Abbs Cross School And Arts College
Encyclopedia
Abbs Cross Academy and Arts College (once known as Abbs Cross School and Arts College) is situated on Abbs Cross Lane, Hornchurch
, in the London Borough of Havering
. Abbs Cross is now an Arts College. Like most secondary schools in its area, it lacks a sixth form
centre although the school has a strong link with Havering Sixth Form College
in which a majority of its students go on to attend. The School's Headteacher is Mr G. Mayoh
Abbs Cross school was opened in 1958 as a mixed Technical High School. It was enlarged in 1973.
. Today it remains fully committed to the principles of comprehensive education and seeks to introduce each individual child to traditional academic values. The motto of the school is
The aims of the school are as follows:-
In its latest Ofsted
report (2008) the school gained the mark "Outstanding".
, striving for increasingly high standards, for the benefit of its pupils, staff governors and local community, in a caring, supportive and disciplined environment.
"The very good teaching results in pupils attaining well above average standards" Ofsted
November 2004
There are 840 pupils in the school with 168 in each of the five year groups. The school claims to be committed to equality of opportunity and provides all pupils with the full range of a differentiated curriculum
which is broad and balanced to meet the needs of the individual.
On entry to the school children are divided into six classes of 28. Specialist teaching staff ensure that all pupils progress at the appropriate rate. By the end of Year 7 some subjects introduce pupil grouping according to ability.
Currently at the end of Year 9 Teacher Assessment and National Curriculum Tests are used to assess pupil attainment for all relevant subjects studied. In Years 10 and 11, and in the lead up to external examinations, pupils follow individualised courses of study. Supporting the backbone of the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and ICT there is a range of courses on offer, the curriculum at Key Stage 4
(Years 10 and 11) is continually under review.
Mark. Auditions are held for students who wish to enter the school as Performing Arts
Students.
In 2006 the school held the musical
Bugsy Malone
. In the year following the school put up the popular musical Grease
. In 2008, the school pupils performed the famous The Wizard of Oz
. The next musical performed in 2009 was Oliver.
Abbs Cross Music Department has a Dance Band that has played for H.M Queen Elizabeth II at the Romford Market
and Tony Blair
at the Guildhall
in London. It has also taken part in Heritage Concerts at the Queen Theatre Hornchurch for the Mayor of Havering and, was a Dome Performer for the Year 2000 celebrations at the Millennium Dome
, Greenwich
. The Dance Band have also toured all over Europe.
In October 2008, the schools Dance
Company (AX Dance Company) performed at the Olympic
Festival
in Romford
in which the Olympic torch passed through to celebrate the forthcoming Olympic Games
in 2012.
The School also holds its popular Arts Week in the summer term, in which the school timetable
is suspended in order for activities such trips to West End
theatres and workshops.
The school held a Jubilee
Anniversary party in September 2008 (50th Anniversary).
Hornchurch
Hornchurch is a large suburban town in England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Hornchurch is in North-East London .It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. It comprises a number of shopping...
, in the London Borough of Havering
London Borough of Havering
The London Borough of Havering is a London borough in North East London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in Havering is Romford and the other main communities are Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham. The borough is mainly characterised by suburban development with large...
. Abbs Cross is now an Arts College. Like most secondary schools in its area, it lacks a sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
centre although the school has a strong link with Havering Sixth Form College
Havering Sixth Form College
Havering Sixth Form College , abbreviated as HSFC, is a sixth form college in Wingletye Lane, Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, East London, England. Built on the site of Dury Falls Secondary School, it opened in September 1991, and educates full-time students from the ages of 16 to 19...
in which a majority of its students go on to attend. The School's Headteacher is Mr G. Mayoh
Abbs Cross school was opened in 1958 as a mixed Technical High School. It was enlarged in 1973.
Aims
Abbs Cross Academy was expanded and reorganised in 1973 as a Comprehensive schoolComprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
. Today it remains fully committed to the principles of comprehensive education and seeks to introduce each individual child to traditional academic values. The motto of the school is
Committed to Opportunity and Excellence.
The aims of the school are as follows:-
- To provide all pupils with the opportunity and encouragement to develop their full potential.
- To provide a purposeful, caring and friendly environment in which their pupils are happy, feel valued as individuals and learn to be considerate of, and tolerant towards other people and their differing views and respectful of their property.
- To meet the pupils' personal and social needs, including self discipline, and help them acquire moral values including honesty and integrity.
- To prepare their pupils to play a full and constructive role in a democratic, multicultural and competitive society, in the worlds of work, leisure and family life.
In its latest Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
report (2008) the school gained the mark "Outstanding".
Teaching and learning
Abbs Cross continues to provide a high quality of educationEducation
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, striving for increasingly high standards, for the benefit of its pupils, staff governors and local community, in a caring, supportive and disciplined environment.
"The very good teaching results in pupils attaining well above average standards" Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
November 2004
There are 840 pupils in the school with 168 in each of the five year groups. The school claims to be committed to equality of opportunity and provides all pupils with the full range of a differentiated curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
which is broad and balanced to meet the needs of the individual.
On entry to the school children are divided into six classes of 28. Specialist teaching staff ensure that all pupils progress at the appropriate rate. By the end of Year 7 some subjects introduce pupil grouping according to ability.
Currently at the end of Year 9 Teacher Assessment and National Curriculum Tests are used to assess pupil attainment for all relevant subjects studied. In Years 10 and 11, and in the lead up to external examinations, pupils follow individualised courses of study. Supporting the backbone of the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science and ICT there is a range of courses on offer, the curriculum at Key Stage 4
Key Stage 4
Key Stage 4 is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other exams, in maintained schools in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland—normally known as Year 10 and Year 11 in England and Wales, and Year 11 and Year 12 in Northern Ireland, when pupils are...
(Years 10 and 11) is continually under review.
Arts
The School is recognised locally for its ArtsARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
Mark. Auditions are held for students who wish to enter the school as Performing Arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
Students.
In 2006 the school held the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Bugsy Malone
Bugsy Malone
Bugsy Malone is a 1976 musical film, very loosely based on events in New York City in the Prohibition era, specifically the exploits of gangsters like Al Capone and Bugs Moran, as dramatized in cinema...
. In the year following the school put up the popular musical Grease
Grease (musical)
Grease is a 1971 musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. The musical is named for the 1950s United States working-class youth subculture known as the greasers. The musical, set in 1959 at fictional Rydell High School , follows ten working-class teenagers as they navigate the complexities of love,...
. In 2008, the school pupils performed the famous The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum, which has been adapted into several different works, the most famous being the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland...
. The next musical performed in 2009 was Oliver.
Abbs Cross Music Department has a Dance Band that has played for H.M Queen Elizabeth II at the Romford Market
Romford Market
Romford Market is a large open market with 270 stalls, located in Romford, London Borough of Havering, east London, England. The market is open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm...
and Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
at the Guildhall
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
in London. It has also taken part in Heritage Concerts at the Queen Theatre Hornchurch for the Mayor of Havering and, was a Dome Performer for the Year 2000 celebrations at the Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
, Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
. The Dance Band have also toured all over Europe.
In October 2008, the schools Dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
Company (AX Dance Company) performed at the Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
Festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
in Romford
Romford
Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
in which the Olympic torch passed through to celebrate the forthcoming Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
in 2012.
The School also holds its popular Arts Week in the summer term, in which the school timetable
School timetable
A school timetable is a table for coordinating these four elements:*Students*Teachers*Rooms*Time slots Other factors include the subject of the class, and the type of classrooms available ....
is suspended in order for activities such trips to West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
theatres and workshops.
Notable alumni
- David SullivanDavid SullivanDavid Sullivan is a Welsh-born British businessman and pornographer, who is also joint-chairman of West Ham United.He graduated in Economics from Queen Mary College, University of London. From 1986 until 2007 he owned the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport which he sold for £40 million...
, pornographer and owner of West Ham United F.C. - Alex JenningsAlex JenningsAlex Jennings is an English actor whose roles have included Charles, Prince of Wales in The Queen .-Early years:...
, actor - Bob NeillBob NeillRobert James MacGillivray "Bob" Neill is a British barrister and Conservative Party politician. He has served as the Member of Parliament for Bromley and Chislehurst since a by-election on 29 June 2006...
, politician - Rob LeeRob LeeRobert Martin "Rob" Lee is a retired English footballer who played the majority of his career for Charlton Athletic and Newcastle United.-Charlton Athletic:...
, former Newcastle United and England footballer - Stacey SolomonStacey SolomonStacey Solomon is a British singer, television presenter, model and reality TV star. She rose to fame during her time on the sixth series of The X Factor, coming third overall on the show...
, singer, went on to King Solomon High SchoolKing Solomon High SchoolKing Solomon High School is a Modern Orthodox Judaism comprehensive school located in Barkingside, Greater London, England. It was opened in 1993 by its first headmaster, Mr Alastair Falk. The school is a dual specialist Technology College and Humanities College...
in Redbridge - Richard WiskerRichard WiskerRichard Wisker is a British actor best known for his role as Liam O'Donovan in Tracy Beaker Returns. He also is a host on Friday Download.-Career:...
, actor, best-known for his role in Tracy Beaker ReturnsTracy Beaker ReturnsTracy Beaker Returns is a BAFTA winning British children's television series, which premiered on 8 January 2010 on CBBC and BBC HD. Based upon the novels by Jacqueline Wilson, It is the spin-off series to The Story of Tracy Beaker... - Jesy Nelson, singer, best known for being in girl band "little mix" on the X factor
The school held a Jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
Anniversary party in September 2008 (50th Anniversary).