The Marches School Shropshire
Location Oswestry is in rural Shropshire Border town near to Wales 1.5 hours from Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. Nearest towns are Shrewsbury and Chester Pupil population comes from all socio-economic backgrounds.
School 25 year anniversary Day starts at 8.40 and ends at 3pm Lessons are 1 hour long 5 lessons per day No free lessons for students, 25 lessons per week Sixth Form Study 4 A levels and do have free lessons or study time
Security School has strict rules on staff and visitors to the school. All staff have to wear an identity badge which is visible at all times. Visitors to the school also have an identity badge and have to be escorted around the site – even to the toilet! Sixth form students also have to wear identity badges No public cars on site – with a barrier entry system for staff
Students Approximately 1,300 Years 7 to 11 Age New for 2013 Just established a new sixth form with 40 students up to age 18 by 2014
Uniform Students wear a uniform Years 7-10 wear a grey uniform and includes shirt, tie and jumper for both boys and girls Year 11 wear a black uniform, again with shirt, tie and jumper for both boys and girls Sixth form wear clothes of their choice to a dress code
Education Year 7-9 students have a varied timetable in order to experience a wide variety of subjects In Year 10 students can ‘choose’ between 2 routes Ebac and Non Ebac Students following the Ebac route must choose a language e.g. French or German Non Ebac students usually follow a less academic timetable to include subjects such as Textiles, Sports, Drama etc
Staff Approximately 80 teaching staff Each Department has their own Admin Assistant Pastoral Team Made up of 5 Houses with 5 House Leaders Also have 3 Pastoral Leaders Trained Counsellors on site Also have a Community Police Officer Teaching Assistants 2 cover teachers
Staff Students can be referred for counselling sessions with school due to bereavement, receive anger management. Some students have assistance from a Teaching Assistant or TA. Some may have help for all 25 lessons whilst others have reduced levels of assistance depending on their needs. IE room to place students in isolation for behaviour management issues
Teachers Teachers usually teach 21 lessons out of the 25 unless they have some form of responsibility e.g. Comenius, Director of Subject etc. These teachers can have a teaching timetable of hours per week. If a teacher is off then a cover teacher will take the lessons
ICT Facilities 5 Dedicated computer rooms Most Departments have their own computer rooms including Humanities English Languages Science
Extra Curricular Activities The school offers a wide range of extra curricular activities including Sports Clubs, football, rugby, hockey, netball etc Art, drama, band, choir ICT access everyday to all pupils Homework clubs where they can access support Eco-club, Gardening Club, Interact, Duke of Edinburugh. Subject specific clubs e.g. History Club, French and Spanish
Rewards Students are rewarded for various reasons Behaviour Attendance Punctuality Uniform No detentions At various times throughout the year the students with the most points will be rewarded with trips, meals, activities, ice skating and BBQ’s
Extra Curricular School takes every opportunity to participate in various competitions especially within sport including athletics, rugby, netball, football and have gained many trophies. Some of our students are involved at a County and Country level of sport outside of school include Karate and Katamaran and hopes to be involved in the next Olympics
Wider Community The school encourages links with the community College and work placements Fundraising 5 Non-uniform days a year Lessons for adults (maths and ICT) Lessons for Primary partners
Training Training School – facility for hire and to offer training to community Student Teacher programme. This year 5 in 1 department alone Masters Programmes for staff Partnerships to support other schools (SJT)