Ashlawn School

Ashlawn School Academy Trust, more commonly known as Ashlawn School (or simply Ashlawn), is a large partially selective secondary school located in Rugby, Warwickshire, England that specialises in Science, Computing and Leadership. Ashlawn is one of only five bilateral schools in England, and these students need to score highly in the 11+ examination to gain admission to the grammar stream in Year 7.

Ashlawn School is a National Teaching School. It was granted this status in October 2014. These schools are judged to be 'outstanding' by Ofsted, and they help teachers from other schools train. Very few schools have been granted this status.

In November 2013, the school was awarded an OFSTED Outstanding rating (the highest rating) in all categories.^[1]

Around 1,750 pupils attend the school educated by 90 full-time teaching staff, with total staff at around 110 members. The incumbent headteacher is Lois Reed, who replaced former professional rugby union international Peter Rossborough, after his retirement in 2008.

History

Foundation

Ashlawn School was previously known as Dunsmore School for Girls and Dunsmore School for Boys until 1985, when they merged with another secondary school, Fareham High School, to become today's Ashlawn School.

Recent history

In 2005 the school was granted Special Science College status, entitling the establishment to government grants for new educational equipment, such as portable tablets with internet access. These are linked up to data projectors so that presentations and research can be done online and easily in front of a class. In April 2009 it was also awarded a Leadership College status. Both achievements have been commemorated with the construction of monuments, a rainbow coloured piece of modern art (created by a local artist), for the Science College status, and a large text embossed sun, for the Leadership status.

In early 2007 the school received planning permission from Rugby Borough Council to erect a wind turbine at the school, making it one of the first in the country to employ such a scheme. Also, in 2010, a number of Ashlawn's buildings were fitted with solar panels to cut down on their carbon footprint even further.

In October 2012, work began on a new bespoke expressive arts centre which was completed in mid-2013. The centre is now available out of hours (e.g. the dance studio, drama rooms) marking the school's first building partially dedicated for use by the local community.^[2] The building was officially unveiled by Rugby Mayor Cllr Tony Gillias on 20 June 2013, ready for use in the upcoming Autumn term.

In April 2015, the Education Funding Agency awarded Ashlawn School with £2.6 million to build a bespoke Sixth Form Centre and specialist Teaching Studio.^[3] This is in response to a significant increase in demand for places at this school.

Academy status

In May 2010, the secretary of education approached the school to become an Academy and on 1 April 2011 the school took on the Academy status. and is now run by the Ashlawn School Academy Trust.^[4]

Notable alumni

• Lauren Taylor - Professional Golfer

References