The Ecclesbourne School


The Ecclesbourne School is a secondary school with academy status situated in Duffield, Derbyshire, England.

History

Since opening in 1957 as a small county grammar school in the grounds of Duffield Hall, The Ecclesbourne School has had a varied organisational history. It became a co-educational 11 – 19 comprehensive school in 1976, grant maintained in 1990 and a Foundation School in 2001. Central Government recognised its excellence in 1999 by awarding ‘Beacon’ status.
The School was successful in its bid to become part of the ‘Specialist School’ programme when it was awarded Technology College status in 2001. The school has been involved in a Leading Edge Partnership since 2003; at first in the South East Derbyshire Secondary Schools Improvement Partnership, but now is focused on collaborative work with John Flamsteed Community School. The school has been awarded the Careermark twice, the Sportsmark in 2004, and was one of only two schools in Derbyshire to receive the ‘Health Promoting Schools’ award.
In 2011 the school controversially became an academy which caused a two-day strike by some teachers.

GCSE and A level results

The Ecclesbourne School attained the highest GCSE results for the whole of Derbyshire for a non-private school. 91% of the students got at least 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C.

Extracurricular activities

Student groups and activities include charity fund raising, choir, debating, drama, environmental teams, instrumental music ensembles, orchestra, mock trials, Duke of Edinburgh award and young enterprise.
The school became the subject of national news in November 2018 when it was reported that a female music teacher had inappropriate sexual contact with two 17-year-old students from the school choir.
Sports include athletics, basketball, cricket, dodgeball, cross-county, football, hockey, netball, rugby, squash. The Under-14 hockey team won the national title in 2004.

Notable former pupils