The Forest School, Winnersh
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| Motto | Esse Quam Videri |
|---|---|
| Established | 1957 |
| Type | Academy |
| Principal | Mary Sandell |
| Deputy Head of behaviour | Robin Bertrand |
| Deputy Head | Jonathan Hannam |
| Head of Sixth | Stuart Jackman |
| Chair | David Auger |
| Founder | Walter G. Jackson |
| Location | Robin Hood Lane Winnersh Wokingham Berkshire RG41 5NE England Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| DfE number | 872/4050 |
| DfE URN | 139853 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports Pre-academy reports |
| Staff | 210 |
| Students | 1189 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Ashdown, Bramshill, Kielder, Langdale, New, Sherwood, Windsor |
| Colours | Blue and Gold |
| Formerly named | Forest Grammar School |
| Gender of Sixth Form | Mixed |
| Website | The Forest School |
The Forest School is an all-boys secondary school and mixed sixth form with academy status, located in Winnersh, Berkshire, England. The school was judged to be "Good" with some "Outstanding" aspects in its most recent OFSTED inspection.[1] It is located on Robin Hood Lane, the B3030 road, next to Winnersh railway station.[2] Since September 2012, the Forest has educated academy players from local Football League Championship football club Reading FC.[3]
Contents
History
The Forest School began as Woodley Hill Grammar School in 1957, becoming the Forest Grammar School. The school was founded by Walter G. Jackson (also the mayor of Wokingham in 1953[4]) who was the first headmaster of the school. Mr Jackson retired in 1968, to be replaced by Mr J. Piercy.
In November 1965, the Nestlé company donated an Elliott 405 computer to the school, which was a first generation valve computer. The BBC science television programme Tomorrow's World broadcast an article on 5 February 1969 about how the school used this computer to teach the pupils.[5]
Houses during the grammar period were named after local watercourses, Kennet, Thames, Enborne, Loddon.
The Forest School became a comprehensive school in 1974. It has been a Business and Enterprise College since 2003 and was appointed by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust as the "Enterprise Hub School for Berkshire" in 2006. On 1 July 2013 Forest School formally converted to academy status.
Sport
In 2006 The school U15 Football team won the National Cup. In 2007 The school U16 Football team (identical to the Under 15 squad) were runners up in the National Cup, losing narrowly to the opposition. In 2009 The school U14 Football team were runners up in the National Cup, losing 2 - 1 to Audenshaw School, the match was staged at Manchester United's Old Trafford Stadium in front of over 600 Forest School supporters.
The school has also produced several fine rugby players,[citation needed] the most notable being Rhodri McAtee, ex-England school boy who is now consistently selected for the Welsh International Sevens team, whilst playing for Cornish Pirates in National League One.
House System
There are currently seven houses at The Forest School, all named after English forests. Students are given a house upon entry in Year 7, and any future siblings will also be allocated the same house. The houses were also allocated animals to represent each house in September 2015.
The seven houses and their animals are:
Ashdown Antelope
Bramshill Bear
Kielder Kite
Langdale Lion
New Nighthawk
Sherwood Shark
Windsor Wolf
Pastoral Care
The school offers excellent pastoral care to all students. Whenever possible, students keep the same Form Tutor and Head of Year throughout Years 7-11. The school currently has its own 'Pastoral Zone', which consists of the Director of Pastoral Care's office, confidentiality boxes for each year group and the newly formed student support group named 'Safe School Leaders' are also on hand in the area before school and at break and lunchtimes to offer peer support to students.
Business and Enterprise Specialism
As part of its business and enterprise specialism, students at The Forest are encouraged to take part in a wide range of business-related extra curricular activities. These have involved enterprise days, work experience, mock interview days, a young chamber of commerce.
Bluecube@Forest
Bluecube@Forest was formed in October 2015 to merge all of the student-run businesses into one company. The company mainly works with internal clients and small local businesses. Since launch they have seen a steep serge in interest, and currently have 12 employees from Years 9 to 11.
At present, there are currently three divisions within the company, expanding to four in January 2016. The current Directors are Sam Hensley-Book and Arjun Naha.
The divisions are
BluecubeDesign A graphic design company (previously named Forest Design) run by selected students that create graphics for customers clients both within and outside of the school. The current Division Manager is Kyle Mandell, and directed by Sam Hensley-Book.[6]
BluecubeWebDesign A company specialising in web and app design service for internal and external clients (previously named Forest Tech). It has now created a website for a local sports council, an app for the school and many other tools used by students. The current Division Manager is Oliver Hardman, and directed by Arjun Naha. [7]
BluecubeYearbooks Consisting of a team of three that create the annual school yearbook for Year 11 students. The current Division Manager is Nathan Bridges, and directed by Sam Hensley-Book.
BluecubeAnimations Launching on Tuesday, 5th January 2016. The team will create animations, such as website adverts, presentations and scrolling banners. The anticipated Division Manager is Sam Anderson, and will be directed by Arjun Naha.
Previous Enterprises
Forest Lockers An internal company that offers metal lockers around the school for use of the students as a replacement for the old wooden lockers that were very run down and insecure, initially run by its creator, student Wing-Hou Chan, as an entry for the Tycoon in Schools competition, it now owns nearly all of the lockers in the school. Forest Lockers ended operation in September 2015 after Chan had left Forest. The school now manages all of the lockers internally.[8]
Forest Sixth
The school won a bid in early 2014 to build a new sixth form centre. The planning application was approved on Monday 19 January 2015. The new centre includes a café, three design studios, and eight classrooms.[9]
Subjects taught
| Subject | Taught at KS3 | Taught at GCSE | Taught at A level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Art | Compulsory | Yes | Yes |
| Biology | Part of Science | Compulsory | Yes |
| Business Studies | No | Yes | Yes |
| Chemistry | Part of Science | Compulsory | Yes |
| Computer Science | Part of ICT | Yes | Currently in trial |
| Design Technology | Compulsory | Yes^ | Yes |
| Drama | Compulsory | Yes | Yes |
| Economics | No | Yes | Yes |
| English | Compulsory | Compulsory | Yes |
| French | Compulsory | Yes | Yes |
| Geography | Compulsory | Yes | Yes |
| German | 2x Y9 classes trialled in 2014/15 | No | No |
| History | Compulsory | Yes | Yes |
| ICT | Compulsory | Yes | Yes |
| Law | No | No | Yes |
| Mathematics* | Compulsory | Compulsory | Yes |
| Media Studies | No | Yes | Yes |
| Music | Compulsory | Yes | Yes |
| Philosophy | No | No | Starts Sept 2016 |
| Photography | No | Yes | Yes |
| Psychology | No | No | Yes |
| Physical Education | Compulsory | Yes | Yes |
| Physics | Part of Science | Compulsory | Yes |
| PSHE | Yes | Yes | EPQ |
| Religious Education | Compulsory | Compulsory | Not timetabled |
| Sociology | No | Yes | Yes |
| Spanish | Most able linguists in Y8 & 9 | Yes | No |
| Travel & Tourism | No | No | Withdrawn from 2015 Options |
*Further Maths is optional at A Level. ^Students can opt for one of the following: Electronics, Food Technology, Graphics or Product Design.
Notable former pupils
The Forest School
- Nathan Tyson, Former Reading and England Under-20 side who was at Reading FC and now is playing at Derby County.
- Dan Howell, professional YouTuber and BBC Radio 1 DJ. Commonly known as "danisnotonfire[2]".
- Steven Lewington, Former professional wrestler, Most notable while performing as DJ Gabriel on ECW.
- Mike Lamb, Director at Pfizer.
- Samm Bate, a professional model working for London Modelling agencies, featured at London Fashion Week 2013 and in Vogue Italia.
Forest Grammar School
- Prof Ivor Goodson, Professor of Learning Theory since 2004 at the University of Brighton, and Professor of Education from 1996-2004 at the University of East Anglia.
- Prof Martin Chalkley, Professor of Health Economics from 2011 at the University of York, and Professor of Economics from 1999-2011 at the University of Dundee. President of the Scottish Economic Society, 2006-2008.
- Dr Trevor Hince, Director since 2004 of The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine.
- Michael Anthony Price LVO, High Commissioner to Fiji from 2000-2.
References
- ↑ OFSTED Page
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ {http://www.wokingham-tc.gov.uk/civic/past-mayors}
- ↑ {http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0154hns Nellie: School Computer}
- ↑ Forest Design | The Forest School
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Forest Lockers | The Forest School
- ↑ Sixth Form | The Forest School
