Crosfields School
Encyclopedia
Crosfields School, commonly and colloquially known as Crosfields and initialised XF is an interdenominational preparatory day school on Shinfield Road in the civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 of Shinfield
Shinfield
Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains and is administered by the unitary authority of Wokingham District.-Geography:...

, near the border of the borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....

s of Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

 and Wokingham
Wokingham (district)
Wokingham is a local government district in Berkshire, United Kingdom. It is named after its main town, Wokingham. Other places in the district include Arborfield, Barkham, Charvil, Earley, Finchampstead, Hurst, Sonning, Remenham, Ruscombe, Shinfield, Twyford, Wargrave, Three Mile Cross, Winnersh,...

 in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county
Counties of England
Counties of England are areas used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. For administrative purposes, England outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly is divided into 83 counties. The counties may consist of a single district or be divided into several...

 of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

.

Established in 1957 when it gained independence from Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Quaker independent school for both day and boarding pupils. It is situated in the large town of Reading in Berkshire, in South East England...

 as Leighton Park Junior School, it is set within 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of ground. The school is now fully co-educational.'Co-Ed' Crosfields currently has over 500 pupil
Pupil
The pupil is a hole located in the center of the iris of the eye that allows light to enter the retina. It appears black because most of the light entering the pupil is absorbed by the tissues inside the eye. In humans the pupil is round, but other species, such as some cats, have slit pupils. In...

s aged between 3 and 13. A Nursery class opened in September 2008.
Boys and girls (in the Pre-Preparatory School) are selected through interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...

 and assessment at all ages starting with Reception
Reception (school)
Reception or Primary 1 or FS2 is the first year of primary school in the United Kingdom and South Australia. It is preceded by nursery and is followed by Year One in England and Wales or Primary 2 in Northern Ireland and Scotland.Pupils in Reception are usually aged between four and five...

. It is less common for people to join at the top end of the school (Year 8) and certain interval years (Year 4, 6, 7). An extra class
Class (education)
A class in education has a variety of related meanings.It can be the group of students which attends a specific course or lesson at a university, school or other educational institution, see Form ....

 is created in Year 5 and 6, making it 4 classes, to allocate more pupils.
Some pupils take examinations at 11 which take them on to senior schools but most pupils tend to stay on until they are 13 and sit Common Entrance exams set by the Independent Schools Examination Board (ISEB) which will take them on to independent
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...

 senior schools. However, there are exceptions from Common Entrance such as acceptance to grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

s (notably nearby Reading School
Reading School
Reading School is a state-funded, selective academy school for boys in the English town of Reading. It is notable for tracing its history back to the school of Reading Abbey, making it one of the oldest schools in England. There are no tuition fees for day pupils, and boarders only pay for food and...

) and other independent, public and private schools that require slightly different methods of examination.

Among the most recent policy changes was the acceptance of girls and a co-education policy which took effect in September 2007 for the Pre-Preparatory School with the whole school taking part in the policy from September 2008 onwards.

History

The current Headmaster is Jonathan P. Wansey, who took over from Frank Skipwith in 2000, who had been Headmaster from 1986 until 2000.
Originally a junior school for Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School
Leighton Park School is a co-educational Quaker independent school for both day and boarding pupils. It is situated in the large town of Reading in Berkshire, in South East England...

, Crosfields was founded as a preparatory school in 1957. However, its roots can be traced back to a school in Castle Street called Marlborough House, established in the first half of the 19th century. The school was originally on Bath Road but in the 1920s moved to Parkside Street of which the location is now a YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 centre.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Leighton Park purchased the nearby Goodrest Estate (the estate was thought to have been named after a quote of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 saying he "had had a good rest") and the Junior school settled there in 1946.
When the number of day and boarders at Crosfields had reached 100, a consideration was taken in January 1957 that the school should become an entirely new school. And in January 1957, Crosfields School officially became an independent preparatory school with its own Trust Fund and Board of Governors.

Origin of Name

Crosfields was named because of a boy's suggestion, after Hugh Crosfield, an old boy and former Leighton Park governor who had been killed in an air raid
Airstrike
An air strike is an attack on a specific objective by military aircraft during an offensive mission. Air strikes are commonly delivered from aircraft such as fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters, and others...

 in 1944 during the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Crosfields School shares its name with a Junior Football Club, participating in the South Lancashire League, containing such players as Peter Hutchins.

Curriculum

Basic subject
Course (education)
The very broad dictionary meaning of the word course is the act or action of moving in a path from point to point . There are multiple meanings for this word, some of which include: general line of orientation, a mode of action, part of a meal, a mode of action, and many more. This article focuses...

s include Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 and English. As pupils progress they take up a wide variety of subjects.

From the first year of education (Reception), pupils are required to study the basic subjects such as Mathematics, English, ICT
Information and communication technologies
Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...

 and French.
If pupils are in the top set from Year 6 onwards (known as the Z set), they have a choice of taking up another language alongside French, either Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 or Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

. Most people tend to take Latin as it is required for a number of prestigious independent schools in the local area.
In the top end, Year 5-8, new subjects such as Design and Technology and PHSE are taken. GS or general subjects or sessions is only applied to Year 5.

Common Entrance Examinations

Arguably the most exams in the top end of the school taken, Common Entrance examinations are produced by the Independent Schools Examination Board or the ISEB.

Some pupils depart at 11 rather than 13 due to the acceptance of places at local grammar and independent schools that require different methods of examination.

Subjects

Compulsory subjects for Common Entrance
Common Entrance
Common Entrance Examinations are taken by some children in the UK as part of the admissions process for academically selective secondary schools at age 13 or 11. Most of the secondary schools that use Common Entrance for admission are public schools; most of the schools that routinely prepare...

 examination at 13+ are:
  • English
    English language
    English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

  • Mathematics
    Mathematics
    Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

  • Science
    Science
    Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...



Compulsory subjects for Common Entrance
Common Entrance
Common Entrance Examinations are taken by some children in the UK as part of the admissions process for academically selective secondary schools at age 13 or 11. Most of the secondary schools that use Common Entrance for admission are public schools; most of the schools that routinely prepare...

 examinations for 13+ at Crosfields are:
  • English
    English language
    English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

  • Mathematics
    Mathematics
    Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

  • Time keeping
  • Biology
    Biology
    Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

  • Chemistry
    Chemistry
    Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

  • Physics
    Physics
    Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

  • Latin
    Latin
    Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

     (Only Z Set pupils may learn Latin)
  • Spanish
    Spanish language
    Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

     (Only Z Set pupils may learn Spanish)
  • Geography
    Geography
    Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

  • History
    History
    History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...


Cornwall

About a week after Common Entrance Examinations are completed, Year 8 are sent off on an activity week to the Manor House Activity and Development Centre and have done for the past 23 years. This is in St. Issey, near Padstow, Cornwall. Activities include a coastal walk, kayaking, orienteering, sailing, climbing a cliff and a day trip to St. Ives. The trip is free and expenses are paid for by the Board of Governors. It is a common case that pupils who fail to meet a certain standard of behaviour before the excursion are excluded from the trip.

Exceptions from Common Entrance Examinations

As mentioned, not all pupils go on to senior UK independent schools, some may go on to grammar schools, in some cases comprehensive schools, public schools and even other independent schools.
Everybody on the day of examinations takes the papers, but certain schools, depending on their Common Entrance policies do not mark or do not take in to account pupils results.

Facilities

Set in about 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of parkland the school has teaching blocks housing the Languages department, science, information technology, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

, craft and pottery while the Chestnuts building houses the Reception year and the Acorns building the Pre-Prep Department and the Junior School.

Pupils have use of the Sports Hall, indoor heated swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

 and the music school. There are also tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...

s, a six-hole golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

 course and outdoor and indoor cricket nets. The entire school was originally housed in the White Building but over the years was expanded.

Buildings

Most buildings in the school have been built in the last 50 years, although the White Building, also known as the Old House was constructed in the 19th century on the site of another Old House which had been built a long time before the current building.

Acorns

Acorns was opened in 1995, providing teaching areas for Years 1-4. It has two library areas, an IT facility, and a hall where pupils assemble twice a week. Following the opening of a new educational facility called Chestnuts in 2002, this continued to care for the lower end of the school.

Chestnuts

This building which opened in 2002 after half a year of construction caters for Reception. It has a cookery room, a play area and numerous classrooms with apartments on the second floor for various members of staff.

Jubilee

Hence named in 1981 because of the school's silver anniversary, this building has Science, Art and IT facilities, the IT and Science being on the floor above. Because of the new building Oaks, the Art facilities are moving to the new building. The current new Art buildings will be the new Year 8 common room.

Music School and Theatre

Opened in 2000, this building has music practice rooms, 2 main teaching classrooms and is linked to the theatre. On 17 May 2005, the theatre part of the complex was re-opened by former Headmaster Frank Skipwith and renamed the Skipwith Performing Arts Centre. School plays are performed here and have enough seating for 129 people.

Dining and Assembly Hall

Used for lunches and late stay snacks, provided are hot meals and a salad bar and every Monday and Friday, the Senior School gather here with the Junior and Senior School gathering on Wednesday.

Sports Hall

In 1999, a new sports facility was opened to replace the old hall (which in 2000 was converted into a theatre, now the Skipwith Performing Arts Centre. It has 5 badminton courts and a foyer and numerous other areas.

Stillman Building

Named after former Headmaster Roy Stillman who was headmaster from 1957 until 1986, this building is host to Modern Languages, Mathematics, History, Geography and numerous classrooms. Because of the Oaks, many of the History and Geography facilities will be moved to the Oaks.

Swimming pool

The 25 metre indoor swimming pool at Crosfields is used weekly by every year group in the school. All year groups from foundation to year 6 have a timetabled swimming lesson once a week.

The pool is self-contained with its own changing and showering facilities. It has four lanes and a diving board at the 3 metre deep end.

As well as being well-used in curriculum time, Crosfields runs swimming squads in Years 3-8, and swimming hobbies for any children in year 3-8 who are keen to swim in their spare time and improve their skills in the water.

On weekday evenings and Saturday mornings the pool is used by 'Ducklings to Dolphins', a local swimming organisation who teach many local children and adults to swim in the Crosfields pool.

The Old House

This is the original country house and the main focus point of Crosfields. It was built in the 1800s on the site of another Old House. It is commonly referred to as the "White Building" and in some ways, the "White House". This houses numerous classroom
Classroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...

s, the headmaster's study, Design and Technology laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...

, library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 and office.

The Naming of Buildings

Overall, most new buildings have been named after certain types of tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s. This includes Acorns which houses the Junior School, Chestnuts where Pre-Prep children are situated and the new building, The Oaks.
However, some facilities have been named after past headmasters such as the Stillman Building, the Skipwith Performing Arts Centre (colloquially known as the Music School) and the Jubilee building which was named for the 25th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977
Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II
The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other Commonwealth realms...

.

The Oaks

When the Stable Block which housed the Year 8 common room was nearing its old age, plans were proposed to demolish the building and replace it with a new building housing new IT facilities, a new art room, a Design and Technology workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...

, English, Geography and RS classrooms. It was approved and demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....

 of the old Stable Block (which in the early years was the classroom) occurred in May 2006. Construction was completed in June 2007, and it was shown on Speech Day. It took educational force in September 2007.

Crosfields Golden Jubilee

As the school was established in 1957, in 2007, it is Crosfields golden 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 :...

. Among the celebrations were the construction of the Oaks, a June 2007 Old Boys day and a temporary logo.

There has been an Old Boys' Association set up to track old boys down to invite them to the event. However due to the new co-educational policy, it is likely that this association may be called Old Crosfieldians.

Co-Education

In late 2006, a proposal by both the Headmaster and the Board of Governors to make the school co-educational rather than single sex was decided and approved.
This was announced in morning Collect (rather than assembly due to early links from Leighton Park School, an independent school and Quaker institute) on 20 November 2006 and the initiative was proved successful among an overwhelmingly majority of both boys and teachers.



Mr Jonathan Wansey, Headmaster, said:


"I am really looking forward to welcoming our first girl
Girl
A girl is any female human from birth through childhood and adolescence to attainment of adulthood. The term may also be used to mean a young woman.-Etymology:...

s in September and I am sure they will be as happy and successful here as our boys have been to date."


Girls will be attending in the Pre-Preparatory school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

 (4-7) from September 2007 and co-education will be implemented in the rest of the school from September 2008. This will result in significant uniform design for the girls and slight changes in Pre-Prep uniform, equal ratios of boy-girl attendance and other minor changes.

See also

  • Leighton Park School
    Leighton Park School
    Leighton Park School is a co-educational Quaker independent school for both day and boarding pupils. It is situated in the large town of Reading in Berkshire, in South East England...

  • Independent Schools Examination Board
  • Independent school
    Independent school
    An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...

  • Reading, Berkshire
    Reading, Berkshire
    Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK