Established September 1972 Headteacher Mr Wayne Lloyd Phone +44 1787 375232 Total enrollment 847 (2009) | Chair of Governors Gordon Jones Color Navy blue | |
Motto Excellence: For Each, For All Deputy Head Teachers Matt Gibson, Helen Yapp Similar Ormiston Sudbury Academy, Hadleigh High School, Hedingha School and Sixth Form, Stour Valley Communi, St Helena School Profiles | ||
Thomas Gainsborough School, formerly Great Cornard Upper School, is a secondary school and sixth form in the village of Great Cornard, located near the town of Sudbury in the English county of Suffolk that educates approximately 1,250 pupils.
Contents
It was granted the status of Specialist School in 1998, and was re-designated Technology College in 2001. The school converted to academy status in January 2015, when it became a member of the Samuel Ward Academy Trust.
Facilities
Included in the school is the new Great Cornard Sports Centre, which is open to the public outside of school hours, funded in part by a £563k grant from the English Active lottery fund. The new complex features a youth drop-in-centre, dance and martial arts studios, changing rooms, fitness studios, a coach education unit and a social area.
The Prospect Theatre, also in the school grounds, puts on a range of plays and concerts throughout the year and, from 26 March 2007, it is the base for the Sudbury Light Operatic Society.
The school completed the building of the new sixth form study block and library in 2009.
Reconstruction
In 2012, the school was granted funding for a total rebuild.
Academic performance
In their report on the school in October 2009 Ofsted gave an overall rating of the school as Good, point two on a four-point scale. The quality of care, support and guidance provide for pupils is described as outstanding.
Results for pupils at age 16 showed clear improvement between 2006 and 2009 outperforming both local and national indicators for pupils gaining 5 GCSE grades between A* and C, including English and Maths. In 2009 the school had the best contextual value added scores of any school in Suffolk.
Headteachers
Mr Wayne Lloyd became the current headteacher in January 2012. The previous headteacher Mr Michael Foley moved to become headteacher of the Thomas Hardye School in September 2011. Andy Samways (Deputy Headteacher) was Acting Headteacher between these dates.
Incidents
New Build. In 2014 the school was granted a £6 million build to replace the new school. The new school was proposed due to the age of the old school and needed a lot of replacement parts. The new school was expected to be finished September 2015, the old school will be knocked down in November 2015.
Notable former pupils
Martial arts expert Gemma Salter won the 2006 UK full contact fighting title and became the 2006 European champion in Chinese wrestling, shuai jiao.
The school contains memorials to a former teacher, Shelley Baisden, who died of cancer and to a popular teenager, Yibi Matthews, who died of HIV contracted at birth. Yibi Matthews was remembered as the boy with the big smile and his father, Rev David Matthews described Yibi's times at the school as "among his happiest". Also Mrs. Wait a learning mentor who suffered a long and hard battle with cancer
Television actor Rocky Marshall studied at the school in the late 1980s.
Ipswich Town footballer Jamie Griffiths studied at the school from 2006–08 and currently plays for Kettering Town, after a loan spell at Plymouth Argyle, and a short time at Sudbury.
England Goalkeeper Ian Walker studied at the school in the late 1980s.
Olympic Competitor (London 2012 seated discus) Jonathan Adams (athlete), studied at the school during his youth