Whitstone School is a

specialist school Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialis ...

located in

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, some southwest of Bath, Somerset, Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells, Somerset, Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England, and educates students aged between 11 and 16. The school has been a specialist

Technology College In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 598 ...

since 2000; the school's headteacher is Maz Turner. In August 2011, the school became an

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and in 2025 the school roll was 584 students.

Academic performance

Since 2019, the school's

GCSE 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 ...

performance has been well below the average of other schools in Somerset, however during its first full year as an academy, performance increased from 44% to 56% of students achieving five or more A* to C GCSE grades including English and mathematics. In 2017, it was assessed by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

as "good" on a four-point scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement, or inadequate.

Houses

The school has a house system. Currently, there are 4 houses: Buzzards (blue, formerly known as Quantock), Red Kites (red, formally known as Polden), Peregrines (yellow, formerly known as Blackdown), and Kestrels (green, formerly known as Mendip). The current names are inspired by bird species common to the Somerset area. Previously, the houses were named after local hill ranges, three of which are designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Each house colour is reflected on the school uniform.

References

External links

* Educational institutions established in the 1940s Educational institutions with year of establishment missing Academies in Somerset Secondary schools in Somerset Shepton Mallet {{Somerset-school-stub