Phoenix School is a very exciting place to be, either as a pupil, teacher, support staff or leader. Everyone involved with the school is committed to continuous improvement.
We are a growing 11-16 mixed comprehensive school, which has transformed in recent years. Significant changes in leadership and staffing, with a singular commitment to raising standards, led to a good Ofsted report (2002). Now first choice for the community (NOR has risen from 500 in 1998 - 933 in 2006), Phoenix maintains a trend of significant improvement in attainment, behaviour and attendance and achieved its best ever GCSE results in 2005 (41% 5A*-C) and second best in 2006 (38% 5A*-C). Our KS2 to KS4 CVA places us in the top 16% of schools in the country.
We pride ourselves on providing good all-round education: academic, personal, social and health and we are fully committed to inclusion. The school is forward looking, taking a lead in significant developments in the borough: the strong tradition and commitment to sport led to designation as a hub school for one of the two School Sports Partnerships in Telford (2005); leading on multi-agency working and the Every Child Matters agenda in the LA, led to Phoenix being designated a Full Service Extended School in partnership with Captain Webb Primary school (2005), developing programmes of activities and professional services to meet the needs of pupils and community.
We believe the ability to learn is the single most powerful tool an individual can possess: ‘Learning To Learn’ is an area the school is now driving forward.
We are committed to giving all pupils the best possible opportunities. Pupils in KS3 are taught in a variety of grouping and setting arrangements, with clear differentiation, to support the needs of all pupils. Pupils with G&T and SEN are identified and teachers target their teaching to meet the needs of these pupils. We have developed a significant range of activities for our G&T pupils, giving them additional learning opportunities, working alongside other youngsters, both within the school and across the borough. Pupils with SEN are supported by staff from our Education Support Unit, through programmes of in-class support and focused withdrawal sessions. Pupils with EBSD are supported by our Inclusion Centre through a range of personalised learning programmes, designed to engage pupils positively in the learning experience and raise self-esteem.
Together with other providers, we have developed a wide variety of personalised pathway opportunities for pupils in KS4 and have enhanced our curriculum provision to offer the widest range yet of examination courses; 98% of pupils were allocated to the option subjects of their choice. Our pupils have responded to the opportunities available to them, with record numbers of pupils leaving to take up places in further education .
We believe in providing pupils with a breadth of opportunities both in and out of lessons and consequently offer a full range of extra curricular and enrichment activities.
We continue to search out new opportunities to give our Pupils a Voice in their own education and their community: we have trained our School Councillors to take an even more active role in the school: attending conferences, contributing to decision-making across the borough of Telford and Wrekin, as well as taking an active role in the selection and appointment of new staff within the school.
Many staff have joined the school in the last 5 years. They are hard working and extremely supportive of each other. There is a comprehensive new staff induction programme for all staff from NQTs to Leadership Team. Staff are encouraged to take an active role in their own CPD and have access to a variety of CPD opportunities.
We always set ourselves challenging targets and are always looking for ways we can improve even further.
In March this year we submitted a bid to become a Specialist sports college with Science as the second subject. We are hopeful of a positive outcome and are looking forward to the challenges and opportunities this will bring, particularly in connection with outdoor education, which is a key area of development.
Phoenix School is one of the Telford and Wrekin Schools to be fully remodelled as part of the governments Building Schools for the future programme. We are all excited about the prospect of contributing to the design of our school, as a school which will serve the community now and for many generations to come.
If you are interested or excited by what you have just read, want to be part of a team of people committed to giving young people the best opportunities and feel that you too could make a difference to their education and their future, then Phoenix could well be the school for you.
Neil Stonehouse
Headteacher
