It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the William de Ferrers School website.
This is an exciting time for William de Ferrers School and I am extremely proud to have navigated the school into the highly successful multi academy trust - Chelmsford Learning Partnership (CLP). CLP’s vision is that ‘as a collection of schools, we are stronger together and that by working together we provide an outstanding education for every child in our family of schools’. CLP also believes that it is important for schools in the trust to keep their individual identity and operate with autonomous headteachers, leadership teams, staff and local governing bodies - each with their own ethos. This is one of the reasons that I believe CLP is an excellent match for William de Ferrers School as we will maintain our own identity and keep the values that are embedded within our school community and culture.
We are a large school but organised in a very personal way. We have almost 1300 students, and a thriving and growing sixth form. Our scale is a great advantage when it comes to the curriculum we offer and the opportunities available to students. However, despite our size, our systems are personalised and we care for each and every student including their talents, interests, challenges and aspirations. Our approach to caring for students is that we have the same hopes and expectations as parents. To paraphrase John Dewey (1907), ‘What the best and wisest parent wants for their child, that must the school want for all of its children’.
The students are a credit to our community and they come first in everything we do. They are proud of their school and are ambitious to be successful. We are told regularly that this is a great place to come to school and a lovely school for adults to work in. We combine two approaches really well: teaching and learning which is modern, engaging and takes account of the students’ views. However, at the same time we have strong traditional values around standards, discipline, respect, school uniform and promoting an ethos of achievement. We are a modern school rooted in traditional values.
Our students follow an academic curriculum with many opportunities for wider enrichment. All young people can achieve highly and be successful at school if they are taught well, apply themselves and give of their best. However, to be successful at school students need to be happy and enjoy coming here. They have ample opportunity to do this through a vast range of clubs and activities linked to sport, drama, music, technology, science and many other endeavours. Trips and visits are a key part of school life, as part of the curriculum at home but also in exploring some of the world’s most fascinating and interesting destinations.
At our last inspection we were judged to be a ‘Good’ school by Ofsted and one of the inspectors commented that she would gladly send her children to this school.
This website can only offer a brief glimpse of our school. We would be delighted to welcome you for a personal visit if you would like to know more and see the school in action for yourself. I am sure you will be impressed.
Best wishes
Mike Applewhite MA NPQEL NPQH
Headteacher
