WELCOME TO SHENFIELD HIGH SCHOOL… and thank you for your interest in our school.
We look forward to welcoming your son or daughter to Shenfield High School.
Alongside the prospectus, this supplement offers further information which we
hope you will find useful. We also welcome visits to our school.
GENERAL INFORMATION
School Hours
School begins at 8.35am (but we like students on the premises a few minutes before) and finishes at 3.15pm, with a 20-minute morning break and 50 minutes for lunch.
There are 50 1-hour lessons in our fortnightly timetable and, therefore, 25 hours a week of taught lesson time. Registration, assemblies and break add a further 50 minutes per day, and there are a further 50 minutes for lunch which students are expected to take in School unless you, the parents, have informed us otherwise. Thus, altogether students spend just over 33 hours per week in School. Homework or “home learning” as we call it, of course, is in addition to the normal School day.
Term Dates 2012/2013
We follow the Essex County Council dates for School Terms:
• Autumn Term 2012
Monday 3rd September to Friday, 21st December 2012
Half-term: 29th October to 2nd November
• Spring Term 2013
Monday, 7th January 2013 to Thursday, 28th March 2013
Half-term: 18th to 22nd February
• Summer Term 2013
Monday, 15th April 2013 to Tuesday, 23rd July 2013
Half-term: 27th to 31st May
May Bank Holiday: 6th May
Teachers’ In-Service Training days still to be decided.
Application Procedures
If you wish to apply for a place for your child to come to Shenfield High School, please complete the application form included in the Secondary Education Booklet sent to you by the Local Authority.
Admission Criteria
It is likely that we will have more applicants than our PAN of 228. Places will be offered strictly in order according to the following criteria:
1. Looked after children defined as children
who are in the care of, or provided with
accommodation by, a Local Authority.
2. Where the child has a brother or sister currently attending the School and living in the same household.(1)
3. Where there are medical grounds and/or strong social reasons (supported by a doctor's certificate or other appropriate professional) for admitting the child.
4. Children living(2) within the priority admissions area(3) for the School.
5. Applicants who, at the time of application, are registered in Year 6 in one of the following
Primary Schools: Blackmore County Primary, Chipping Ongar Primary, Doddinghurst CE Junior, Long Ridings Primary, Shenfield St Mary’s CE
Primary, St Peter’s CE Primary South Weald,
St Thomas of Canterbury Junior School, Kelvedon Hatch Primary School, Bentley St Paul’s Primary School, High Ongar Primary School, Larchwood Primary School.
6. Other children residing in the area known as
the 'Five Parishes' (Blackmore, Doddinghurst, Kelvedon Hatch, Navestock, Stondon Massey) or in parts of Nine Ashes, Marden Ash, High Ongar and Chipping Ongar, not attending those Primary Schools listed above.(3)
7. Proximity of the child's home to the School
(as the crow flies) with those living nearer being accorded the higher priority.
(1) Brother or sister defined as "each of two or more children, having one or both parents in common and living in the same family unit in the same family household as the other children". The older child must be attending the School at the time of
application and reasonably expected to still be at the School at the time the younger child is admitted.
(2) Living in the area shall mean "main place of permanent residence of the child and family both at the time of application and of admission and for the foreseeable future". The School reserves the right to seek proof of residence at the given address.
(3) The priority admissions area for Shenfield High School has been enlarged as a consequence of the closure of Sawyers Hall and the ‘Five Parishes’ also need formal clarification. Parents are advised to check the definitive map available for inspection
at the School.
Pressure on places is high. Those applying under Criterion 7 need to be sure they have a contingency plan if space does not allow their admission.
Parents living in Brentwood are strongly advised to ensure that their local school is included as one of their chosen four options or face a prospect of Essex assigning them to a school out of town.
Application Forms will be distributed by Essex County Council and must be returned to them.
Travel
Students travel to Shenfield High School from a wide area.
Essex County Council provides a free coach service for students from the Five Parishes and Ongar.
Students from the villages to the North and West of Ongar may be granted concessionary passes to travel from Ongar if space on the coaches allows.
There are, of course, extensive public travel services and buses stop on Chelmsford Road directly outside the School. Some students, particularly those from Havering, prefer to use British Rail. Shenfield Station is a 12-minute walk from the School.
Uniform
The School is fully committed to School uniform. Specialist School items (e.g. the blazer, blouse, tie, PE kit) are available from the School suppliers.
Prices are kept to the minimum: we do not want to involve parents in unnecessary costs but hope to ensure that students look smart and take a pride in their appearance. School is their work-place and should be treated as such by the students themselves. The students are expected to dress formally and professionally according to the conventions stated when they join us. A detailed uniform list will be circulated in the Spring to those joining the School the following September, so in plenty of time to inform your buying decisions.
Specialising in
Business & Enterprise, Maths & Computing
Shenfield is part of the Government’s scheme to promote Specialist Schools through the Secondary sector. We are delighted that the excellent work of the School has been recognised, as well as our innovative and ambitious plans for the future.
So why Business?
Simple! Skills for Business are Skills for Life.
As we see it, Business demands communication skills; the ability to work with others; the ability to plan; the ability to listen; the ability to enumerate demand, supply and costs; the ability to argue a cogent case and, of course, the ability to lead and manage.
The need for strategic thinking, planning ahead and the art of persuasion are obviously so important in the real world, and in just about any walk of life.
And Computing?
New electronic technologies have already transformed the world of work (and, for that matter, life at home and childhood itself). To be credible, a modern school curriculum must reflect the technological world in which we all now live.
If our children are to function successfully as adults in the 21st century, an understanding and confidence with technology will be vital to them.
Local businesses also know their investment in computing is essential if they are to maintain their marketing edge. Our specialisms sit very well with each other.
So what are the aims
of the exercise?
We, as a School, have an extremely strong track record. By building upon our past successes and developing this new avenue, we expect to:
• Raise the achievement of our students
throughout the School and across the board.
• Create a learning environment that is on the “cutting edge” by enriching technological practice and helping students to learn
independently.
• Increase interest in Business related subjects, particularly post-14, and develop a greater
culture of work-related learning.
• Prepare students for possible careers in commerce and finance and positions of management and leadership.
• Collaborate more effectively with our
community, including our parents, other schools, employers and the voluntary sector.
Are other schools involved?
Of course! The School also believes that a
collaborative team approach to almost anything
is very much stronger than the alternative.
We seek to share our good practice with others and, in turn, draw from their skills and differing perspectives. Our partner Primary Schools are all local and many of their students subsequently
become ours. They are: St Mary’s, Long Ridings, Doddinghurst, Blackmore, Chipping Ongar and
St Peter’s.
Our “family” has enjoyed regular contact, both
in the everyday sharing of classroom experiences, and in the staff room where policies are decided and lessons are planned. In particular, we have
developed links in core subjects such as Maths, English and Computing, to the benefit of all
concerned and supported Young Enterprise
projects in our family of Primary Schools.
In 2006, Shenfield was selected by Central
Government as the “Hub School” that would lead and train other schools across Essex in Enterprise Education. In this capacity, the School works closely with other schools and is responsible for
developing and supporting Enterprise education.
Does Brentwood as a whole benefit?
Yes. The School is conscious of its role as a provider of a crucial public service. We seek to strengthen further our community relationships through our Specialist School status.
The air-conditioned Jack Petchey Training Centre is equipped with a high level of ICT. It lies at the heart of the revamped and relocated Business Studies Department, and is the centre of an adult training programme out of School hours.
So who pays?
To support the bid, we raised just over £50,000 sponsorship; nearly half of that came from parents. But such considerable plans cost a lot more.
Our success has triggered Government support worth around £750,000 over the first four years, and
another £600,000 in the second three-year phase.
That is a very strong return!
Special thanks to our Sponsors:
• The parents of Shenfield High School
• The Jack Petchey Foundation
• Deutsche Bank
How will this benefit my child?
Business and Enterprise specialism has meant we have been able to offer a wider variety of courses to students, building upon new business related courses (e.g. A Level Law, A Level Accounting, GCSE Statistics, BTEC Business). Our computing facilities enable the students to offer high profile ICT-based presentations to their fellow classmates.
Each Autumn there is a “Business and Enterprise Week” for Years 7 to 9, during which all teaching areas will inject Business themes and Enterprise
activities into their teaching. In July a second
Enterprise Week involves everyone in all kinds of team-based activities and opportunities for off-site trips. At other times of the year, all Year Groups will enjoy some kind of “conference” type activities and/or business related challenges and competitions with the objective of developing their enterprise skills.
Even in areas where links with Business are less than obvious, we are incorporating and developing relevant skills. For example, in Drama we have consciously set up various scenarios for students to act out – interview skills, presentation and other role plays.
In Citizenship students debate major issues related to Business Ethics.
In Geography we have developed themes about the effect of Business upon the environment and the need to make informal alternative uses of scarce resources. In Mathematics we have developed skills in financial capability, managing one’s own finances and becoming questioning and informed consumers of financial services.
The list goes on and on. All this is in addition to the improved language skills that youngsters are developing through presentation, persuasion and marketing exercises and the numeracy skills that come with the costing, planning and accounting that must be part of any major project.
All these skills will obviously be a huge benefit to anyone trying to make their way in the modern world – not just at work, but often at home, too.
Enterprise across the Curriculum
Better informed readers of this may well know that the new Government, seeing a strong private sector as the route to the UK’s economic recovery, is keen to promote Enterprise in schools. Shenfield is, of course, very well placed given its Business specialism and our staff have been important contributors to County Conferences on this topic.
Work Related Learning
There is also – for similar reasons – another
Government thrust to make the school curriculum more relevant to the world of work which began under Labour and which has survived the General Election of 2010.
Again, Shenfield has been well placed to handle this, given our specialism in Business and Enterprise, and has incorporated much of this thinking across many subjects.
At the risk of appearing a little smug, it is as if
Government – both old and new – has taken to heart our own mantra:
Skills for business … skills for life!
The Curriculum
Naturally the School’s teaching covers all the
requirements of the National Curriculum.
Where appropriate, Business and Enterprise skills will be taught within the main subjects.
Your child will study the following subjects during the first year at Shenfield High School:
Art and Design
Citizenship
Drama
English
Geography
History
Information Technology
Languages: • French or
• German or
• Spanish
Mathematics
Music
Opening Minds
Personal and Social Education
Physical Education
Religious Education
Science
Technology • Product Design or
• Food and Textiles
ENGLISH
Department
Introduction
The English Department places great emphasis on the learning needs of each individual student.
Beyond maintaining a high level of passes in exams at KS4 and KS5, it aims to provide students with the functional skills required to succeed in later life. We also want our students to be educated in the wider sense so that they are creative, curious, thoughtful young people able to read and make appropriate and sensitive judgements about all
aspects of their society. We recognise the place of technology in shaping communication in the
modern world but also we want to encourage
students to read books and other written materials. The department currently has 15 teachers, including both full and part-time staff, who work as part of
a team to support and encourage the students.
Key Stage 3
We begin by testing the students to get a baseline idea of their abilities and this includes an accelerated reading test which builds into a programme of study based on the library and designed to encourage reading at home. Students are placed in bands,
according to ability with boys and girls being taught separately, and there is an integrated humanities course for the lowest boys’ set in Year 7, designed to make the transition from primary school easier. The department has a co-ordinator for Gifted and Talented students and there is a series of events and competitions throughout the key stage to challenge and develop the more able pupils. All students take a half-termly test in reading and writing and their progress is monitored throughout and compared to their individual targets. If this all sounds very serious we are keen to promote the idea that effective communication is important for everyone and that English can be fun and enjoyable. At the end of the key stage pupils are given an exam to help determine which class they are placed in for GCSE.