additional responsibilities within the school, such as conducting tours to visitors and monitoring the school during break times. There are also often additional benefits, such as celebratory dinners, awarded to the Prefects.
Senior Prefect Team
Towards the end of Year 10, Prefects also have the opportunity to apply to the Senior Prefect team. This is composed of 12-14 students, who assist with the management of the Prefect team, usually alongside the Head of Year for Year 11. Within this team, after an extensive interviewing and appraisal process, roles are awarded to form a structure within the Senior Prefect Team. This is as follows:
| Head Boy, Head Girl | One Male, One Female |
| Deputy Head Boy, Deputy Head Girl | Two Male, Two Female |
| Senior Prefect | Three Male, Three Female (sometimes four of each) |
There is no chain of command within the Senior Prefect Team, although the Head Boy and Head Girl are traditionally called upon first for public engagements.
Facilities
Physical Facilities
Some facilities include:
- Sports Hall
- Althletics Area
- Dance Suite
- Fitness Suite
- 3G Astro Turf
- Playing Fields
- Playground areas
Rooms
The King John School has over 100 classrooms, roughly divided into 7 'blocks', named after the first seven letters of the alphabet. The majority of the classrooms are ambiguous, with generic facilities. Interactive Whiteboards are present in every classroom, and there are a number of notebook sets for use in classrooms.
Rooms are given a name based on the floor ('G' for ground floor, 'U' for the first floor*) and block it's on, and the room number it is given. For example, the room 'GD6' is on the ground floor, in the 'D' block and room number 6.
| Floor & Block | Use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| GA | Mainly Sixth Form | |
| GB | Science, Design and Technology | |
| GC | Science, English | The 'C' block is split into two,
with additional classrooms in a separate building about 5m away from the main building. |
| GD | Humanities | |
| GE | Music, Photography | |
| GF | P.E. | |
| GG | Humanities | The 'G' block is only one storey high. |
| UA | Mainly Sixth Form | |
| UB | Food Technology, Media Studies, Film Studies | |
| UC | Food Technology, Modern Foreign Languages, English | |
| UD | English, Computing, Computer Science | *Part of this block is three storeys high. |
| UE | Mathematics | |
| UF | P.E., GCSE P.E., Sport Sciences |
Technology
The school has over 600 computers in total, using Windows 7 Enterprise. In certain Media and Film rooms, there are some iMacs. Each student has an account on the school network, and all of their personal documents are stored in the server. This allows students to access their documents from every computer in the school. Students also have their own school email where work can be shared to and from teachers and other students.[4]
The school has a Virtual Learning Environment built on Moodle, where students can find some additional resources to help with their learning, however a limited range of them are available. Although the schools website says, "The VLE is accessible in school, from home computers/tablets and via mobile phones",[5] the VLE is often difficult to use on devices other than laptops and computers as it is not responsive, so scrolling and zooming out is often required. In 2018, the VLE fell to a Denial of Service attack conducted by Computer Science students.[4] The VLE and the school website do not use HTTPS.
Some software that the school uses:[4]
References
- 1 2 3 "The King John School". get-information-schools.service.gov.uk. Department for Education, UK. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
- ↑ "King John School Oftsed Report". Oftsed. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ↑ "King John School history". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
- 1 2 3 4 A student from the school
- ↑ "King John VLE". The King John School. Retrieved 2018-08-10.