Vale of Catmose is a popular and successful foundation 11-16 community college. Situated in Rutland, the college serves the county town of Oakham and its surrounding villages. It also draws students from a wider catchment area through parental choice. The college serves a rural area but is placed near to the main urban centres of Nottingham, Peterborough and Leicester.

Our intake reflects the full ability range. There is an 11-16 student population of around 750 and the roll is rising. Currently, there are 165 students on the register of special needs, of whom 46 have statements, which is above the national average. The percentage of students receiving a free school meal is 4%.

We are an inclusive college with a strong commitment to supporting the most vulnerable young people. We have a designated SEN unit for 20 students.

We are a specialist college for the visual arts but we have developed an integrated approach that combines both the visual and performing arts. We have our own art gallery, theatre, full time arts officer and a public programme of exhibitions, concerts, theatrical performances and films. We encourage the involvement of arts practitioners so that students can experience professional work at first hand.

We have a 28 place day nursery on site and we offer opportunities for family learning. There is a breakfast club and a range of after school activities; music is a particularly strong aspect.

We work with Rutland Adult Learning Service to provide classes for around 900 adults. We have an extensive programme of weekend and holiday activities for young people.

We manage Rutland’s main public sports facility on our site; last year there were 27500 visits by community users. The swimming pool is undergoing a £0.5m upgrade and we are discussing with the local authority a further investment in the sports centre of over £1m.

Following an application under Building Schools for the Future, we have been announced as a Pathfinder project. We can expect the college to be entirely rebuilt by September 2009. This is an exciting opportunity to design a college for the 21st century; an eco friendly, hi tech, geodesic dome – perhaps!

In 2005 63% achieved five higher grades at GCSE and 57% gained, on average, at least three A grades. Recent awards are good evidence of the college’s achievements. We received the national Schools Curriculum Award in 1992, 1997 and in 2000.

We hold the national Sportsmark and Careermark. We have maintained the Investor in People standard. We have twice gained the national Artsmark at the highest level of gold. In 2001 the staff received a School Achievement Award of £25,000 from the DfES.

Visitors always remark on the friendly and purposeful working atmosphere within the college. Our students behave well and show high levels of concentration. The college was inspected by Ofsted for the third time in November 2005 and we received a very positive report, receiving the judgement of ‘good’ for all aspects of our work

Key judgements included:

Leadership and management at all levels in the college are good. The principal and senior staff establish a clear vision for the college which is strongly directed towards raising standards, increasing progress and improving the quality of teaching and learning.

The main theme of all our development planning is to raise achievement. We have embarked upon a whole college development around personalising learning that has involved consultation and discussion with staff, students, parents and governors, as well as participation in the national debate. Personalising learning is the hub in relation to which we have identified our priorities for development.

Our gateways build on the work undertaken by David Hargreaves and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust but take account of the distinctive features of this college. For example, fundamental to the further improvement of teaching and learning is a strong focus on the exchange of best practice through innovation in CPD, both internally and by using our external networks. As a specialist arts college we have a strong commitment to creativity and, as an established community college, to extended schools.

Relationships within the college are very good. We have 51 teachers and 104 support staff, which includes administrative, student support, catering, cleaning and sports posts. As a staff we are experienced and hard working with a commitment to school improvement and continuous monitoring. We want to develop teachers who are reflective practitioners, continuously committed to evaluating the quality of teaching and learning.

The governors are highly involved in the work of the college and are generous in the amount of time they give to help to plan and support this work. We have an active and thriving PTA.

Our mission statement reflects our ambition, as an arts college, to become a centre of outstanding practice and a local resource for the arts.

All college members matter equally and have the same entitlement to maximise their full potential in a creative, technological and vocational educational environment. We will help all college members to become independent learners and to enjoy high levels of success over the widest possible field of activities.