Archbishops School Prospectus

The Archbishop’s School Canterbury A Humanities College

“Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve”

Welcome The Archbishop’s Church of England School The Archbishop’s School is a wide ability school for students aged 11-19. With approximately 860 students, the school community is small enough to ensure that all its members are well known, well cared for and receive the very best support and encouragement in their learning so that all can make excellent progress.

We believe that every student, whatever their starting point, can excel and we encourage them to aim high, set challenging targets and never give up. We offer all our students the opportunity to follow a rigorous, academic curriculum whilst equipping them with the determination, resilience and self-confidence to succeed. We are a learning community that promotes high expectations, creativity, effort and enterprise and we are well known for our strong pastoral commitment to provide a nurturing environment that enables all our students to flourish. As a Christian community we value the uniqueness of every individual in the school and the positive, respectful relationships between students of all ages and between students and teachers are selfevident.

The Archbishop’s School recognises that learning is not confined to the classroom and our students participate in an extraordinary range of trips and activities throughout the United Kingdom and across the globe. These experiences engender a deeper understanding, whilst inspiring the students and leaving them with lifelong memories.

The care and consideration that our students develop for others translates into charitable events and voluntary work to support those in need at home and abroad.

The school motto is “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve” and this perfectly describes our mission: to provide the very best education for all our students, to prepare them for life in the world where they are able to make a positive contribution and to share the love of God. We celebrate our students’ academic achievements and are delighted to hear of the successes of our former students but we are also extremely proud of the people they become.

Welcome to the Archbishop’s School.

Michael Liddicoat Headteacher

“The teachers really help us to learn” “Teachers are always willing to give up their free time to help me to understand things when I find them difficult” “The small class sizes create an environment conducive to learning”

A learning school “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel” Socrates Learning is at the heart of everything we do at The Archbishop’s School. The curriculum is a balance of traditional and modern courses which develops the knowledge and skills the students need to equip them for the next steps on their learning journey whatever path they choose. The wide variety of GCSE, A level and vocational courses open doors to university, employment and training opportunities and the skills and character traits the students develop in our school mean that they are fully prepared to meet the challenges ahead.

At The Archbishop’s School we strive to inspire and challenge all our students to make the very best progress. We recognise the individual needs of our students and organise groups and lessons so that they can learn at a suitable pace. Students join us from a whole range of starting points, including a number who choose Archbishop’s in preference to grammar school despite having passed the Kent test, and we believe that with sufficient determination and effort every one of them can make excellent progress. Whether they need a helping hand to get started or a push to ensure that they achieve at the highest possible level, all our students have opportunities for support and enrichment specially tailored to their needs, talents and interests.

We have high expectations of our students in all aspects of school life. Smart uniform, good behaviour and full participation help to establish a purposeful learning environment where every student can achieve. Our innovative KS3 Home Learning Programme is designed to motivate students to go the extra mile and develop their capacity for independent learning while enabling parents to support their children in fun and engaging ways. We also provide a Home Learning Centre where sixth form students provide one-toone help to the younger children and encourage them to shine. We believe that young people respond best to encouragement and praise and we have a reward system that encourages students to try harder, embrace challenge and enjoy learning.

“Our daughter has gained in confidence over her last three years at the school due to the support and encouragement of the staff” “The school is a very caring school which not only has concerns with the students’ academic results but also with their social and emotional welfare and achievements which equips them more fully for their future careers and adult life”

A caring school “Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community” Anthony J D’Angelo Students are members of one of six houses throughout their time at the school and this helps to develop a sense of belonging and identity and provides a consistent link between parents and the school. Family members invariably join the same House and this further develops and supports our ethos as a family school. Form Tutors and Heads of Houses take responsibility for their students’ development and as a Christian school we place great emphasis on caring for and supporting young people as they grow up.

Form Tutors, Heads and Assistant Heads of House are there to help, guide and support students and parents through any difficult times, our trained counsellor offers one to one support when needed and our school nurse and external services also provide confidential advice and guidance. Our Head of Careers provides expert advice and guidance on academic issues to help our students achieve their personal aspirations and senior students provide peer mentoring and act as “buddies” to help new students to the school settle in quickly to help transition to secondary school.

We believe that young people learn best when they are happy and enjoy school. As there are only 150 students in each House (from year 7 to the Upper Sixth) everyone is well known and any problems are quickly and effectively dealt with. House assemblies recognise and celebrate the achievements of all students, both academic and personal and House competitions further foster identity, team spirit, cooperation and responsibility – vital skills which our students will use after they have left the school.

Our strong tradition of full school assemblies three times a week and the House assemblies are an opportunity to celebrate the values of the school and to worship together, placing our Christian foundation at the heart of the school.

We hope that through our strong and widely recognised pastoral system our students will flourish and develop into young adults ready to face the challenges of adult life.

“The school has given me so many opportunities to perform in public – it has really shown me what I want to do when I leave school” “It has been wonderful to see how our son has changed from being a shy boy to a confident speaker and performer while he has been at the school and this is entirely due to the support, encouragement and praise from everyone at the school.

Thank you!”

A creative school “Creativity is contagious, pass it on” Albert Einstein Creativity is central to the life of The Archbishop’s School and our students have a wealth of opportunities to develop their ingenuity, confidence and responsibility. Students showcase their performance skills through school productions, music concerts and workshops. The school art and photography exhibitions demonstrate the inventiveness and imagination of our students in a whole range of mediums from fine art to installation.

We encourage our students to express their creativity in all areas of the curriculum and they have demonstrated their creative problem solving abilities in a wide range of local and national competitions. Archbishop’s students have won local maths, design and photography competitions, national science awards and international film making awards.

Sport is an important part of our creative ethos and our students participate in a wide variety of different sporting activities.

Students of all ages represent the school in the full range of competitive sports resulting in an ever-growing mountain of trophies and medals. Our local specialist sports colleges have learnt the hard way that at The Archbishop’s School we develop talent through hard work, resilience and team building and our teams rarely lose.

We aim to provide an opportunity to grow and develop, to celebrate and recognise students, whatever their talent, because we believe that creative thinkers will become the leaders of tomorrow.

The Sixth Form “The Archbishop’s School is a supportive and nurturing environment in which a student can truly develop” Upper Sixth Student, The Archbishop’s School Our sixth form students have secured places at some of the best universities in the country, but sixth form life at the Archbishop’s School is not just excellent preparation for university, it is excellent preparation for life.

Sixth form classes are small enough to ensure that our students get a very personalised learning experience with the support and challenge that they need whilst developing their independence and study skills. Our sixth formers are excellent role models for our younger students and they play a central part in the life of the school. They act as form guardians for the younger year groups, run the KS3 Home Learning Centre and organise an extensive number of fund raising and community projects. Our Student Leadership Team and Sixth Form Prefects have high profile status within the school and play an important role in all school events.

We are proud of the achievement of our sixth form students, not simply their excellent examination results, but also because Archbishop’s students leave us as exceptional young people with a wealth of experiences ready to move on and serve their communities as the leaders of tomorrow.

“I have been given so many opportunities by Archbishop’s, I know that I have been really, really lucky” “Thank you so much for everything you have done for our daughter. She has been able to travel to places she would never have visited, to develop her interests and talents and, most importantly, become a young adult concerned for the needs of others.”

“I know I will look back and say these were the best were years of my life!”

St Stephen's Hill Canterbury Kent CT2 7AP t: 01227 765805 admin@archbishops.kent.sch.uk www.archbishops-school.co.uk

The Archbishop’s School Canterbury

St Stephen's Hill Canterbury Kent CT2 7AP t: 01227 765805 admin@archbishops.kent.sch.uk

The Archbishop’s School Canterbury

Design & Production: SEA 01227 768808

www.archbishops-school.co.uk