Graveney School

History

Whilst Graveney School can trace its origins back to a school founded in the late 1660s by Sir Walter St John, 3rd Baronet, in Battersea, the modern Graveney was established in 1986 as an amalgamation of Ensham School (for girls) and Furzedown Secondary School (mixed). Furzedown was itself formed in 1977 as an amalgamation of Battersea Grammar School (for boys) and Rosa Bassett School (for girls).

Created as a standard comprehensive school under the control of the local education authority (initially the ILEA, later Wandsworth), a significant change occurred in 1991 when Graveney became a grant-maintained school, giving far greater control to the school governors. Following the changes resulting from the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, which abolished grant-maintained status, the school preserved a degree of independence by electing to become a foundation school.

The school achieved Technology College status in 1995 and also moved to a partially selective admissions policy in September of that year. From the introduction of selection the school was permitted to choose up to 50% of pupils by ability, however this was reduced to 25% in 2000, increased to 30% in 2001 and reduced back to 25% in 2004, where it remains in 2008.

Years 7 to 11

When students begin their life at Graveney in Year 7, they are placed into sets depending on their Year 6 SATs. Students can either be put into Extension (3 classes), Upper (3 classes), Middle (2 classes), or Support (1 class). Students are often moved across sets depending on their ability. The workload is slightly higher in Upper than in Middle and higher still in extension. Students in the Support class receive personal mentoring by the school, with their tutor often being a member of the special needs department.

Years 7 to 9

Upper, Extension and middle study one Modern Foreign Language. These could either be French or Spanish. From Year 8 onwards, there is an opportunity to do twilight classes, which means on top of the language you already do, if you'd like to, you can choose another language e.g. German, or French and Spanish (if you do not already do these).

Years 10 to 11

After Christmas of year 9, usually February or March, students pick their GCSE options. English Language and Literature, Maths, Science, PE, and a MFL are compulsory for the two years. Up to three additional subjects are usually chosen, with the option to do 'Twilight' Drama, Dance or Latin as an extra out of school GCSE.

With regards to Science, the majority of students do the Triple Science award - a GCSE for Biology, Chemistry and Physics, whereas some do the Double award. There are a number of students who instead do BTEC Science.

The results of the Year 9 exams determine what sets the students will be in.

The Sixth Form

Graveney School also has a large sixth form college, offering a wide range of subjects to study at A-level. The sixth form is open for application to both internal students (students that studied at Graveney School), and external candidates (students that received their secondary education elsewhere).

The sixth form offers a range of subjects that were not available to take at GCSE level, such as Archaeology, Critical Thinking, Film Studies, Government & Politics, Further Mathematics, Media Studies, Philosophy, Photography and Psychology, though some of these subjects will only run if a substantial number of students apply to it. Students can also retake GCSEs, or follow Open University enrichment courses. The sixth form has minimum entry requirements of 5 A*-Cs at GCSE level for internal students, and 7 A*-Cs for external applicants. For a student to graduate from year 12 to year 13, they must have attained minimum grades of two Es at AS level.

The sixth form does not have a uniform policy, however students must wear their ID card visibly at all times.

Site and buildings

Graveney initially operated on both the former Furzedown and Ensham sites, however the Ensham building was soon closed and the school now occupies what was Furzedown Secondary School on either side of Welham Road in Tooting, south west London.

The part of the site on the southern side of Welham Road is the former Rosa Bassett School, the main building of which was opened in 1913. The larger area to the north of the road is the former Furzedown Training College (a teacher training college), which was opened in 1915. The buildings surround a tree-lined campus and include Furzedown House, a Grade II-listed Georgian house, built in 1794.

The other buildings include: Red House, College House, Lower School, Upper Science, Lower Science, Atkins Technology Centre, the Tech block, an independent study centre, a sports hall and a multigym.

Each building is dedicated to two or more subjects.

On the north side of Welham Road, there is also a recreation area which is owned by Wandsworth Council but used by Graveney during school hours for Sports Studies and PE lessons. The area consists of a small running track, an astro turf pitch, 2 tennis courts which can be converted into another pitch and a cricket area.

Headteachers and principals

John Phillips had been headmaster of both Battersea Grammar and Furzedown Secondary Schools prior to his appointment at Graveney.

Graveney now has a separate principal and headteacher (first vice-principal); the current headteacher is Keith Barbrook.

House system

Graveney operates a system in years 7 to 9 whereby the students are divided into houses for inter-house competitions and other similar activities. The house names are linked to the three original schools that merged to form Graveney:

Year forms

Years 7 to 11 consist of nine forms. The forms break down into: 3 extension band forms, 3 upper band forms, 2 middle band forms and 1 support form.

Notable alumni