ST THOMAS MORE HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS

'St Thomas More High School for Boys' is a voluntary-aided Roman Catholic
Mathematics and Computing College located in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England.^[1] It caters for boys between the ages of 11 and 18 but has a mixed sixth form.^[2]
Around 980 pupils were on the roll in September 2006 (including 80 sixth-form students). The majority of pupils come from local Roman Catholic schools but the school does accept pupils from other Christian backgrounds. The school is located in the Diocese of Brentwood and the serving bishop is Rt. Revd. Thomas McMahon. The school's patron saint is St Thomas More, which is mainly celebrated, annually, on ''St Thomas More Day''.
The school is bounded on two sides by playing fields, belonging to two neighbouring grammar schools, while private housing and a main dual carriageway border the other two sides.

Contents

History

Academic achievements

Sport

Honours

Hansard

Virtual Learning Environment

Parental information

References

External links

History

The school opened as a two-form entry school in 1960 with around 100-200 pupils and has progressively expanded. In September 1973 it was extended to become a four-form entry school and its status was changed to a bilateral school offering 30 selective and 115 non-selective places. To help with easing congestion, various building projects have taken place including a modern sixth-form block, which was completed in 1996.
The school became grant maintained on 1 September 1993, and the first sixth-form intake was admitted in September 1996. It was converted to voluntary-aided status in September 1999.
There was an extensive refurbishment project, completed in autumn 2001, which provided the school with a new reception area, extra classrooms, a brand new art department and an advanced music room with individual practice facilities. A new technology block was built in 2003, complete with state-of-the-art facilities.
Former teacher David Sloan admitted in court to falsifying a reference presented to the Manpower employment agency in February 2002, having previously lost his job after stealing from the School.^[3] He was 'gifted' but troubled according to the summary of the GTC hearing in the Times Educational Supplement. The GTC suspended Sloan for 12 months from December 2003.^[4]
Following protests by residents, in June 2003 the Council denied the School permission to install six 13-metre-high floodlights on the hockey pitch.^[5]
St Thomas More became a specialist Mathematics and Computing College in September 2004.

Academic achievements

Pupils enter the school aged 11 with above average standards and their attainment both at age 14 and 16 is above the national average.^[6] In the November 2005 Ofsted inspection^[7] the school was rated 'Good' (Point 2 on a four point scale) and an 'Oustanding' rating was given for 16-19 year olds in the 'How good is the overall personal development and well-being of the learners?' category.Ofsted Report, November 2005

Sport

In November 2006 three pupils were selected for advanced basketball training by England Basketball.^[8]

Honours

Frank Keenan, a former headteacher of the School, was awarded the OBE in the January 2006 New Year Honours List.^[9]

Hansard

The School was mentioned in the House of Commons by David Amess:

★ On 9 September 2003, "Mr. Frank Keenan, headmaster of St. Thomas More high school for boys, who would have been at the meeting with the Minister and represents secondary heads in Southend. He says: "several schools in Southend are forced to declare deficit budgets in this current year (including my own), and we are having to meet L.E.A. officers to draw up four-year recovery plans. In my school, we are in the absurd position of having a £3 million new extension project due to open in September, but we will not have the money to clean it or maintain it!""^[10]

★ On 15 September 2004, "I was pleased to see the two Catholic schools—St. Bernard's, which is wonderfully led by Miss Vicky Squirrell, and St. Thomas More, wonderfully led by Frank Keenan—do so well."^[11]

Virtual Learning Environment

In May 2006, a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) website was launched, specifically for St Thomas More pupils. The site allows students to download school documents, view homework assignments and even send homework via email to their subject teachers.

Parental information

Every week the school is open, pupils take a newsletter home, ''Contact'', containing details of school life, such as religious matters, charities, sporting activities, school trips and dates of meetings.

References

1. "St Thomas More High School for Boys", The Good Schools Guide
2. "St Thomas More High School for Boys", DfES statistics
3. "Westcliff: Teacher forged reference", ''Gazette'', Newsquest Media Group, 5 April 2002
4. "Man stole to get revenge", Tara Fawcett, Times Educational Supplement, 5 December 2003
5. "Westcliff: Victory in hockey protest", ''Gazette'', Newsquest Media Group, 26 June 2003
6. BBC League tables
7. "Southend-on-Sea (Schools)", House of Commons, Hansard - Written Answers
8. "Trio are heading for England glory", Echo, Newsquest Media Group, 23 November 2006
9. "New Year honours in education", ''The Guardian'', December 31, 2005
10. 9 Sept 2003 : Column 269, House of Commons Hansard Debates for 9 September 2003
11. 15 Sept 2004 : Column 506WH, House of Commons Hansard Debates for 15 September 2004

External links

★ Official site