Soham Village College is a secondary school with academy status located in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England. It has around 1,400 pupils, aged 11 to 16. Although its wide catchment area does not include Ely, some pupils from there and its neighbouring villages attend the college. It is split between two adjacent sites: Beechurst, formerly a large house, and Lodeside, built more recently.
History
The college has its origins in Soham Free School, established in 1686. It became known as Soham Grammar School from 1878 and occupied a site on Churchgate Street. In 1925 the grammar school moved to Beechurst House and Dr A. W. Bullock. This included the construction of the Ross Peers Sports Centre, a music block, and a science and technology block. In 1993 the college gained grant-maintained status. This allowed for generous donations, such as the funds donated in the mid-1990s by Simon Gibson to extend the mathematics and English departments. In June 1998, "M Block", which contains science, humanities, ICT and languages rooms, was opened by Princess Margaret. In August 2002 the school became infamous as the place where a double child-killer, Ian Huntley, worked as school caretaker. Clothing from the murdered children was found in the school grounds, leading to Huntley's arrest and eventual conviction in the Soham murders case. Huntley's house on the school site, and the storage hangar where the clothing was found, were later demolished. The school was previously a specialist Technology College and Language College before converting to academy status on 1 April 2011. Since November 2019, a parkrun has taken place at Soham Village College every Saturday morning at 9.00am.
Academic reputation
In the school's 2010 public exam results, 73 per cent achieved at least five grade A–C GCSEs. The school still attracts pupils from many schools within and outside the catchment area. Many take the opportunity of obtaining extracurricular GCSEs, including astronomy and statistics. However, pupils wishing to continue onto sixth form studies must change schools, usually attending establishments in nearby Ely or Cambridge.
New and future developments
New inclusion facility
In April 2010 the "Lode Centre" was refurbished to incorporates a new inclusion facility and is now known as "The ISLE". The centre will continue to house the Youth Development Team, as well as being used for after-school clubs.
New performing arts block
On 6 April 2010, the school began the construction of a new performing arts centre. It will be used for lessons in music, dance and drama. The centre was finished in mid-2011 and opened by Mr D. Schunmann from Viva Arts and Community Group on 3 November 2011. This new facility will be the last building to be built in this shape.
In March 2011 the construction of improved tennis courts began, to replace the original tennis courts which were demolished in order for the new performing arts block to be built. They were built on what was the Lodeside playground and opened in July 2011.
Awards
Soham Village College has received many awards. Currently the school has specialisms in technology and languages. The college has been awarded the Artsmark – Bronze Award, International School Award, School Achievement Award, Sport England SportsMark Award, Basic Skills Quality Mark, and the ICT Mark for excellence in ICT. The school awards pupils for various achievements, such as outstanding attendance, distinctive progression and extra-curricular activities out of school, such as sport. Scarlet ties are awarded to pupils who excel in sport, both in school and at county level; emerald ties are awarded to pupils in the performing arts, in school or in county-level performance organisations. Tri-coloured ties are awarded to pupils in either the performing arts or sports at a national level.
Catchment area
The school has a wide catchment area, owing to its rural location. Pupils come mainly from the following areas: Soham, Barway, Wicken, Fordham, Isleham, Chippenham, Snailwell, Kennett, and Burwell. However, some pupils come from other nearby settlements outside of the catchment area including: Stuntney, Ely, Littleport, Newmarket, Little Downham, Witchford, Stretham, Wilburton, and Haddenham. The principal feeder primary schools are:
A weekend of celebrations was staged to mark the 50th anniversary of Soham Village College. Between 23 and 25 January 2009, displays of memorabilia and personal souvenirs provided a chronological account of past events and life at the Village College.
Former pupils
Soham Grammar School
Pupils of the former grammar school are known as Grammarians.
