Stantonbury Campus

Ethos

The concept for the school developed in the early 1970s with Geoff Cooksey appointed by Buckinghamshire County Council in 1971 where he worked with Tim Brighouse to create the first new secondary school of Milton Keynes. When the school opened in 1974, it introduced a first name policy which means students call staff by their first name rather than the normal convention of using the teacher's surname used in other schools.

Stantonbury Campus was the first secondary school in the country to not have a uniform, but 38-years later the school introduced a uniform for years 7-9 for the September 2012 term following pressure from governors and from Ofsted and growing discipline issues.

Stantonbury Campus has a unique ethos which are guiding principles in the management and the day-to-day life of the school. These are based upon equal value for all members of the school community (regardless of whether they are pupils or staff) and determined optimism for all. It has a history of educational innovation and has successfully defended the principles of comprehensive education in a climate which has sometimes been hostile to its inclusive and learner-centred ethos.

As part of its original concept as a "community school", open to the public as well as the students, the Campus has excellent facilities such as; an athletics track with all athletic sport equipment, a leisure centre complete with a swimming pool, a drama theatre, and science labs. The Leisure Centre and Theatre are now managed by a separate charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) - Stantonbury Art and Leisure Trust, established by the Campus in 2014.

The Stantonbury timetable was significantly different to other secondary schools, incorporating long 1 ¹⁄₄ hr and 2 ¹⁄₂ hr sessions, and during the 1970s and 1980s, suspending normal timetables every fortnight (later every month) for "Day 10", a day of extra curricular activity which was selected by the student. At the end of each school year, the timetable was suspended for a week for "Week 10".

Stantonbury Campus is the second biggest comprehensive schools in the country (Nottingham Academy being the largest since 2009). Having been a 12-to-18 school from its inception, it admitted students in Year 7 from September 2006, following reorganisation of secondary education in Milton Keynes. The campus is organised into five halls, four for 11- to 16-year-olds and one for sixth-form students. All pastoral support takes place in the halls, and students have much of their teaching there too. The proportion of students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is higher than is normally found. These include difficulties with speech, language and communication; hearing impairment; autistic spectrum disorder; and behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. The proportion of students eligible for free school meals is below the average. The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is similarly below average but, given the size of the campus, this represents a large number of students. Just over 20% of students are from minority ethnic groups. There are considerable numbers of students in the sixth form in receipt of the Education Maintenance Allowance. The campus has been a specialist Arts College (for performing and visual arts) since 1998 and, from 2006, has added two further specialisms - mathematics and computing, and applied learning.

Hall system

Due to the sheer size of the Campus, it has been necessary to split it into halls, which function as “mini schools”. Each hall has its own Head of Hall, who manages the halls as a head would manage a school. Each hall also has its own Team Coordinator and Hall Administrator, as well as the set year tutors. The school is split into two sides; one side consists of two mains halls, Saxon and Grafton, the latter being split into two buildings, the ‘Activities Block’ (Science and Design Technology Facility) and the Diner (formerly known as “The Pitstop”). The other side has the “Upper Level” building (Science, Drama and Design Technology Facility), the theatre and two halls, Portway and Dansteed. Dansteed was split into two buildings in 2006 due to the increase in the number of students attending the campus when 11-year-olds were accepted into the school. In between the two “sides” are Ashurst (sports hall), the Leisure Centre, the Library, The Hub (ICT), Main Reception and the Cooksey halls for Post 16 students. Grafton, Saxon, Dansteed and Portway are for years 7 to 11, while the Cooksey hall is for year 12 and 13 students. The Heads of Hall are Mark O'Callaghan, Roy Middleton, Steven White, John Lineham and Jon Adamson respectively. Cooksey hall was named after Geoff Cooksey, the first Director of Stantonbury Campus. Although student’s lessons usually only take place on one side of campus, with subjects such as English and Humanities being taught only by teachers from their own hall, some lessons will take place in various locations across campus. When students reach year 10, they will expect to have lessons more widely spread across campus.

Buildings

The campus is a large site with multiple buildings. In addition to the hall buildings some are used for specific curriculum areas whilst others are facilities buildings (such as The Diner or the Leisure Centre).

Some of the many buildings include:

Sixth form

The sixth form is based in its own hall in the centre of the campus; with a library, computer network, and a suite of tutorial and teaching rooms. The sixth-form curriculum and range of activities for students are broad: providing a wide range of academic courses leading to A level and AS level qualifications, along with vocational courses.

Achievement and standards

Students' achievement is satisfactory. When students arrive in Year 7 their attainment is below average and they make satisfactory progress through Key Stages 3 and 4. A noticeable number of students have limited competence in written and oral communication when they start at the campus. The campus has identified this group, which consists mostly of boys, and has begun to support their needs more effectively by extra literacy lessons and in-class support. A number of students arrive after the beginning of Year 7, including growing numbers who speak English as an additional language. They are supported extremely well and make excellent progress. Faculty leaders can demonstrate improvements in standards for these students as a consequence of this support. Standards at GCSE were below national averages in 2007 and 2008, and the campus is seeking to narrow this gap by introducing better tracking and monitoring procedures.

The arts

The Arts are a large part of life at Stantonbury Campus. They have a highly successful Performing Arts faculty with excellent facilities including a fully working theatre which is owned by the Campus. Stantonbury Campus has been an specialist Arts College since 1998 and holds the Artsmark Gold mark from the Arts Council of England.