The King Edward VII School site is to benefit from a massive £24 million investment to create a magnificent new campus.

A brand new school for up to 800 11-16 year olds, a separate Post-16 Centre for students from all the secondary schools in the area, even better community sports facilities and new housing are all planned for the campus.

The new campus marks the beginning of a new era for King Edward VII. The school has been working tremendously hard with the County Council to ensure pupils reach the highest standards possible and to boost its appeal to prospective pupils and their parents or carers.

County Council Leader, David Parsons, said: “This is the largest ever investment into a school campus in Leicestershire. The new campus will not only be one of the best in the county, but one of the best in the country.

“The investment shows our determination to provide the very best teaching and learning environment possible.”

Plans for how the new campus could look have been unveiled. A consultation exercise, which runs until May 16th, is being held giving you the chance to make your views known.

To view the plans, and have your say on the proposals, visit: www.leics.gov.uk/meltonvob

 

 

A greater choice in where to study and wider curriculum opportunities will be available to secondary school students in Melton Mowbray.

The County Council’s Cabinet has agreed to establish a single catchment area for admissions to the town’s three secondary schools. This will apply to all pupil admissions from the autumn term, 2009.

It has also been agreed that under the new arrangements, pupil admissions to any of the three Melton secondary schools should continue to be guided by the current admissions policy as it applies to all county schools.

The new arrangements do not include Belvoir High School which will maintain its own catchment area serving the Vale community.

In reaching their decision, the Cabinet gave careful consideration to all the responses submitted during the consultation on catchment areas.  

On balance it was considered that establishing a common catchment area offers the best way forward for Melton secondary schools as a mean of managing the transition, offering improved choice for pupils, achieving balanced intakes and supporting the longer term development of the schools working in partnership.

The Cabinet also requested that the Admissions Forum review the position of the St Francis Catholic School with a view to establishing a feeder link to one or more of the Melton secondary schools, for pupils wishing to continue their learning locally.

 

 

Principal at King Edward VII School, Chris Williams, is taking on an exciting national role.

Mr Williams will be leaving at the end of the summer term for his new position which is part of a government initiative to improve and personalise learning.

Chris Williams said: “I would like to thank students, staff, governors and parents for all their support during my time as principal at King Edward VII. I am sad to be leaving at a time when the school has such an exciting future, but I am looking forward to my new role.”

Director of Leicestershire County Council’s Children’s and Young People’s Service, Gareth Williams, said: “I would like to thank Chris Williams for all his hard work as principal at King Edward VII and wish him every success in his new position.

“We will be working closely with the governing body to ensure that the school has experienced leadership in place to take forward the exciting new developments at King Edward VII and the Post-16 Centre.”

 

 

The secondary schools in Melton Mowbray and the Vale of Belvoir are working together to offer a fantastic range of specialisms and curriculum opportunities.

The exciting new specialisms, to be introduced from the start of the autumn term, 2009, will give pupils the chance to follow a particular subject path which they are passionate about.

Pupils will be able to benefit from attending a school offering a distinct area of expertise, catering especially for that area of study in excellent new surroundings.

When making a decision about which of the partner schools they would like to attend, pupils, with their parents or carers, will be able to consider the new specialisms on offer at each school.

The specialisms for each school are:

• Long Field High School - Sport. The school is to be equipped with a brand new sports hall and will offer a new vocational diploma course dedicated to sport and is considering plans for a new sports physiotherapy course.

• John Ferneley High School - Business and Enterprise. The new £15 million John Ferneley High School will be divided into five different  ‘learning zones’. One of these  will be dedicated to business  and enterprise, which includes ICT, and will have state-of-the-art equipment to support its specialism.

• Belvoir High School - Science. The school is to have five new state-of-the-art science laboratories as part of a £5.9 million refurbishment and extension. Through the establishment of its Trust, it is also forging close links with businesses – some of which are in the science industry.

• King Edward VII School - Technology and Training. The school’s campus will receive a massive £24 million investment including a new Post-16 Centre and a brand new school for 11-16 year olds, providing the best environment and equipment possible for the specialism of training and technology.

All of the secondary schools will continue to provide core subjects, but there will be a much richer curriculum offering a broader range of GCSEs, GNVQs and vocational diplomas than is currently available in the area.

The secondary schools have been working together to ensure there will be more variety with a much wider range of subjects being offered across the partnership.

 

A new online magazine for sixth formers has been launched by students at King Edward VII School.

The website entitled Six aims to entertain, inform and consult with students from Melton Mowbray. Six is produced entirely by year 12 and 13 students with support from staff at the school.

Sixth formers can log on and get up-to-date information on events, local news, opinion articles and polls. As well as unloading with Six’s agony aunt, pupils can read reviews of the latest films, music and much more.

As well as being a useful source for sixth formers to log onto, the website will also help boost the skills of many of the school’s students wanting to pursue a career in the media or IT industry.

Anyone wanting to know more can log onto: www.sixonline.org.uk

This article was written by King Edward VII student, Sam Brough.

 

 

 

 

Leicestershire County Council has obtained a grant of £368,500 to help reduce carbon emissions in the new John Ferneley High School by over 60%!  

Specific green features of the new school will include:

•A building that maximises daylight and ensures high levels of natural ventilation

•A wind turbine to generate electricity (subject to planning permission)

•Energy efficient light fittings and sensors to control their use

•Low energy computers.

In addition, the design of the new school may allow for other measures, such as:

•Collecting rainwater to flush toilets

•Drainage systems which reduce flood risk

•Seeking to use recycled/sustainable materials in the construction of the building

•Encouraging methods of transport to and from school other than by car.

Ivan Ould, County Council Cabinet Member for the Children and Young People’s Service, said: “This is great news for the school and I am delighted that the Council has been able to secure this funding.  

“The building and sustainable measures within it will help preserve the environment, ensure it operates efficiently and will also be used as a learning tool to raise pupils’ awareness of environmental issues.”