Established 1954 (1954) Interim Headteacher Jon Nunes Phone +44 1275 463371 Capacity 1,728 | Chair of Governors Maurice Moloney Founded 1954 Number of students 1,706 | |
 | ||
Deputy Headteachers Paul Conkie, Ben Houghton Similar Gordano School, Nailsea School, Churchill Academy and Sixth, Clevedon School, West Leigh Infants School | ||
Backwell School is a comprehensive secondary academy in Backwell, North Somerset, England.
Contents
- Backwell school winter ball 14 01 2017
- History
- Catchment area
- School site
- Extracurricular activities
- Notable alumni
- Former headteachers
- References
The school (a National Teaching School with Healthy School and International School status), has had academy status since March 2011 and leads the North Somerset Teaching Alliance. It also holds the Artsmark Gold award and includes a sixth form.
Backwell has previously been a Beacon School, visual and performing arts college specialist school and National Training School. It has 1,738 pupils, of which 387 are in the schools sixth form as of 2016, from the age of 11 (year 7) to the age of 18 (year 13).
Backwell school winter ball 14 01 2017
History
The original secondary modern school at Backwell was founded by Somerset County Council in 1954 and later became a comprehensive school in 1976 when the tripartite education system was abolished in the area. The school's original building dates from 1954, when Britain was in the midst of a post-war school-building boom.
In 2009, 71% of GCSE pupils achieved at least five GCSE passes above grade C including English and Maths. This is 21% above the national average that year. It is the highest performing state secondary school in North Somerset.
In November 2008, Backwell School was rated as outstanding by Ofsted. It was inspected again in May 2013 (no. 413323) due to the school having converted to academy two years previous. It was judged to be outstanding in all categories.
On 11 September 2015 a small fire broke out in the Cotswold house building, causing minor damage to the block. All staff and pupils were safely evacuated.
Catchment area
The school's catchment area includes the villages of Backwell, Yatton, Claverham, Cleeve and Kingston Seymour, although several hundred of the school's pupils come from locations outside of its official catchment area from locations such as Nailsea and Bristol. Admissions are managed by the local education authority - North Somerset Council.
School site
The site at Backwell is relatively large, featuring multiple large sports grounds to the North. Buildings vary extremely in design and age with the oldest part of the original school, known as 'Lower School' and the 'Science Corridor', which includes the main theatre, dating back to 1954—being the same design as at Kingsmead School while the Sixth Form Centre was completed in just 2011.
Backwell Leisure Centre is no longer part of the school grounds, but is situated directly next to the rear entrance of the school, and is used for swimming in PE lessons.
Extracurricular activities
Backwell is known for its strong association with the performing arts; in particular its bi-yearly Whole School Productions, which last featured the ever popular musical "Singin' in the Rain", regular music concerts, as well as the yearly student-organised sixth form production, this year (2016), being the Broadway musical "Hairspray", starring Ella Ferris as Tracy. The year before, the sixth-form organised a production of 'High School Musical', which was a sell out. All sixth form productions raise money for charities, this year's being Alzheimer's Society
In 2015 a radio station was launched, having been set up by the student council. Run entirely by a team of students headed by Edward Callow, it broadcasts a variety of music and topical conversation in line with its mission statement, For students — by students.
An online school newspaper was launched in 2016, hosted internally on the school’s network it provides topical information and stories relevant to students.