The Commonweal School is a secondary school

Secondary school

Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

 located in Swindon

Swindon

Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...

, Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, England

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...

.

Admissions

There are approximately 1100 pupils on roll. It is situated in the south-west of Swindon, south of the A4289.

Comprehensive

In 1965 it became a Senior High School, taking pupils of all abilities aged 14 to 18. There was a second re-organisation in 1983 when Commonweal became a seven-form entry comprehensive school

Comprehensive 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...

 for pupils aged 11 to 16, therefore losing its sixth form.

Academy

It became an Academy on 1 August 2011. It had been a foundation school

Foundation school

In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools....

.

Houses

There are four school houses each with their own colour:

• Ridgeway: green
• Sarum: red
• Stonehenge: blue
• Whitehorse: yellow

Uniform

There are four uniforms depending on gender and education tier.

The uniform for girls in KS3

Key Stage 3

Key Stage 3 is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14...

• School tie
• White shirt
• Black trousers or skirt
• Black socks
• Black shoes
• (Optional) blue jumper or fleece with school crest

The uniform for girls in KS4

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...

 is:

• School tie
• White shirt
• Black trousers or skirt
• Black socks
• Black shoes
• (Optional) black jumper or fleece with school crest

The uniform for boys in KS3 is:

• School tie
• Blue shirt
• Black trousers
• Black socks
• Black shoes
• (Optional) blue jumper or fleece with school crest

The uniform for boys in KS4 is:

• School tie
• White shirt
• Black trousers
• Black socks
• Black shoes
• (Optional) black jumper or fleece with school crest

As of the 2008 summer term, instead of the school tie and shirt all years have the choice of wearing a polo shirt. For KS3 boys, it has to be a blue polo shirt; and for KS3 girls, KS4 girls, and KS4 boys, it is a white polo shirt.

Academic performance

It gets the joint highest GCSE results in Swindon with Highworth Warneford School

Highworth Warneford School

Highworth Warneford is a mixed sex accadmy status secondary school for pupils aged between 11 and 16 years. It is situated in Highworth, a small town north of Swindon, United Kingdom. The school has been awarded specialist status as a Technology College. As of 2004, there are just short of 1000...

. Four schools in Swindon get above average results.

Grammar school

• Godfrey Bowles, Managing Director from 1989-94 of Pearl Group
• Prof Keith Browning
  Keith Browning
  Keith Browning is a British meteorologist who worked at Imperial College London, the Met Office and University of Reading department of meteorology. His work with Frank Ludlam on the supercell thunderstorm at Wokingham, UK in 1962 was the first detailed study of such a storm...
  
  , Professor of Meteorology from 1992-2003 at the University of Reading
  University of Reading
  The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...
  
  , Chief Scientific Officer from 1989-91 at the Met Office, and President from 1988-90 at the Royal Meteorological Society
  Royal Meteorological Society
  The Royal Meteorological Society traces its origins back to 3 April 1850 when the British Meteorological Society was formed as a society the objects of which should be the advancement and extension of meteorological science by determining the laws of climate and of meteorological phenomena in general...
  
  
• Justin Hayward
  Justin Hayward
  Justin Hayward is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England...
  
  , musician
• Prof Ronald Johnston, Vice-Chancellor from 1992-5 of the University of Essex
  University of Essex
  The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
  
  , Professor of Geography since 1995 at the University of Bristol
  University of Bristol
  The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
  
  , and from 1974-92 at the University of Sheffield
  University of Sheffield
  The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
  
  
• Robert Lamb, conservationist
• Lt Cdr
  Lieutenant Commander
  Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
  
   Paul Millett, test pilot for the Panavia Tornado
  Panavia Tornado
  The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing combat aircraft, which was jointly developed and manufactured by the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy...
  
  
• Air Vice-Marshal
  Air Vice-Marshal
  Air vice-marshal is a two-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in...
  
   David Saunders CBE, Station Commander from 1983-85 of RAF Sealand
  RAF Sealand
  RAF Sealand was a former Royal Air Force station in Flintshire, north Wales and operated between 1916 and 2006.Under defence cuts announced in 2004 RAF Sealand was completely closed in April 2006. All remaining RAF units were moved to RAF Leeming...
  
  
• Prof Joseph Tinsley, soil scientist

External links

• Commonweal School
• EduBase
• Foundation school