The school opened in October 1938 as Kemp-Welch Senior Council School and taught both boys and girls —the boys were housed in the west side of the building, while the girls were housed in the east. This was typical for a school of its time. There was a 'quad' in the middle of the school which divided the two schools.
The school became a secondary modern after the Second World War and expanded rapidly in 1963 to house 600 students in both schools. An East Block was built onto the girls' school, housing additional classrooms, art rooms and a music room. The West Block was built across the boys' playground and housed classrooms, science labs and the boys' music room. Prior to this, new workshops and kitchens had been built. The boys' gym was built onto the rear of the boys' half of the main block (now the technology block) and the girls' gym was built on the school field and is now part of the leisure centre.
In 1974 the two schools merged to form one large school and the age was changed from 11–16 to 12–16. Not a great deal changed at the school over the next 15 years and the school fell into a state of disrepair. Pupil numbers dropped in the 1980s and 1990s leaving the school with empty classrooms. The leisure centre first opened onto the former girls' gym in 1992 and the second phase opened in 1998. In 1994 the school opened its sixth form. Despite this, the school was being seen as a 'rough school' with many parents in the local area sending their children to other schools.[citation needed] In 1999 only half of the children from Branksome Heath Middle School (largest in catchment) went to Kemp-Welch with the remainder going to either Poole or Parkstone Grammar School, Poole High or St Edwards Schools[citation needed].
In 2000 the school was put into 'special measures' by Ofsted[2] and the school aimed to improve itself in time for its next Ofsted visit or face closure. The school changed its name to Rossmore Community College and underwent a major building program to reinvent itself.[3]
In 2013, the school's new £9.8 million new buildings opened.[6]
In recent years, the school has faced a number of issues; it became national news in 2012 when it was reported that the school had achieved the worst GCSE results in England.[7] In 2014, the school became national news again when it lost £1,000,000 in an online banking scam; this was the second time that then-headteacher Cheryl Heron has been victim of scamming, as her previous school in Portsmouth were conned in a charity golf event.[8] Another issue under Cheryl Heron's time as headteacher, according to a 2015 article in The Independent, was building work that had occurred in the school, which involved "open-plan classrooms" that housed up to five different classes at a time.[9] This was reported as one of Heron's several failed ideas; in previous schools, she had tried implementing "ability over age" classes, wherein students were streamed based on ability regardless of age,[10] and devised a plan for students with poor attendance to have more flexible school hours.[11] The school achieved mainstream media recognition again in 2015, when it was forced to close after a significant number of staff members called in sick and cover staff could not be found. The school's closure coincided with a surprise inspection by OFSTED, who later described the school as "dysfunctional and unsafe".[citation needed]
As of 1 June 2015, the school's new sponsor, Ambitions Academdies Trust, took over the running and management of the school.[12]
Leisure centre
Rossmore Leisure Centre is located next to the school. This facility is used for Physical Education lessons, and is also open to the public. It comprises a sports hall, gym, fitness suite and a swimming pool, and is adjoined by a sports field and tennis courts.
The original Leisure Centre was built in 1992 onto the sports block and included the gym, sports hall, fitness studio and a new canteen for the school (used for parties for the public). In 1998 the centre was extended further with a new swimming pool (the Herbert Ballam pool), new fitness studio (the old studio became a bar) and a gymnastics hall which has trained Olympic contestants. The centre was original Kemp-Welch Leisure Centre, but became Rossmore Leisure Centre in January 2003.
^"Team is parachuted in to raise morale and marks at St Aldhelm's". Independent.co.uk. 18 March 2015. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022.
^"Age is no barrier as switch to classes based on ability gives school a lift". TheGuardian.com. 14 December 2005.
^. news.sky.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
^"St Aldhelm's Academy confirms new sponsor Ambitions Academies Trust". BBC News. 26 February 2015.
External links
St Aldhelm's Academy official website
August 22, 2023
aldhelm, academy, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, august, 2. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources St Aldhelm s Academy news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message St Aldhelm s Academy is a co educational secondary school serving the Rossmore Parkstone Newtown Wallisdown and Alderney areas of Poole Dorset England 1 St Aldhelm s AcademyAddressHerbert AvenuePoole Dorset BH12 4HSEnglandCoordinates50 44 33 N 1 56 01 W 50 7425 N 1 9335 W 50 7425 1 9335InformationTypeAcademyMottoHigh expectations lead to high achieversEstablished1938Local authorityBournemouth Christchurch and PooleTrustAmbitions Academies TrustDepartment for Education URN136206 TablesOfstedReportsPrincipalJoanna AmosStaff130 GenderCo educationalAge11 to 16Enrolment791Websitewww wbr staldhelms academy wbr co wbr uk Contents 1 School history 2 Leisure centre 3 Notable former pupils 4 References 5 External linksSchool history EditThe school opened in October 1938 as Kemp Welch Senior Council School and taught both boys and girls the boys were housed in the west side of the building while the girls were housed in the east This was typical for a school of its time There was a quad in the middle of the school which divided the two schools The school became a secondary modern after the Second World War and expanded rapidly in 1963 to house 600 students in both schools An East Block was built onto the girls school housing additional classrooms art rooms and a music room The West Block was built across the boys playground and housed classrooms science labs and the boys music room Prior to this new workshops and kitchens had been built The boys gym was built onto the rear of the boys half of the main block now the technology block and the girls gym was built on the school field and is now part of the leisure centre In 1974 the two schools merged to form one large school and the age was changed from 11 16 to 12 16 Not a great deal changed at the school over the next 15 years and the school fell into a state of disrepair Pupil numbers dropped in the 1980s and 1990s leaving the school with empty classrooms The leisure centre first opened onto the former girls gym in 1992 and the second phase opened in 1998 In 1994 the school opened its sixth form Despite this the school was being seen as a rough school with many parents in the local area sending their children to other schools citation needed In 1999 only half of the children from Branksome Heath Middle School largest in catchment went to Kemp Welch with the remainder going to either Poole or Parkstone Grammar School Poole High or St Edwards Schools citation needed In 2000 the school was put into special measures by Ofsted 2 and the school aimed to improve itself in time for its next Ofsted visit or face closure The school changed its name to Rossmore Community College and underwent a major building program to reinvent itself 3 In September 2003 the school became a sports college one of two in Poole citation needed On 1 September 2010 the school opened as St Aldhelms Academy under the new Academies Act 2010 4 5 The school also came under the jurisdiction of the Church of England In 2013 the school s new 9 8 million new buildings opened 6 In recent years the school has faced a number of issues it became national news in 2012 when it was reported that the school had achieved the worst GCSE results in England 7 In 2014 the school became national news again when it lost 1 000 000 in an online banking scam this was the second time that then headteacher Cheryl Heron has been victim of scamming as her previous school in Portsmouth were conned in a charity golf event 8 Another issue under Cheryl Heron s time as headteacher according to a 2015 article in The Independent was building work that had occurred in the school which involved open plan classrooms that housed up to five different classes at a time 9 This was reported as one of Heron s several failed ideas in previous schools she had tried implementing ability over age classes wherein students were streamed based on ability regardless of age 10 and devised a plan for students with poor attendance to have more flexible school hours 11 The school achieved mainstream media recognition again in 2015 when it was forced to close after a significant number of staff members called in sick and cover staff could not be found The school s closure coincided with a surprise inspection by OFSTED who later described the school as dysfunctional and unsafe citation needed As of 1 June 2015 the school s new sponsor Ambitions Academdies Trust took over the running and management of the school 12 Leisure centre EditRossmore Leisure Centre is located next to the school This facility is used for Physical Education lessons and is also open to the public It comprises a sports hall gym fitness suite and a swimming pool and is adjoined by a sports field and tennis courts The original Leisure Centre was built in 1992 onto the sports block and included the gym sports hall fitness studio and a new canteen for the school used for parties for the public In 1998 the centre was extended further with a new swimming pool the Herbert Ballam pool new fitness studio the old studio became a bar and a gymnastics hall which has trained Olympic contestants The centre was original Kemp Welch Leisure Centre but became Rossmore Leisure Centre in January 2003 Notable former pupils EditEddie Argos lead singer of Art Brut attended the school as Kevin MacklinReferences Edit Find an inspection report and registered childcare reports ofsted gov uk 25 September 2021 Retrieved 4 June 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a first missing last help Ten schools give borough concern Dorset Echo Retrieved 22 May 2022 90m grant to create 21st century schools Bournemouth Echo Retrieved 22 May 2022 We are not just changing the name everything is changing St Aldhelm s Academy Bournemouth Echo Rossmore Community College to reopen as St Aldhelm s Academy in 2010 1 October 2009 Media Bournemouth Echo St Aldhelm s Academy named worst school in GCSE league tables 26 January 2012 Outrage as charity conwoman walks free Portsmouth News Archived from the original on 6 October 2014 Team is parachuted in to raise morale and marks at St Aldhelm s Independent co uk 18 March 2015 Archived from the original on 24 May 2022 Age is no barrier as switch to classes based on ability gives school a lift TheGuardian com 14 December 2005 Truants Told Turn Up When You Like news sky com Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 St Aldhelm s Academy confirms new sponsor Ambitions Academies Trust BBC News 26 February 2015 External links EditSt Aldhelm s Academy official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title St Aldhelm 27s Academy amp oldid 1114635895, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
