Downend School

Downend School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, situated on Westerleigh Road in the suburban village of Downend in South Gloucestershire, England.

Downend School
Address
Westerleigh Road Downend , South Gloucestershire , BS16 6XA England
Coordinates	51°29′32″N 2°29′36″W
Information
Type	Academy
Established	2013
Department for Education URN	139345 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Head teacher	Linda Ferris
Gender	Mixed
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1,325
Capacity	1,425
Website	http://www.downend.com/

About

The school has four houses: Carpenter (green), Brunel (red), Grace (blue) and Muller (yellow), each named after a different famous person from Bristol. Students are sorted into these houses somewhat at random, though some allowance is made for siblings and friendships. Each house has house captains, which can consist of four house captains or two houses and two vices. Generally, these are two girls and two boys. The house is shown via the tie that each student wears, which has three stripes repeating down it, one thin white stripe, one thick navy stripe, and one medium stripe, which is the house colour. There is also the school logo on the tie (a shield with small images representing the houses).

In addition to the tie, the uniform consists of a navy blazer and the school logo situated in a pocket on the left. A white shirt is worn, along with dark grey tailored trousers and black leather shoes. There is also the option of wearing a dark grey skirt instead of trousers.

CSET

Downend is part of an educational trust called Castle School Education Trust, named after Castle School.

Sixth Form

Downend and Mangotsfield share a sixth form, located in the Downend School premises.

The logo of this sixth Form is a 6 made up of various green shapes, including squares and a smaller 6.

Students at this sixth form are mainly from Downend or Mangotsfield School, though some come from other local schools.

History

Page School for Girls

Staple Hill Senior School for Girls was established in 1933 and 1947 became Staple Hill Secondary Modern School, having separate departments for boys and girls. After the Chase Comprehensive School had been built for the boys in about 1966, the girls stayed in the buildings in North View, and it was renamed Page School for Girls.

Establishment

In September 1982, Page School for Girls merged with the coeducational Stockwell Hill Comprehensive School, and the new school was called Downend Comprehensive School.

Later years

It was renamed Downend Community School. In 2005, it moved to Westerleigh Road.

Tamryn Savage was instated as head teacher for the school year beginning in 2006 and onwards after the acting head teacher Ray Lockey retired. She left at the end of the academic year 2010-2011 and was replaced by Will Roberts. The buildings of Page School for Girls were demolished from 2007 to 2008.

The school converted to academy status on 1 March 2013.

Notable former pupils

• Actor Mike Bailey, best known for playing the role of Sid Jenkins on Skins (TV series)
• Sajid Javid, Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, formerly Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Chris Mason (darts player), former professional darts player

External links

• Official Site