Court Moor School

History

The 15.7-acre (64,000 m²) site for the school was purchased in 1957 for £3,810 by Hampshire County Council. Fleet Secondary Modern School, the earliest school in the town, moved into the site in 1960 and reopened as Court Moor School on 11 May. At the time, the school had only one building, 500 students and 20 teachers. Court Moor became a comprehensive school in 1974 and is part of the Hart school district.

The school is adjacent to the Basingstoke Canal and part of its site is designated a nature conservation area. The school gate is narrow because it was originally intended to be the trade entrance. Local residents were worried about the consequences of having the intended main gate opening onto their estate and it was never widened.

The Department for Education and Skills (DFES) recorded that in 2000 some 70% of all pupils leaving the school that year had attained five or more GCSE A*-C results, well above the national average of 49%. League tables for 2005, indicate that 76% of all pupils taking exams that year gained 5 or more A*-C results. The school was awarded Science College status in 2004. The school was inspected by OFSTED in 2009, where it received a rating of "outstanding" overall. The school was last inspected by OFSTED in 2013, where it received a rating of "good" overall.

Awards

A pupil that shows dedication to a sport may be awarded their colours when they reach upper school (years 10-11) . Colours come in three forms. The 1st stage is a Colours Commendation certificate. The 2nd stage is a Half-Colours certificate. The 3rd stage recognizes members of the school team with a sports team badge and, if the pupil is male, a colours tie. The tie is distinguished from the normal school tie by a green stripe that replaces the regular blue stripe.

However, awards at Court Moor are not limited to sports. The school gives out awards through the year and then gives out more at its annual Celebration of Achievement afternoon (for the lower school, years 7 and 8) and evening (for years 9 and 10). The school gives out awards termly for good effort and certificates of commendation from teachers during the school year. This is alongside postcards and House Awards. The House System plays a large part in the award system of Court Moor school. Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum House Awards are given out for the gaining of 50, 100, 200 and 400 house points, though so far only one Platinum award has been given out. Also, stars of the month are announced each month showing the highest house point achiever in that house, that month.

The House System features heavily in the Celebration of Achievement events as a few (normally 8) students for each House, in each year, are awarded a house prize for the most house points.

Student Leadership Team

The school has a team of Year 11 students appointed by the head teacher who act as representatives for the school and support the school council. It is composed of Head Boy, Head Girl, Deputy Head Boy and Girl, Senior Prefects and members of Court Moor's Student Council.

The House System

The House System came to Court Moor School in late 2010, bringing in a change in the way the school was organised. It has changed the Celebration of Achievement events and has introduced a certain measure of charity fund raising to the school. The four houses are: Brunel, Austen, Nightingale and Wellington. Each house has its own local charity that it has chosen to support: Brunel - Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, Austen - Daisy's Dream, Nightingale - Parity for Disability and Wellington - SSAFA Forces Help. Each house has a committee of House and Charity representatives that meet on a somewhat regular basis to discuss issues in the House System and plan fund raising events. Previous events include cake sales, abseils, throw a wet sponge at the teachers, guess the amount of sweets and easter eggs in the jar, selling Christmas toys and selling ice creams and drinks at the schools annual sports day.

So far (in chronological order), Wellington, Brunel and Austen have won the House Cup for the House with the most house points.

In year 9 Students have the option to stand for election as a deputy House captain. For each house 2 deputies are elected, who will serve in year 10. In year 11 it is decided which of the two deputies will become the House Captain and which one will become the Assistant House Captain.

Celebration of Achievement

Celebration of Achievement is usually an event for children's achievements to be recognised. Now,with the introduction of the House System the House captains and deputies open the event and present the house prizes.

The other prizes are grouped into the House and Olympic Values of: Friendship, Respect, Excellence, Determination, Inspiration, Courage and Equality.

Celebration of Achievement contains a large snapshot of life at Court Moor. This includes, alongside awards, presentations from students showing the different student and teacher lead departments of the school such as: The Friends Mentors, Learning Partnership Team, School Newspaper, The House System, The Rights Respect and Responsibilities committee, performances from drama plays and many more.

Celebration of Achievement is an excellent show of students success and of what goes on in Court Moor School.

Court Moor's Student Council

Court Moor's Student Council is made up of form representatives, year representatives, the head boy and the head girl. Student Council meetings are attended by two representatives from each year, the head boy, the head girl and the permanent teacher representatives - the head teacher, chairman of the governors and the site manager.

The Student Council Committee has successfully worked with other aspects of the school to improve the school society. It has planned and implemented projects such as the picnic bench shelters, funded by the schools PTA, and the schools newspaper (The CMS Newspaper).

In 2012 the Student Council entered the CMS Newspaper into the Speaker of the House of Commons's School Council Awards. Although not shortlisted, each school received the "We made a difference" web badge, that now resides on the school's website..

Newspaper

The CMS Newspaper (Court Moor School Newspaper) was set up in 2012 by the Student Council. When it was originally launched, it was led by two members of the Student Council. It successfully launched its first Issue on Thursday, 29 March. After the first issue was published, the job of Chief Editors/ Producers was announced. Three Chief Editors/ Producers lead the large team of people in the CMS Newspaper Crew. The CMS Newspaper releases an issue each half term and presents their work over the year at the school's celebration of achievement events.

The newspapers are published on the Court Moor School Website and are given out to each form in the school.

Friends Mentors

The friends mentors are a group of year 11s who are chosen, after application, to help the new year 7s to the school. They can also help with people in the school who feel they are being bullied. The Mentors have their own email address on the school system which troubled students are encouraged to contact. The friends mentors work closely with the year 7 prefects during the transition period in September, however the year 7 prefects take more of the responsibility during this period.

Schools Awards

Court Moor School has won several awards. These include: An OFSTED inspection rating of Outstanding in 2008 to 2009; Fairtrade school status; 'A school using the Olympic Values' recognition; Science College status; The UNICEF Rights Respecting School Mark; The Arts Council of England's Arts Mark; An ICT School Mark and a Speakers School Council "We made a difference" recognition in 2012.

Notable former pupils