St. James' School Exeter

St James' School is a Secondary school in the Beacon Heath area of Exeter, Devon, England, catering for students aged between 11 and 16. In July 2007, it came out of Special measures.

General information

Catchment Area

The school's catchment area is quite large, however decreasing slightly in 2005. The main catchment area serves the following areas:

1. Beacon Heath
2. Whipton
3. Exwick (Served by the 985 bus, operated by Stagecoach)
4. Stoke Hill
5. Mincinglake

Major changes

In September 2007 , as many staff left the school, 19 new staff were taken on. Also in the period, the future tutor groups consisted of an average of 14 to 15 pupils rather than the usual 30 plus. Furthermore, instead of a one-week timetable, a two week timetable was put in place, allowing more subjects to be covered throughout Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.

New Building

In March 2002, it was announced that St James' and four other schools in Exeter would get brand new schools procured under the Private Finance Initiative ('PFI') scheme The work began and was due to be completed by September 2005. However, Mowlem, the contractors failed to complete The New building on time and it was not until March 2006 that the new school was opened.

In February 2006 Mowlem were taken over by Carillion, who are now the facility managers for the school.

Specialist Status

St James', as like all Secondary schools in Exeter, specialises in certain subjects; St James being Maths and Computing

Educational

2007 GCSE Results

In 2007 the school celebrated a rise in GCSE pass grades by a massive 7%. Rising the figure to 30%. This is a such a significant rise, as in 2006 the pass rate stood at just 23% making it then the worst pass rate in Devon.

Subjects - Key Stage 3

St James' teach students many subjects:` `

Subjects - Key Stage 4

Below are subjects taught in the Key Stage 4 sector of the school.

School Timetable

Below is the school's timetable.

Current Staff

Below are all the current members of staff, in order of importance.

Senior Staff

Headteacher

• Mrs. Helen Salmon

Deputy Headteacher

• Mrs. M Marder

Assistant Headteachers

• Miss Sophie Roughsedge

Director Of Behaviour

• Mr Calvin Thain

Subject Teachers

Mathematics

• Miss Charlotte Robins (Head of Department)
• Mr Diccon Haynes
• Mrs Jan Pearkes
• Mr C Moore
• Mr A Startup

English

• Miss Tamar Busby (Head Of Department)
• Miss Terri Winfield
• Mrs Amy Hitchings
• Mrs M Leech
• Mrs Robyn Vincent

Science

• Mr Chris Farmer (Head Of Department)
• Mrs Elizabeth Adeleen
• Mr Rob Bovey
• Mr S Parsons
• Miss Kay White
• Miss Jennie Palfrey

Drama

• Mrs Hawking

Music

• Mr Simon Carter (Head Of Expressive Arts)

Technology

• Mr A Pepper Head of Design & Technology

Food Technology

Mr B Nisbett

Resistant Materials and graphics

• Mr John Froud

Citizenship

• Mr Chris Ward
• Mrs Whitatker

History

• Mrs Marder

French

• Miss Sophie Roughsedge (Head Of Department)
• Mr Ivan Schmit
• Mrs L Sheepy
• Mrs J Whittaker

Physical Education

• Mrs Powell (Head Of Department)
• Mr Steve Foster
• Mrs Jo Arnold
• Mrs Sam Campbell

Art

• Mr J Webster
• Miss Keely Reed

I.T.

• Mr Keith Price Director of specialist status Head of ICT
• Mr D Spriggs
• Mr S Parson

Religious Education

• Mr Chris Ward
• Mr White
• Mrs M Marder

Geography

• Mr Paul Campbell
• Mr White

Other Staff

Librarian

• Mrs Marjorie Rowcliffe

Receptionist

• Mrs Janet Bowden
• Mrs Kirsty Duke Exam Co-ordinator

Governors

Chair of Governors

• Mr S Marshall (Community Governor)

Vice Chairman

• Mr R Back (Parent Governor)

Community

• Mr G Shirley
• Mr M Hickie
• Mr M Borkowski

LEA Governors

• Mrs J Grainger
• Mrs D Baldwin
• Mr A Mulcock

Parent Governors

• Mr S Murphy
• Mr R Allen
• Mr P Shaw
• Mr C Seabrook
• Mrs L Wright

Staff Governors

• Mrs Robin Vincent
• Mr Keith Price
• Mrs Janet Bowden

Associate Governors

• Ms L Dunn

Individual Needs Governor

• Mr M Hickie

Other Governors

• Literacy Governor: Mr C Seabrook

• Link Governor: Mrs D Baldwin

• Clerk to Governors: Mr N Mansell (School Bursar)

Public Transport seving the school

Rather than walking to school, The Primary way of accessing the school who live in Exwick, is by bus, although other means via. public transport are available.

Bus

The main buses which serves St. James', are the 985 which is operated by two vehicles usually, which arrive at the school at approximately 8.30, from Exwick. Both buses run the same route, but alternate on the way & way back, and leave approximately 5 minutes apart. They depart the school between 15.35 & 15.40. The route the buses travel are non-stop from the school to Okehampton Road, where stopping is permitted, then to Exwick. Its final stop is Cowick Street in St. Thomas.

As well as having two dedicated school buses, there are public buses which run to the school. The F2 being the closest to depart & pick up from the school at Summer Lane. Also the E and F1 also pick up from near the school, and go to Exwick via. the City Centre. However, Service B runs from the school also, thorugh to Pinhoe and Alphington.

Stagecoach Devon, after consulting with the school, have said that students living in Exwick should catch the dedicated school buses due to the popularity of the public services.

Students who live over 3 miles from the school are issued with a free bus pass which allows them travel to and from the school to Exwick only. Those who aren't issued with a pass can stil use the dedicated service, along with the public service, but subsequently have to pay.

Train

There is one train station near the school, that being Polsoe Bridge. Others near the school are Pinhoe Station and St. James' Park Station

External links

• St James' Schools Website
• St. James new school website