Honiton Community College

Honiton Community College is a comprehensive academy school located in Honiton, Devon, England. It was originally established as Honiton Secondary School in 1938, and converted to an academy in 2011. The school educates around 650 students, and employs approximately 150 staff. The current principal is Mrs Brothwood, who follows Alex Kirkbride, who follows Glenn Smith, who in turn, took up the post in September 2009 following the retirement of predecessor Norman Tyson. The school held 'specialist' status in science from 2005 until the specialist schools programme ended in 2010. Reputation and external recognition In 2022, the school was considered to have an overall effectiveness of 'requires improvement' by Ofsted. As of the latest inspection in 2024, the school was labelled as "Good", much to the delight of the staff. Music Prior to the current music teacher, the Music departement was run by jazz guitarist Joss Kidd who left in order to pursue a career in jazz guitar in 2023. Between 2023 and 2025, the school fluctuates between teaching Drama and Music (with an unqualified music teacher) before eventually cutting both from the curriculum. Since 2025, coinciding with the arrival of a new music teacher, David Turner, the school has become known for it's thriving music department with Turner personally having put Music back on the school's curriculum and personally running several extracurricular music clubs including a Russian Balalaika ensemble, a Japanese Taiko group (who received acclaim from Taiko veteran John Kirby), a House Band, a Rock School, an awful choir and a large music education centre (Honiton Music Centre), open to anyone living in the area. The Honiton Music Centre is an initiative started by David Turner in the Autumn of 2025 which saw the beginning of affordable (£4 a week) instrument lessons open to anyone living nearby under the age of 16. The instruments taught include the cello, violin, viola, double bass, cornet, trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, guitar and trombone with help from three other music teachers. The Music Centre has received financial support and acclaim from the Devon Music Hub. Turner also set up a recording studio in the Music block which students can use freely to record their music and has restarted the Music GCSE program which had been long since abandoned by the school. Music in the school is also supported by peripatetic music teachers who offer paid individual or paired lessons within the school for guitar, bass guitar, drums and singing. Campus and buildings Parts of the College's physical estate date back to its founding in the late 1930s, and the school has faced a legacy of poor construction for much of its history. In 1993, former Principal Norman Tyson described it as 'hut city', and the college was then believed to have had the highest number of temporary classrooms in Devon. Recent capital investment of ~£5 million between 2011 and 2018 has significantly improved the school's infrastructure and facilities, with the introduction of a number of purpose-built facilities, including an AV suite, dance studio, gym, sports hall, and sixth form common area as well as a total refurbishment of English and the old Science block. Upon the closing of the sixth form in 2025, the common room was converted into a library, staffed by the English team. Midway through 2025, the Humanities block was converted to a Behaviour Support block with the upstairs being no longer in use. Student activities In September 2010, the school launched a student-led local radio station as 'Radio HCC' on 87.7FM (which has since stopped airing). Students at the school also have an inactive YouTube channel. Principals Mrs Brothwood (2024 - ) Alex Kirkbride (2022 – 2024) Glenn Smith (2009 - 2022) Norman Tyson (1993 - 2009) Derek Yates (left in 1993) Notable former students Douglas Fordyce — acrobatic gymnast Nathan Hannay - rugby union player Aaron Jarvis — international rugby union player David Lye — English cricketer Maurice Setters — English football player and manager Charlie Wright — rugby union player References External links Official site Archived 30 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine Governance documents, including financial reports and strategic plans Archived 27 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine