Wellsway School
Wellsway School is a mixed comprehensive school for students aged 11 to 18 and is run by the Wellsway Multi Academy Trust. It is situated on the eastern side of Keynsham, Somerset, England. In February 2014, there were 1335 students attending the school, including 270 in the sixth form.
In October 2011, the school became an academy.
History
Wellsway School was established in 1971, by amalgamating Keynsham Grammar School and Wellsway County Secondary School both of which opened on a shared site in the mid 1950s.Headteachers
| Year | |
| 1966–1974, | Stanley Jarvis |
| 1974–1989 | John Narey |
| 1989–1990 | Helen Dance |
| 1990–1994 | Martin Whittle |
| 1994–1995 | John Smith and Patricia Baker |
| 1995–2005 | Paul Kent |
| 2005-2016 | Andrea Arlidge |
| 2016–Present | Matthew Woodville |
House system
The house system has been maintained since the opening of both the Keynsham Grammar School and Wellsway County Secondary School in 1956. The house system was first implemented in 1956. The pupils of Wellsway were divided into three Houses, each with their own House Master, Staff and Captains. The three houses were Bridges House, Chandos House and Rodney House. The house system as it is today, was created when Wellsway School opened in 1971. The four houses are named after local villages; Burnett, Compton, Newton and Stanton. These are then represented by a certain colour, purple for Burnett, blue for Compton, orange for Newton and red for Stanton.2015 Onwards
In September 2015 it was announced that Andrea Arlidge would move into the full-time role of Chief Executive of Wellsway Multi Academy Trust . In December Matthew Woodville was appointed as the new Principal.In March 2016 Head of School Simon White announced that he would leave WMAT to become Principal at John Cabot Academy in Kingswood Bristol.
On 1 April 2016 Andrea Arlidge became Chief Executive and Matthew Woodville became Principal.
Structural changes
The school has gone through many changes since its opening in 1956, however, many of these are new builds, or extensions, with the original buildings still standing and fully functional.Key structural changes through the years have been:
| Date | |
| 1956 | The Keynsham Grammar school was built, and officially opened on 4 October 1957.. |
| 1957 | The start of the south east extension began |
| 1959 | Wellsway County Secondary School was opened |
| 1971 | Both schools merged to form a new comprehensive school "Wellsway School'. |
| 1990s | New Art block was built, situated at the front of the building, next to the Drama Studio, and built up to the perimeter fence, next to the secondary entrance. Removal of the Swimming pool, which was situated on the edge of Lansdown Courts, next to the Kitchens. Construction of the Sixth Form Extension Block – an extension further out towards the Mendip Playing Courts] extending off the original building. |
| 2000 | The Lansdown Hall stage, was ripped out, and turned into Room 30, a full-time Music Room. |
| 2001 | New Science Lab – now Room 2a. This build looks out onto the playing fields, adjoining to Room 2, replacing the old greenhouse, which was built on the side of it. |
| 2003 | The hut, previously used as Room 30, was demolished to make way for a Car park behind the new building. |
| 2003–2004 | A Modern Languages Building was built where the Swimming Pool once stood. 2004 also saw the Technology Extension, extending the Technology building outwards. |
| 2004 | Demolition of Temporary Huts – Rooms 55 & 56. The quad is now known as the Laura Allen Garden, in memory of Laura Allen who died in January 2004. Further demolition of temporary huts, with Room 4a, originally a Science Lab, then a Special Needs Classroom knocked down. |
| 2005 | Construction of the Artificial turf pitch, built on top of the Cricket Square, situated on the upper tier of the playing fields. |
| 2007 | Construction of new Youth and Community Centre – built on the south end of the school. |
| 2008 | During the summer of 2008, the new Sixth Form Learning Centre was created. |
| 2015-16 | The new IKB studio school was built next to the Landsdown Building. |
Minor Structural Changes
| Date | |
| 2007 | The replacement of Mendip building's roof. A new cricket square was added after receiving a grant of £8,500 from the MCC for the square. The Resources Centre]was relocated to make way for the new Student Support Centre. The Resources Centre was relocated to where the Careers Centre had been located. The Careers Centre was also relocated — to one end of the Library which was renamed the Learning Resource Centre. Structural changes saw windows knocked through the existing wall. |
| 2015 | The windows in the Landsdown Building were replaced. |
About Wellsway School
Wellsway School is a mixed comprehensive school in the town of Keynsham, Bristol. Most students that attend the school live in Keynsham and Saltford or the nearby villages.In 2006, 64% of pupils achieved 5 or more A-C grades at GCSE. In February 2014, there were 1335 students attending the school, including 270 attending Wellsway Sixth Form Centre. There are also around 85 members of teaching staff, supported by approximately 25 support staff.
Campus
Wellsway School is situated on the eastern side of Keynsham in a spacious campus with open and green fields. The campus contains 3 main areas; Lansdown Building, Mendip Building & The Playing Fields. A review of schools within Bath and North East Somerset during 2010 identified some buildings which were in poor condition and proposed expanding Wellsway and closing Broadlands School to create a single school in Keynsham, though a decision was made not to proceed with this proposal.Uniform
Wellsway requires students to wear uniform consisting of green blazers and colour-coded house ties, worn by all pupils.Curriculum teams and subjects
In 2005/2006, the staff structure was reviewed at Wellsway, consequently resulting in the departmental structure being revised. From September 2006, the previous structure was replaced by curriculum teams, which in some cases, comprises more than one subject team.In 2016 the structure was as follows:
| Curriculum Teams | Subject Teams |
| Maths | Maths, Further Maths, Computing |
| English | English |
| Science | Biology, Chemistry, Physics |
| Physical Education and Performing Arts | PE, Dance, Drama, Music |
| Humanities | History, Geography, Religious Studies |
| Modern Foreign Languages | French, German, Business |
| Design, Art and Technology | Technology, Food, Art |
Sports & Science Centre of Excellence
Wellsway's bid for specialist school status was accepted in September 2007. Meaning that Wellsway School now specialises as a Sports and Science College. This means the school has joined the national network of specialist schools, resulting in every school in Bath and North East Somerset now having a specialism. A joint bid is unusual as there are only six schools in the country with a combined Sports and Science specialism. This bid will provide additional funding of £129 per student per year to spend on teaching and learning.Playing for Success
Wellsway School is part of the Playing for Success scheme run by the Department for Children, Schools and Families. Wellsway School takes part in the initiative that takes place at the Bath Rec. This support centre is a 'classroom within a club' which offers after school study support to pupils in Year 8–9.Fairtrade status
On 29 March 2007, the school was the first school in the district to be awarded Fair Trade status. Fair Trade coffee, tea and sugar are used in the staff room and other products sold in the school canteen, in Shades, the Sixth Form cafe, and in a weekly tuck shop run by students. Fair Trade issues are integrated in the curriculum and taught in subjects such as Business Studies, Citizenship, Geography, Religious Studies.Wellsway Sixth Form College
Wellsway Sixth Form has grown significantly during the past few years, with many students going on to university. Over 60% of Year 11 stay on for the 6th Form. In 2006, the Sixth Form had 280 students aged between 16 and 19, having the choice to study from a range of 25 subjects at AS/A2 level. In 2006, 45% of students gained A-B grades, and 67.9% of students gained A-C grades. The students also get the chance to take part in a range of extracurricular opportunities, such as Teacher Support sessions, Team building exercises, Tutorials and Theatre trips for example. A brand new sixth for learning centre which hosts a computer suite, private study and office area was opened in October 2008.Sport
Students represent the district, county or region in various sports. Wellsway has received good reports from Sports Mark Gold 3 times. Sporting success has been achieved in many sports including cricket, football, rugby union, athletics, netball and especially field hockey. A new artificial turf pitch was constructed in 2005.Since the opening of the Artificial pitch, Wellsway has played XI Mixed Hockey against local schools and in the 2006–2007 season, won the U18 Mixed District Tournament. Players from the school have gone on to play at club level in the area and around the country.
In netball, the U14 team reached the National Championships in Bournemouth and teams for other age groups have been district and regional champions.
Wellsway also supports students who want to pursue a career in Sport, including the RFU Referee's foundation course.
Other extracurricular activities
In May 2006, students composed music for a concert at Wellsway involving over 60 local musicians. In September 2006 over 200 students sang together for World Peace Day. Wellsway hosted the regional heat for a national schools rock idol competition and musicians from the school performed live on BBC Radio Bristol. A fundraising concert for the Royal United Hospital brought together the musicians and Radio Wellsway with a live broadcast and video link involving the whole school. Every student has the opportunity to study music and nearly 200 opt to learn an instrument in school.'A' level dance is now offered in the sixth form and has become part of Wellsway's extracurricular activities. Wellsway pupils presented their own Evening of Dance which included junior, senior and sixth form students. This event involved year 6 pupils from Chandag Junior School, giving them a chance to take part in a dance workshop.
A Level Theatre Studies students regularly take part in evening performances which are either an extension of ideas explored in class or formal practical exams. In November 2005 Year 13 students performed their devised pieces as part of the Endgames Festival at the Egg Theatre, which is a part of the Theatre Royal, Bath whose education department are working with the school.
The Green Team is the name of the school's environmental group. The group meets regularly for sessions looking after the environment both in and outside school.
Wellsway Multi Academy Trust
Wellsway Multi Academy Trust is a Multi Academy Trust that comprises six academy schools. It was formed in 2014 by lead school Wellsway School. The hub school is also Wellsway.History
The trust was founded in 2014 by Wellsway School. The trust has expanded significantly since its creation. The trust has constructed two studio schools, one in Bath and one on the Wellsway site.The trust also sponsors the Sir Bernard Lovell Academy after its inadequate Ofsted report.
In 2018 Ofsted found that all the secondary schools other than Wellsway School in the MAT required improvement. The MAT noted that Sir Bernard Lovell Academy had come out of special measures, and the other two schools were first inspections.
In 2018 the MAT proposed that Bath Studio School should close in 2020, largely because only 126 places of the school's 300 capacity were in use so the school was being heavily subsidised by the MAT.
During 2019, work was put into deciding a new name for the trust as Wellsway was only one of several schools in it. Students were asked about what they thought would be a good name. As of now, a new name has not been decided.