The Chantry School is a mixed new Academy for students aged 11-16. It is situated in the village of Martley, in rural Worcestershire, seven-and-a-half miles west of Worcester, nestling amongst the hills of Abberley and Woodbury to the north with The Malvern Hills to the south. There are currently 712 students on roll with an intake of now 145 students in each year. The school has been over-subscribed for a number of years.

The Chantry serves a wide rural catchment area including the villages of Abberley, Astley, Broadheath, Broadwas, Clifton-on-Teme, Great Witley, Grimley & Holt, Hallow, Martley and touching the western suburbs of the city of Worcester. We have a strong partnership with our local primary schools. The school is also a partner in the Worcester City and Martley Consortium (known as ‘Aspire’), which consists of six 11-16 specialist schools, Rose Hill Special School, Worcester Sixth Form College and Worcester College of Technology where the majority of our students go for their post-16 education. Indeed, The Chantry works hard to ensure good liaison with both our primaries and our 16+ providers to ensure continuity for our students.

The Chantry High School opened in 1963 and became a comprehensive when Worcestershire re-organised in 1983. Since then the school has gone from strength to strength. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum to all students regardless of ability. We value the sense of community at The Chantry and strive to help students become active and responsible citizens. We have the support of a strong Governing body and an active Friends of The Chantry group led by parents. The school prides itself upon its high standards and calm and positive working atmosphere, where children can learn and teachers are committed, enthusiastic and expert in their field.

The school had an Ofsted inspection three years ago and we were absolutely delighted to achieve an overall ‘outstanding’ grade. The standards of teaching are high and relationships between staff and students are continually good.   In Summer 2012 79% of our students achieved 5 A*-C including English and Maths.  Standards of behavior in and out of class are outstanding.

In the last two years the school has received many awards from the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, and the DCSF for student achievement. We are a Fairtrade school, have achieved Healthy Schools status, have received International School award and are heavily involved in both the Eco-schools and the Sustainability agendas. We also have Investors in People and Sportsmark status.We have just achieved a Gold medal for our school grounds and playing fields.

The school buildings are situated in the heart of the countryside and range from 1960's to 2009 structures. We have a Sports Hall with fitness suite and climbing wall which is used out of school hours by the local community. We have a Music Centre with practice rooms and recording studio, and three new Design Technology rooms.We care for our environment and have a constant refurbishment programme. In the main, subject classrooms are grouped together: Maths and Science, Design Technology, Languages, English and Humanities. Drama has its own studio. In 2009 we opened our new Learning Resource Centre/Library in the heart of the school which extends opportunities for flexible learning.

As well as the formal curriculum the school runs a range of lunchtime and after-school activities. There are also many off-site visits within the school day, for example theatre trips for History, English and Drama; Music trips; fieldtrips for Geography, R.E., History, D.T; lectures e.g. Maths and Science. Trips also run at weekends and during holidays, for example language exchanges, fieldtrips, ski-trips, art visits.

The pastoral and curriculum support in the school is strong, starting with good liaison with our partner primary schools, working through each year group and moving beyond The Chantry through our careers programme into post 16 provision and the world of work and training. 

There are currently 48 full and part-time teaching staff, 41 support staff, plus cleaning and catering contract staff. Our management structure includes the Leadership Team of Headteacher, Deputy, four Assistant Headteachers and Business Manager, Heads’ of Department and Year Heads. Almost all teachers are tutors; we have fixed Heads’ of Year and tutors rotate through the two key stages. There are 25 one-hour lessons in our weekly timetable. In lessons students are grouped in a variety of ways to suit learning needs. Special Educational Needs are supported both through and alongside the regular curriculum.

We offer an extensive and dedicated PSHE time and a mixture of academic and vocational courses at KS4, where students have a free choice of subject combinations.

We can only offer a brief view of the school here.  The best way to judge the school is to visit.  We always welcome visitors, so if you want to see our students and staff in action please do contact us.

 

Andy Dickenson

Headteacher

January 2013