Stratford-upon-Avon School is bigger, better and buzzing after major expansion

IMAGINE a typical scene from St Trinian’s – the film featuring the naughtiest school in Britain.

Ramshackle classrooms, noisy students in punked-up uniforms creating chaos and disorder.

It is safe to say that Stratford-upon-Avon School is probably the most opposite experience you can imagine to that.

The Herald visited on Monday as the school proudly showcased the impressive new buildings and additions as part of the school site’s £20 million development, which will be completed this term.

It sees four new extension wings to the existing main school building, providing new classrooms, SEN space, music rooms, dance/drama studio with sprung floor and raised seating, science labs, specialist design and technology suite, sixth form study space, offices and conference room.

With the extra capacity, it means the school can now accommodate 2,050 – the biggest in south Warwickshire.

There are even newly installed modern bike racks – with perspex covering and easily monitored from the reception area.

No dingy shed behind which misdemeanours are committed here.

Guided through a series of new classrooms and hallways, the Herald encountered bright spaces artfully designed to make the most of natural light.

The cool, air-conditioned and modern classrooms exude a professional vibe, the students inside them impress with their obvious focus and attentive respect for their teachers.

In William Harris’s politics class, sixth-formers get down to learning about the constitution – heavy going stuff, but the teenagers look wide awake and ready to learn.

A peep behind the doors of two English classes sees younger students inspired to take a creative approach to their writing under the enthusiastic guidance of Helen Burniston and Anna Wilson, deputy curriculum leader for English.

A-level psychology students are presenting fascinating project proposals to curriculum leader for criminology and psychology, Bhupinder Kuwar, who gently encourages deeper analysis of the work at hand.

Headteacher Neil Wallace greets us in the spacious main thoroughfare, which joins a series of new wide and bright corridors leading to the new spaces.

Even at ‘rush hour’, when lessons change over, there’s no hustle-and-bustle familiar in most large comprehensives, just easy-to-weave calm.

“The proximity and movement time means it doesn’t take long to get from A to B,” observed Neil, who has been head for 17 years. “There’s that kind of thought that goes behind the design of just making the day-to-day a little bit easier.”

Talking of the new facilities, he continued: “It’s compact but feels spacious, There's a lovely buzz in the air, and the students have that sense of pride, and everyone has a spring in their step.

“We had a really positive Ofsted at the end of last year, the exam results have been really good over the summer, and then you come back and you've got some ‘wow’ facilities. It looks the part and feels the part, and it's the way we treat people as well that hopefully enhances that and builds those relationships. It’s not just about a building, it's about how you feel in whatever building you’re in – and if the building happens to be wonderful it just adds a little bit to that.”

Our tour continues with two more ‘wow factor’ facilities: the new dance studio and a science classroom.

The science lab has an almost futuristic feel, with windows on two sides of the room and cleverly designed lab benches, where gas stops are out of sight to stop distracted fiddling – and presumably fire hazards.

In the dance studio Adele Thomas, curriculum leader for performing arts, is going through some energetic choreography with two students.

Mr Wallace looks particularly chuffed with the space which boasts sprung flooring, floor-to-ceiling mirrors and retractable tiered seating – which he describes as perfect for parents to take a seat while student work is showcased.

“You want your dancers to feel like they’re in a professional environment,” commented Neil. “Just like we want our architecture students to have high-quality CAD software; and for our people doing resistant materials to have a large laser cutter so they actually produce professional-quality pieces of work rather than the slightly haphazard bits we might have remembered doing when we were young. It’s about having pride in what you do.”

Sharing final thoughts, Neil again reflects on what the new building and this year’s positive exam results have brought.

“The culture that we’ve established at the school now is calm and purposeful with a positive feel. It’s a lovely place to be, and students appreciate that.

“On occasion we have some individuals who don’t necessarily buy into the education, but actually even they appreciate that people care about them and they want the best, and we need to try and find different ways to work with each other until hopefully they smell the coffee at some point.”

The final five-star review come from Year 8 students Amelie, Noah and Fynn, fresh from a science lesson and featured on the front page:

“The classes are really great inside. The science lab is much better with really nice views; they are bigger, less crowded, giving you more room to work and with everything you need in them.”