Kenilworth School and Sixth Form

History

Kenilworth School was three schools from the 1960s until 1974, Abbey High School, Castle High School & Kenilworth Grammar School. The three sites were then merged into Kenilworth School, with Castle High School becoming Castle Sixth Form, the Grammar school becoming Priory Hall and Abbey remaining as it was.

Both Halls were then overseen by the Principal of Kenilworth School who was Mr Wilson. The uniform for Abbey Hall was a black blazer with a red badge on the breast pocket with the letters "AH" and a red and black tie. Priory's uniform was the same except the badge and tie were blue and the letters said "PH". Girls were required to wear a skirt and boys' socks had to be grey. In 1983 boys and girls were allowed to wear earrings but only a single stud in one ear. Up until 1989 boys and girls sat on opposite sides of the school halls for assemblies. This practice was abolished to bring the school in line with modern thinking concerning gender integration.

From the early 1990s until 2003 Kenilworth School adopted a uniform similar to that of Abbey Hall, with pupils wearing a black blazer with red and blue badge over a long-sleeved white shirt, completed by a dark navy school tie with red and blue diagonal lines, along with black or grey trousers. This uniform policy was abandoned in January 2003 when the modern polo shirts were introduced. Lower School pupils wear the royal blue and Upper School the navy.

School today

Today, the school retains its three sites: Lower School, Upper School and Sixth Form. Each site is the main area for a certain key stage.

In February 2013 the school was inspected by Ofsted – the grading awarded was 1 (Outstanding) in every category (Leadership & Management / Teaching & Learning / Behaviour & Safety / Achievement) this was an improvement on the previous inspection 5 years previous where the school was awarded 2 (good) under the old Ofsted framework.

Lower School

Lower School is for students in Key Stage 3 (Year 7, 8 and 9). The Building of Lower School accommodates Lower School students for the registration period (tutor time) and break-times. Lower School is also the home of the library and the dance studio. Lower School also holds various subjects.

The Subjects taught in the Lower School buildings are;

Upper School

Upper School is for students who are studying GCSEs (Year 10 and 11). The Building of Upper School accommodates Upper School students for the registration period (tutor time) and break-times. Upper School is also the home of the drama studio. Like the Lower school, Upper school also holds various subjects.

This site was formerly the site of Kenilworth Grammar School.

The Subjects taught in the Upper School buildings are:

Sixth Form

The Sixth Form is where students take A level education. Based in Rouncil Lane, Kenilworth students can take a wide range of subjects providing they have the correct GCSEs usually 5 A* to C including English and Mathematics. The majority of Sixth Form students will move onto some form of Further Education (usually university) after leaving the Sixth Form. There is no formal uniform at Kenilworth Sixth Form. In 2013 8 students were accepted at Oxbridge Universities and the majority joining Russell Group Universities.

The Head of Sixth Form is currently Mr. Mummery. In 2013, Ofsted reviewed the Sixth Form and scored it with a 1 for 'outstanding', making it one of the best Sixth forms in the midlands. There are many subjects a student can take in Sixth Form including:

Optional 5th subjects include:

Some students study for BTEC qualifications. Students may also take part in the consortium scheme, so they study other subjects at other local sixth forms. On Wednesday afternoon, students get the chance to do one of the following:

Headmasters

Kenilworth Grammar School

Mr Robert Mitchell (1963-1974)

Abbey High School

Miss Dorothy Parncutt

Castle High School

Mr. Jeremy 1956 - 1970

Kenilworth School

Mr Wilson (1974- 1990)

Dr Alex Begbie (1990- 2008)

Mr Hayden Abbot (2008 - present)

Meadows Sports Centre

The Meadows Sports Centre is an en-suite sports complex including a hall, fitness centre, men's and women's changing rooms and a brand new state of the art full size 3rd generation 'astroturf'. The sports complex, as well as being used by the school, is also used in 'out of school' hours allowing members of the public to use it. Various sports are played in the sports complex, including football, athletics, badminton, basketball and hockey.