Sharnbrook Academy


Sharnbrook Academy, formerly Sharnbrook Upper School, is a large, rural academy school located in Sharnbrook, a village in the English county of Bedfordshire. Built in 1975, the school now has over 1900 students and around 300 staff, and includes a large sixth form founded in 1978 of around 650 students.
The school is very popular and is currently oversubscribed, with some parents resorting to moving house into Sharnbrook's catchment area to guarantee their children a place at the school. Quite a sizeable proportion of sixth form students join the school in Year 12, having completed their compulsory education at other schools.

Age range of students

Most students join the school in Year 7 where they are aged 11. They take GCSE exams, in year 11, after which some students will leave to attend a technical college or an alternative sixth form. Most, however, stay and join the sixth form, where they are joined by a large number of students who have completed their GCSEs at other schools and have moved to Sharnbrook for their final two years at school.

Vertical tutoring

At the beginning of the 2003 to 2004 academic year, Sharnbrook introduced vertical tutoring, a pastoral system in which each tutor group has students from each year group, from Year 9 to Year 13. In contrast, almost all UK secondary schools organise their tutor groups horizontally, with the school population divided primarily into National Curriculum year groups, and each form or tutor group has students from only one year group. The school's senior management now share their expertise in running a vertical system by running workshops and seminars for headteachers, senior managers and pastoral leaders from around the UK.
When Sharnbrook changed to an academy, this was changed to years 7-11, and then separately years 12 and 13.
To accommodate the new vertical tutor groups, a House system was devised, comprising six houses, one of which every student is a member. Most of the staff are also assigned to a house. Each house contains fourteen tutor groups and is led by a Head of House and an Assistant Head of House, titles which are sometimes abbreviated to HOH and AHOH, respectively. Traditional Heads of Year still exist, although their role has greatly diminished with the arrival of Heads of House.
The houses are named after medieval manors of Sharnbrook village. The houses and their associated colours are displayed in the adjacent table.

Facilities

The school hosted its own Farm onsite for many years.
In late 2009 plans were confirmed for the construction of a new science centre, with construction due to begin early 2010. The centre was completed in November 2010. In 2011 there was a large project which included, but was not limited to, a new library, dining room and another refurbished dining room.

Broadcast team

Sharnbrook Upper School Media Department offers students the role of studio hands in the "Broadcast Team". The group is responsible for the running of the school broadcast system, which replaces the traditional whole school assembly. The broadcast is filmed, live, in a special television studio and gallery, situated in the heart of the media department.
Run by John Clark. Former student and now videographer

Specialisms and academy status

Sharnbrook is a Training School, a Partnership Promotion School, a Beacon School and has received the Artsmark Gold and Sportsmark awards from the Arts Council England and Sport England, respectively. Previously Sharnbrook was granted specialist school status as a media Arts College.
On 1 February 2011, Sharnbrook Upper School formally gained academy status.

School day

The school day begins at 8.30 am and ends at 3.15 pm.
The 2015/16 academic year saw the introduction of a reduced Tuesday to allow teachers to cope with changing specifications. But that early finish stopped in the 17/18 academic year.

Catchment area

The catchment area for Sharnbrook Upper School includes the parishes of Bletsoe, Bolnhurst and Keysoe, Carlton and Chellington, Clapham, Dean and Shelton, Felmersham and Radwell, Harrold, Knotting and Souldrop, Little Staughton, Melchbourne and Yielden, Sharnbrook, Stevington, Milton Ernest, Oakley, Odell, Pavenham, Pertenhall, Podington, Hinwick and Farndish, Thurleigh, Turvey, Riseley, Swineshead and Wymington.

North Bedfordshire Schools Trust

Sharnbrook Upper School, along with its feeder middle and lower schools, form part of the North Bedfordshire Schools Trust. 7 of the schools were awarded school trust statuses in April 2007, with further schools in the Sharnbrook catchment were also awarded trust status later in 2008. The schools in bold are middle schools, whose pupils move to Sharnbrook after Year 8. Underneath each feeder middle school are the lower schools that feed them. This pyramid of schools constitutes NBST of Bedford LEA.