Devizes School is a mixed comprehensive school in Devizes, Wiltshire, England, for children and young people aged 11 to 18. The school is near the centre of the town, next to the Leisure Centre, between the A342 and A360. In September 2012, the school became an academy, and it joined The White Horse Federation Multi-academy Trust in 2017. The school is the only secondary school in the town of Devizes and also serves many surrounding villages. Built around the Georgian Southbroom House, the school now comprises additional teaching blocks of a more modern style, set within its own sports fields. Ofsted has graded the school Good in each of the past five visits, the latest in March 2019.
| Devizes School | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Southbroom House, Devizes School | |
| Address | |
 | |
The Green , , SN10 3AG England | |
| Coordinates | 51°21′02″N 1°59′15″W / 51.3505°N 1.9874°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Academy |
| Established | 1969 |
| Department for Education URN | 138630 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Head | David Cooper[1] |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrolment | 1,211 (November 2023[1]) |
| Houses | Asclepius, Apollo, Artemis, Athena |
| Website | www |
Admissions
editThe school has been awarded specialist Sports College and ICT College status.[2]
Traditions
editDevizes School has a house system comprising four houses, which each student in Year 7–13 belongs to: Apollo, Asclepius, Artemis and Athena (Previously Gandhi, King, Mandela and Teresa.)
The names of the houses were changed in 2019. Each house has its own house colour: Artemis is green, Athena is blue, Asclepius is red and Apollo is yellow.
History
editThe school was formed in 1969 by the merging of two schools to form a comprehensive school.[3] These were the co-educational Devizes Grammar School, built on Bath Road in 1906,[4] and the Southbroom Secondary School (at first a Wiltshire County Council senior school, later a secondary modern) which was established in 1925[5] around Southbroom House, a Grade II* listed mansion built in 1773.[6]
The new school used the Southbroom site; the Grammar School's lower school was taken over by St. Peter's School[7] (which left the site in 2012)[8] while the upper school, Braeside, became a residential education centre.[9] The Southbroom buildings were enlarged and by January 1973 there were 1,373 pupils on the school roll. Further new buildings were erected and in 2002 there were 1,065 pupils with a sixth form of around 150.[3]
In 1980, two Chipperfield's Circus lions found their way onto the grounds of Devizes.[10]
On 8 August 1990, the Queen attended the school to open the swimming pool at the adjacent Devizes Leisure Centre.
Shelley Rudman, the Olympic skeleton silver medallist, worked at the school as a classroom manager.
In February 2005, a 52-year-old builder, David Evans, was taunted by some teenage boys at the school. He confronted two of them, pushing two of them. Next day the boys reported him to their headmaster, Malcolm Irons, who reported him to the police. Next day, Evans hanged himself.[11]
In May 2013, the sixth form moved into their new, enlarged Sixth Form Centre. Phil Bevan was appointed head teacher in April 2016 and the school became a member of The White Horse Federation, a multi-academy trust, in February 2017.
Plans were put forward in December 2019 to sell 5.7 acres of the school's playing fields, to be used for housing.[12] Private Eye reported that the school had a large deficit and a repairs backlog when it joined the federation.[13]
Academic performance
editResults in 2018:
At A-level, 65.7% of the grades were A*–C and 25.9% were grades A*–B.
At GCSE level, 54.2% of students achieved 9-4 grades in English and Mathematics.
Alumni
edit- Devizes Grammar School
- Ian Bishop (born 1962), Anglican priest, bishop of Thetford
- Prof Malcolm Godden,[citation needed] Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon 1991–2013 at the University of Oxford
- Sandra Howard, wife of Michael Howard[14]
- William Saunders,[citation needed] Liberal MP 1885–86 for Kingston upon Hull East and 1892–95 for Newington Walworth
- Angela Wilkinson, (Secretary General & CEO at World Energy Council)[15]
References
edit- ^ a b "Devizes School". GOV.UK: Schools. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ "School Profile". Directgov. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- ^ a b "Devizes School". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ^ "Devizes Grammar School". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ^ "Southbroom Secondary School". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ^ Historic England. "Southbroom House (1252378)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ^ "St. Peter's Church of England Aided School". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ^ Moore, Joanne (26 May 2015). "Homes plan for Devizes school site agreed". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
- ^ "Braeside Education & Conference Centre". Wiltshire Council: Right Choice. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ Lewis Cowen (29 April 2010). "School reunion will remember lion terror".
- ^ Parsons, Tony (1 May 2005). "Idiots like this hand use over to yob rule". The Mirror. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ Moore, Joanne (5 December 2019). "Devizes School wants to sell-off land to pay for facelift". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ Private Eye, 21 December 2019, p40
- ^ "Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Sandra Howard, writer and former model". The Independent. 9 November 2006. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ^ "Angela Wilkinson". World Energy Congress. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
