Introduction View our Mission Statement Wootton Upper School opened in 1975 and has long had an enviable reputation in the community for great academic outcomes, performing arts excellence and sporting successes. The school motto is the pursuit of excellence and as a community we all work hard to live up to this mantra. Many of our students progress on to Kimberley 16-19 College, which has been ranked 11th in the Sunday Times top performing Sixth Form Colleges in the UK (November 2017). Wootton Academy Trust enables consistently high standards of education for our students from Years 9 to 13. The school has worked hard to develop the opportunity for our students to develop and demonstrate leadership skills. We now have a team of senior student leaders and other leaders who work with staff in areas such as teaching and learning, performing arts and the wider community. We are an inclusive community and we are very conscious of the duty on us to value and celebrate diversity. Therefore, equality is a key value of the school. We understand that each of our students are unique and we celebrate this uniqueness. We celebrate academic achievement; we also celebrate individual excellence in lots of other areas. We are passionate about developing the potential of every child at Wootton Upper School; academic excellence is important to us, but so too is each individual’s personal development and well-being. We take great pride in the enrichment opportunities that are available to all our students. There are lots of arts productions - our most recent musical productions have included Billy Elliot (July 2016) and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (November 2016) - the latter show going on tour to Germany following a run in our own Theatre. There are many different drama, dance and music groups which aim to develop students’ self-confidence and love of the arts. We hold an annual Wootton Fringe where students are able to showcase their talent in Drama and Dance. The Year 9 Drama group recently performed The Nutting Olympics. There is also an annual Dance Display. The Music department hosts at least one concert per term. Partnership with others is a key aspect of our work; our arts partners include two schools in Germany, ETA Hoffmann in Bamberg and Schulzentrum Utbremen in Bremen. We work with both of these institutions to promote arts opportunities. Equally, we recognize that by working with a range of different agencies and others our community is even better. Our sports teams are active participants in many different leagues and cup competitions. We have won county cups in rugby at two different age groups in both of the last two academic years. We have also reached the final of different county football competitions (both boys and girls). We have a number of very gifted individual sportsmen and women, including a U15 European champion in Badminton. Our athletes and cross country runners all do really well locally and further afield. Excellence in sport is important to us, but so is the wider participation of all young people. We strive to provide all our students with a wide array of opportunities; we organise lots of trips and visits including a week’s residential at Blue Peris Mountain Centre in Snowdonia and biannual ski trips as well as cultural visits to Berlin, First World War battlefields and lots of local activities including theatre visits, public speaking competitions and much, much, more. We give students skills and values to equip them to be successful members of society. We encourage both individual aspiration but also we champion support for those less fortunate in the world. We want our students to be independent; we also want them to have integrity. We believe our students understand this and we know that our students have a strong sense of right and wrong. As a school community we seek to do our best at all times; we recognise that nobody can get everything right all of the time. Therefore, it is important to us that we encourage stakeholders in our wider community and others to let us have their views. We believe that if we listen, we build integrity and respect. This is important to us and we believe it is equally important to our students. We are ambitious for our school; we know that working in partnership with students, parents and carers, governors and the wider Trust, other schools and external agencies we will be a stronger and more inclusive school. We believe that by working with others we are most likely to realise our mission, namely supporting and challenging all our learners to achieve their personal best at all times. Wootton Upper School pursuit of excellence is achievable through ensuring equality for all and opportunity for all. Please do get in touch if you want to find out more about us. Carrie McMorn Head of School Wootton Academy Trust Home Curriculum Key Documents Careers Pupil Premium SEND Safeguarding Ofsted Parents Students Staff Contact Us Address © Copyright 2019 by Wootton Upper School Tel: 01234 767123 Email: wootton@wootton.beds.sch.uk Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoottonUS/ Wootton Upper School Hall End Road Wootton Beds MK43 9HT