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Valley Gardens Middle School

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Valley Gardens Middle School
File:Vgms logo.JPG
Location
Map
Whitley Bay
,
Tyne and Wear

England
Information
TypeComprehensive school
Established1957 as a secondary modern
HeadteacherMicheal Homer (Since 2004)
Number of students730[1]

Valley Gardens Middle School is located in Monkseaton, Whitley Bay in North Tyneside, United Kingdom. The Headteacher is Michael Homer. It is the largest middle school in Whitley Bay, with about 730 pupils on roll and SATs results are significantly above the national average. It serves a mainly suburban catchment.

Its motto is 'What do you want to achieve?'

Most students transfer to Whitley Bay High School at the end of Year 8 due to its close proximity.

Prior to school reorganisation in the 1970s the building was a secondary modern; hence it has always had relatively good technology facilities for a middle school.

2007 marks school's 50th anniversary. Celebrations are being planned for later this year in the Autumn Term.

History

The school has had a varied history. The school was built in 1957. It closed through the summer of 1967 and turned from Whitley Bay County Secondary School into Valley Gardens Middle School . In 2000 the school was threatened with closure after North Tyneside council wanted to turn to a two-tier system instead of the three-tier system that was then used, this did not happen. In 2002 an extra year 5 class was added to take the numbers from 5 classes to 6, at that time every other year had 6 classes all ready. This move was taken to increase capacity and increase chances of getting into sixth form in later life. Also in 2002 the school governors encouraged the local education authority to provide more classrooms and modernise the buildings. [2]

Bio Sand Water Filters

In early 2007, the school was given a challenge to raise money for water filters for places in Africa. This was being done with Samaritan's Purse. Money for 100 water filters was raised. Many classes appeared in the Whitley Bay News Guardian for their fundraising effects, ranging from tombola's and sponsored walks to bag packs at the local supermarket. One class, 7CH, did a sponsored water relay for one of their events to raise money. Alone 7CH raised enough money for over 11 water filters. [3]
(Note: The article says that ' pupils in class 7C at Valley Gardens Middle School completed a relay walk on an athletics track to raise money to help those in poorer countries.' 7C is a typo made by the reporter. The classes correct name is 7CH.)
The Cheque for £4017.07 was presented to Samaritan's Purse in a special assembly by the assistant headteacher and two Year 8 pupils who will be helping with the fundraising effort in the next school year, even though they will then be pupils of Whitley Bay High School.Mrs Andreou(class 7AO and science teacher/geography) and Mr Heaford(Assistant Head and Head of RE) decided to raise money for the filters.Most pupils are more than pleased over the amount of money raised.VALEY RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Publications

The school has two main publications:
The Valley Gardens Gazette, which is a newspaper containing events in school written by pupils. The Valley Gardens Gazette is published once a term and is sold by the reporters at a break and lunch time. But at this current time this is shut down. It is hoped to be restarted for the 2007-08 school year, after school or during lunchtime.
The other is a formal publication called the VG Magazine, this features literacy work by pupils and is sold in school and at local bookshop Paper Treasures priced at £1. [4]

Size

The school is a medium size with:

  • 5 Mobile classrooms,
  • 2 ICT rooms,
  • 1 LRC(Library),
  • 1 Music room,
  • 1 Design room,
  • 2 Design technology rooms,
  • 1 Art room,
  • 1 Gym,
  • 1 Dining/ Assembly Hall,
  • 19 Main school classrooms and
  • 6 Year 5 classrooms

Renovation

Recently, the school has been renovated to fit the large number of pupils in the school. A new year five block with state of the art interactive whiteboards in each classroom has been built and was opened by the former environment secretary, David Miliband. These boards have now been fitted into nearly every classroom in the school. The front of the school has been rebuilt with a new main office, a head teacher's room and a meeting room. Two special needs rooms have been also built to help with the number of pupils on the special needs register. This is all to bring the school from its 70's style into the 21st Century.

The next stage will be to refurbish the front of the old year five block, which was originally a temporary building built in 1974, to create a music studies "workshop" area - including: practice rooms and a recording studio, if funds allow, this music studies "workshop" will then be connected to a mobile classroom to provide two music rooms for general use. The school then aims to demolish the mobile classrooms out the back and provide a connected building for use by the art and foreign languages department. Also the corridor at the back of the school is due to be widened. This would put Valley Gardens in the very final stages of renovation.

Residential Trips

The school takes pupils on many trips abroad including;

It also takes pupils on trips in the UK such as High Borrans. Also, pupils are chosen to go countries like Cyprus and Hungary as part of the Comenius project which the school has a major part in.

Productions

Nearly every year the school puts on a school production featuring around 60 pupils.

Awards

The school has been awarded numerous awards and trophies. One of them is the International School Award, which celebrates the school success in doing international activities such as an International Day in 2005, plus the schools high success in languages. It was presented by BBC News reader Anna Ford in 2006.

SATs

Valley Gardens normally have SATs results above the national average.
The SATs results for 2006 are listed in the table and graph below. [5] [6]

Enlarge
Level English Maths Science
Level 4 or Above 88% 79% 95%
Level 5 53% 36% 56%
Pupils Absent or Not Able to Access Test 1% 1% 1%

Uniform

The school has an extensive uniform that is designed to be smart but comfortable. [7]

Boys

Boys PE Kit

Girls

Girls PE Kit

Famous pupils and teachers, past and present

Media

The school has appeared in the media many times for various events including:

  • The opening of a new Year 5 block. [8]
  • A spate of thefts from the school, including a projector and the attempted theft of an interactive whiteboard. [9]
  • Winning various awards, including the International Schools Award [10]
  • The schools fundraising efforts, including major charitable donations and fundraising events.[11]
  • Sporting events [12]
  • Concerns over a new fence [13]
  • Creative Writing [14]
  • Trips in other countries[15]
  • Vandalism to the school building and surroundings. [17]
  • In school achievements. [18]
  • Major occurrences in school. [20]


(Note: This is local press, mainly the Whitley Bay News Guardian, Valley Gardens Middle School is rarely featured in the national press.)

References

  1. ^ "Number of Pupils". Valley Gardens Middle School.
  2. ^ "School a success after near closure". Whitley Bay News Guardian. June 22, 2002.
  3. ^ "Pupils make a splash for children less fortunate". Whitley Bay News Guardian. April 04, 2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Magazine showcases pupils' quality writing in print". Whitley Bay News Guardian. July 21, 2004.
  5. ^ "SATs Results". DFES. 2006.
  6. ^ "SATs Results". BBC. 2006.
  7. ^ "Uniform List". Valley Gardens Middle School. 2007.
  8. ^ "Opening of Year 5 Block". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2006.
  9. ^ "Thefts from School". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2006.
  10. ^ "Award Winning School". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2006.
  11. ^ "Charitable Donations". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2007.
  12. ^ "Sporting Events". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2006.
  13. ^ "Concerns over new fence". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2005.
  14. ^ "Creative Writing". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2005.
  15. ^ "Trips to other countries". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2006.
  16. ^ "Mock Trials". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2006.
  17. ^ "Vandalism To School". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2005.
  18. ^ "In School Achievements". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2005.
  19. ^ "Competitions". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2005.
  20. ^ "Major Occurrences in the School". Whitley Bay News Guardian. 2006.

http://www.valleygardensmiddle.org.uk School Website

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