Christ's College, Guildford

Christ's College is an 11 to 16 Church of England secondary school that serves the Bellfields neighbourhood of Guildford, Surrey, England.

The school was previously called Larch Avenue School, later being renamed Bishop Reindorp School, and took its current name in 2003. Previously a voluntary aided school administered by Surrey County Council, in December 2015 Christ's College converted to academy status and joined the Good Shepherd Trust which is a family of 16 church and community schools with in the Diocese of Guildford. The College continues to coordinate with Surrey County Council for admissions.

The main intake of students is from the area surrounding the school, but the school attracts students from as far as Woking and Ash.

New building

In January 2007 during the fieldwork ahead of the development of the new school buildings, an archaeological evaluation by the Surrey County Archaeological Unit took place. Bronze Age flintwork and Roman pottery were found during the excavations. The archaeological discoveries made at Christ's College, are of great significance for both the local area and wider region.

In 2008, the College moved into the new, purpose built building which was designed by DSDHA with an exceptionally high standard of teaching spaces and facilities. The new building cost in the region of £20 million and was short-listed for the RIBA Stirling Prize in early 2010 being described as allowing the school to be a 'small city' with the main atrium being the 'town square'.

On 23 June 2009 the college was formally opened by the Duke of Edinburgh and to commemorate his visit, the Theatre within Christ's College was officially named “The Duke of Edinburgh Theatre”.

Ofsted & SIAMS Inspections

In October 2022, Christ's College was inspected b
Ofsted
and was rated Good in all areas. In the report it says "Christ’s College is an inclusive school that has been transformed by its current senior leaders. Pupils and their parents typically enthuse about the many improvements. As one parent said, ‘The school has made massive strides forward since the appointment of the current principal, and standards, expectations and behaviour have improved drastically.’"

Following on from the Ofsted inspection in November 2022, the college also took part in a SIAMS Inspection. The SIAMS inspection explores the question, “How effective is the school’s distinctive Christian vision, established and promoted by leadership at all levels, in enabling pupils and adults to flourish?” and the college was graded "Excellent" overall. "The school’s thoroughly inclusive Christian vision is lived out in all aspects of its work. This has a transformational impact across the school community. All understand and practise the school’s five core values which are rooted in its Christian vision. As a result of the exceptionally strong sense of family promoted by school leaders, students flourish at Christ’s College. All are empowered to be their best selves, particularly those vulnerable students and those with additional needs, who are given sensitive, targeted support."

In the 2019 report, the college was graded as 'requires improvement' by Ofsted on the grounds that pupils' outcomes had declined since 2013 and the 'progress of disadvantaged pupils and middle-ability pupils aswell below average across a broad range of subjects.' In addition, the inspection found that though improving, pupils' attendance is well below average and students' behaviour disrupted lessons; staff did not apply the new expectations for behaviour consistently and did not feel supported when changes were made to school procedures and practices. The report also states that the 'quality of teaching is too variable across the school' and that 'teaching does not suitably challenge pupils from their different starting points.'

In 2013, the college was inspected by Ofsted again and was graded as 'Good', the number of pupils being 649 with 37 in the sixth form. This grading was an improvement on the college's previous one of 'satisfactory' with the Inspectors being impressed with the pupils progress from Year 7 and the ethos of the college which 'promotes learning'. The exam results from the summer exams gave an average value added score for pupils which was one of the best in the county.

College Houses

The college has four houses; Austen, Redgrave, Turner and Sibley. Each house is led by a Student House Leader and a Staff House Leader. Students are assigned a house when they start in Year 7 and generally stay in that house for the remainder of their school life. There are many inter-house competitions including inter-house drama in the form of the Drama Festival and inter-house Dance and Music in the form of the Dance and Music Festivals. Many inter-house sports such as rugby, football, netball and handball continue throughout the school year.

Charity work

The college does work for charity, with it regularly holding fundraisers to help charities in the UK or across the world to get money they need. Money collected from mufti days and House fundraising events is also given to a variety of local charities.

References

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Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Guildford
Secondary schools in Surrey
Schools in Guildford
Academies in Surrey