The School - Origins

This school is a rarity in that it is one of only half a dozen maintained schools in the country, which is a boarding school - in the sense that boarders outnumber day pupils, and there are lessons on Saturday mornings. We have much longer holidays: 7 weeks in Summer, 3 for Christmas, 3 at Easter and half-term holidays of two weeks in October-November and a mere week (including two weekends) for the other terms.

We are also unique as a UK state school in three respects

1. By teaching pupils from the age of 7 to the age of 16 we span Key Stages 2, 3 and 4, which means that we fit none of the standard DCSF classifications for schools, but offer great opportunities for cross-phase teaching and a real sense of community.
2. According to the Royal Alexandra and Albert School Act, 1949, the objects of the Charity Corporation - the school is Voluntarily Aided - are to maintain a "school for boys and girls who are without one or both parents or whose special circumstances make it desirable that they should go to a boarding school". The Charity Corporation, together with other educational charities, finances around forty boarders whose home situation means that education in a boarding school is desirable. We hope to increase this number of Foundationer places over the next few years and are actively seeking suitable applicants.
3. Education post-16 is provided for up to 50 Sixth Form boarders at Reigate College. They represent the School with considerable success in the Model United Nations and various debating competitions as well as on the Rugby pitch. We are currently preparing an application to open our own Sixth Form.

The School - current position

• We had a very positive Ofsted inspection in November 2004, being described as a good school with many very good features. We expect Ofsted again any day now!
• Our results have improved dramatically - as explained below.
• We achieved tremendous Contextual Value added - as explained below.
• Our pupil numbers have grown significantly - as explained below
• Our boarding houses have all been refurbished - as explained below.
• We became a Sports College in September 2005 - as explained below.
• We have plans for major development - as explained below

The November 2004 Ofsted report said "The overall effectiveness of the school is good. The school is very well led." It also reports that there was no unsatisfactory teaching and that 85% of teaching was good, very good or excellent. Ofsted reports are very bland, but "good" really does mean good and excellent is the highest form of praise ever given ! One thing that the Registered Inspector commented on to me was the high level of parental response to the questionnaires showing parental belief that the school is doing a good job.

The report also says that strengths of the school include:

• The ethos of the school
• The quality of Teaching and Learning and the impact this has upon pupil achievement
• The Boarding provision
• The leadership of the Headmaster and the Senior Team
• The extra curricular activities
• The school's systems of self-evaluation
• The moral and social provision of the school
• Pupil self-esteem, confidence and behaviour
• Relationships between staff and pupils
• Links with the community
• The use of performance data (Our baseline testing)
• The care and welfare of all pupils
• The improvement since the last inspection in 2002

Our results have improved dramatically

Year 11 GCSE
The target for Year 11 is to achieve 5 or more GCSEs at grades A* - C, and below are the percentages of pupils who achieved this.

This year's results are the school's best ever at GCSE.
For 2005, 2006 and 2007 we were in the top five percent of schools in England for Contextual Value Added KS2>4.

37th most improved school in England in 2006 for the new measure of 5 or more GCSEs at C or above including English and Maths in 2006 and a 12% improvement in this measure from 2006 to 2007

Year 6 SATs
The target for Year 6 is to achieve level 4 or above, and these are the percentages of pupils who achieved this in each subject.

Year 9 SATs
The target for Year 9 is to achieve level 5 or above, and below are the percentages of pupils who achieved this in each subject.

Two of these three results are the school's best ever at Year 9 SATs.

You may just wonder what the baseline prediction is? All our pupils have been tested using a nationally recognised series of tests, used in all major independent schools and designed by Durham University, which indicate each pupil's potential. The results show that many pupils achieved better than they could have been expected to do - clear proof that they are well taught and work hard in small classes, which facilitate individual attention.

We achieved tremendous Contextual Value Added in Summer 2006

Our score for Contextual Value Added Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 4 was 1042.5 which placed us 28th among all schools in England. This is the equivalent to all Year 11 pupils achieving one grade better in eight GCSEs than they would be expected to achieve in an average school.

Interestingly, although we achieved 60% or better pass rate in English language and maths GCSE, the 5 or more GCSEs at C or above including English and Maths was 42%. We have spent some time analysing and addressing this anomaly and expect the equivalent figure to be above 50% this Summer.

Our pupil numbers have grown significantly

With just over 400 boarders and rising numbers, there are very few independent or state schools with a greater number of boarders and we are the second largest state boarding school in the UK. Our non-boarding places are heavily oversubscribed - 176 applications for 30 places for September 2007.

Our boarding houses have all been refurbished

First of all we refurbished of the seven secondary houses. New boilers were installed, for energy efficiency, and central heating zoned for greater effectiveness. The old eight-bed dormitories were replaced and all accommodation became study bedrooms for a maximum of two three or four boarders. Each house now has a duty office, kitchen for boarders' supper, a TV room and a computer suite within the main common room. Changing rooms and bathrooms have been modernised and each house of 48 boarders has 10 power showers as well as individual bathrooms.

Our Primary Boarding facility Rank-Weston House was then transformed. It now offers excellent co-educational ground floor facilities with separate first floor wings for girls and for boys. Gatton Hall, for Sixth Form boarders had new bathrooms, a new kitchen for boarders, a number of new study bedrooms and a new house office created last Summer.

During the 2005 Summer holidays networked computers were installed in all boarding houses.

Sports College

We became a Sports College in September 2005, thanks to sponsorship from HSBS Trust and from our Patron. The effect has been considerable, not just within PE and Sport but across the school - with science involved as a second subject. Initiatives to reform our Commendations system, to promote healthy lifestyles and to support Year 11 with revision strategies are having a beneficial whole school effect.

We have plans for major development.

A new teaching block with new Science Laboratories, two new general purpose classrooms and another two classrooms which open into a large dance studio, will open in March 2009 and two existing Science laboratories will be totally refurbished in Summer 2008.

We have just obtained planning permission for a Tennis Centre with 4 indoor and 7 outdoor courts, a floodlit Astroturf for hockey, floodlit netball, a tartan athletics facility and more grass pitches. A new Cricket pavilion was built last year as well as an Indoor Riding School.

We have plans for ground floor extensions on seven boarding houses to provide better space for day boarders. Two houses were completed last Summer and another will be done these Summer holidays. Plans for second floor loft-conversions for further boarding places as necessary.

Boarding Structure

Our structure is to have a co-educational Primary facility Rank-Weston with a capacity of 80 beds each.
Albert, and Elizabeth are Lower Secondary (Years 7 and 8) houses for 48 boys and girls respectively.
Edinburgh, Gloucester and Kent are Upper Secondary (Years 9-11) boys' houses for 48 pupils each.
Alexandra and Cornwall are Upper Secondary girls' houses for 48 pupils each.
Gatton Hall accommodates up to 45 Sixth Form students.

Children of staff

We currently have 18 staff children on roll. All staff are entitled to a significant discount on the fees for boarding or day boarding.

Further questions?

Please feel free to download an application form, fill it in and submit as an e-mail attachment - you may be interested to know that all teachers appointed in the last three years applied electronically!

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