About us

The Academy

In September 2010 Sidney Stringer School will change its status and become an Academy. Academies are free, government-funded, local schools that provide a first-class education for young people of all abilities. They are established by sponsors working with partners from the local community. In this case, the sponsors are Coventry City Council, City College, Coventry University and Jaguar Land Rover Cars.

Building on Sidney Stringer’s reputation for innovation and success, and its commitment to meeting the needs of its diverse student population, the Academy will offer a fresh approach to learning, a flexible and rich curriculum, investment in the latest ICT equipment and learning support systems, and state-of-the art facilities in new buildings, to help raise standards of achievement among all students.

Student places 

There will be 1,350 places including a new sixth-form offering 300 places. The Academy is an all-inclusive school, welcoming students from all backgrounds, of all faiths or none, and of all abilities, operating under Coventry City Council’s Admissions policy.

All students currently at Sidney Stringer School have automatic rights to transfer to the Academy in September 2010.

Location, facilities and timing

From September 2010, the Academy will operate in the existing Sidney Stringer School buildings in Hillfields with improved facilities. In September 2011, it will move to its new £30 million, state-of-the-art building on the same site.

Ofsted

The last full inspection was in 2006 when Ofsted gave the school an overall grade of good, and noted a high capacity for further improvement. Standards in the sixth form, progress in mathematics and racial harmony were described as outstanding. (Download Ofsted report). An Ofsted visit in October 2008 looked at Creative Learning, in which the school was judged to be outstanding (Download Ofsted visit letter).

Standards

Student achievement at Sidney Stringer is high, particularly in reference to their starting points. Value added at each key stage is well over the national norm. Results at Key Stages 3 and 4 in 2009 were the best the school has ever had and every student in the sixth form who applied was successful in gaining their place at university. This makes our academy quite special. Sidney Stringer School is not a failing school, indeed it is a very successful one and our aim as an academy is to continue to build on this success with further transformation.

Ethos, vision and values

Our aim is to raise every students’ expectations and achievements, whatever their needs, talents, strengths and weaknesses, by providing high-quality inclusive education in every curriculum area. The Academy will also foster in them a sense of the value of education in school and, as they look to their futures, in the worlds of work and further and higher education. Diversity is a real strength of the school, with respect at the heart of our values; to be expected of and owed to everyone in the community. Students will also be encouraged to have a sense of pride and belonging in their community.

Curriculum

The academy will have a two year KS3 curriculum and a three year KS4 programme with pathways for students to enable all to achieve. There will be additional numeracy and literacy support for those students who need it to achieve the expected levels. Students will sit exams each year in many subjects with the opportunity to take new options on an annual basis.

We are offering a wide range of courses including BTEC and diplomas. Some will be taught jointly with City College. Options will be mixed age groups for years 9 and 10 in 2010/11 and this will be extended to year 11 in 2011. This will enable us to offer a wider choice to students.

At post 16 we are continuing to expand our offer of both level 2 and 3 courses and are part of the successful North West Coventry schools federation. A large number of our staff are involved in the delivery of post 16 courses.

History of the predecessor school

Stringer School opened in 1971 as the first urban community school in England. Its mission as a community school was to serve the whole population of the community, not just the children, through open access to educational provision and all facilities seven days a week, for most of the year. Learners of all ages worked together, and a crèche supported those adults with young children.

The school was named after Alderman Sidney Stringer, a former mayor of Coventry who dedicated himself to the rebuilding of the city after the devastation of the Second World War. The school was Coventry’s expression of commitment to one of its poorest communities, very much in the spirit of Sidney Stringer’s own vision of hope and renewal.

Thus was created a school with a unique ethos – that of a school which the community felt belonged to them. This attachment to the school has never wavered, despite some difficult times in the 1980s and early 1990s when hardship, deprivation and crime were all too common features of the local area.

A serious fire in September 2007 destroyed 40% of the building. However the school was quickly equipped with high new quality accommodation, which will serve us well until we move into the new buildings.

As an Academy it is important that we do not lose sight of these values and ethos but we build on them.