The Ridgeway School And Sixth Form College
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The Ridgeway School & Sixth Form College is a mixed
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
and
sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...
in
Wroughton Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 road, A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junc ...
, near
Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
in the
English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...
of
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
. The school was established in 1967 and was the first purpose-built
comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...
in Wiltshire. Previously a
foundation school In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the school governor, governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in Community school (England and Wales), community schools. Foundation schools ...
administered by
Swindon Borough Council Swindon Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Swindon in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. It was founded in 1974 as Thamesdown Borough Council, and was a lower-tier district council until 1997. In 1997 it was re ...
, it converted to academy status in August 2011 and is part of the White Horse Federation, a multi-academy trust. The school continues to coordinate with Swindon Borough Council for admissions. The school's catchment area includes Bishopstone,
Hinton Parva Hinton Parva is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the civil parish of Hinton, in east Dorset, England, three miles north of Wimborne Minster. The parish had a population of 56 in 2001 and included the nearby village of Stanbridge. The ...
, Wanborough,
Liddington Liddington is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, England. The village is about a mile beyond the south-east edge of Swindon's built-up area, close to junction 15 of the M4 motorway, which is approximately away via the B4192 ...
, Coate, Badbury,
Chiseldon Chiseldon is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, a mile south of junction 15 of the M4 motorway, on the A346 between Swindon and Marlborough. The larg ...
, Hodson, Bassett Down, Uffcott,
Broad Hinton Broad Hinton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlets of Uffcott and The Weir. History There are several barrows in the parish, notably on Hackpen Hill.Crowley ''et al.' ...
and
Winterbourne Bassett Winterbourne Bassett is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Swindon and northwest of Marlborough. The village lies just west of the A4361 road between Swindon and Devizes, about north of Avebury. The ...
. The school offers
GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...
and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils, while students in the sixth form have the option to study from a range of
A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
s and further BTECs.


Controversy

In 2005, in an attempt to aid integration after the
7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, London's public transport during the ...
, the local council began sending
British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...
youth from
Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
(outside the normal catchment area) to the school. Some of this group formed a gang which pupils and parents called the "Asian Invasion", who bullied other pupils. On 11 January 2007, Henry Webster, a 15-year-old singled out for his red hair and large size, stood up to a member of the "Asian Invasion" and agreed for a one-on-one fight. However, the boy showed up with several others, including adults and Webster suffered injuries including brain damage from a hammer. In February 2008, four people were convicted for the attack. By May, thirteen had been convicted. In February 2010, the
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
ruled in favour of the school when it was sued by Webster and his family. He had claimed that although the attack was outside school hours, it had been caused by the school's lack of action against the "Asian Invasion". In September that year, a case review was published about the situation at the school, which recommended that all incidents of bullying should record the ethnicity of perpetrators and victims to look for racial motivations.


References


External links

* Secondary schools in Swindon Educational institutions established in 1967 1967 establishments in England Academies in Swindon {{Wiltshire-school-stub