Thomas Gainsborough School Explained

Thomas Gainsborough School
Coordinates:	52.0245°N 0.7496°W
Motto:	Excellence: For Each, For All
Established:	September 1973
Head Label:	Headteacher
Head:	Helen Yapp
R Head Label:	Deputy Head Teachers
R Head:	Chris Ryall, Christian Appleford
Chair Label:	Chair of Governors
Chair:	Sue Leon
Address:	Head Lane
Country:	England
Postcode:	CO10 0NH
Ofsted:	yes
Dfeno:	935/4019
Urn:	141639
Enrolment:	1,400
Lower Age:	11
Upper Age:	18
Houses:	Abbas, Chamberlain, Houghton, Peyton, Tollemache
Website:	http://www.tgschool.net

Thomas Gainsborough School, formerly Great Cornard Upper School, is a secondary school and sixth form in the village of Great Cornard, part of the town of Sudbury in the English county of Suffolk that educates approximately 1,400 pupils.^[1]

It was granted the status of Specialist School in 1998, and was re-designated Technology College in 2001.^[2] The school converted to academy status in January 2015, when it became a member of the Samuel Ward Academy Trust.

Facilities

Included in the school is Great Cornard Sports Centre, and included coffee shop, funded in part by a £563k grant from the English Active lottery fund. The complex features a youth drop-in-centre, dance and martial arts studios, changing rooms, fitness studios, a coach education unit and a social area.^[3] The school also completed the building of a Sixth Form study block and library in 2009, this building has since been renamed 'The Bavington Centre', and the Sixth Form area relocated.

Reconstruction

In 2012, the school was granted funding for a total rebuild.^[4] Work commenced on the new building in June 2014 and was completed in August of 2015.^[5] The new facilities of the £17 million pound site include a reading room, roof terrace and 9,124 sqm of space.^[6] Whilst the main complex of the old school site were demolished, the library and sports centre were not and are still utilized by the school. Additionally, the old site of Great Cornard Middle School that was acquired by Thomas Gainsborough School after the switch to a two-tier system remained, with the building now being used as a Sixth Form and Media centre.

Academic performance

In their report on the school in September 2017 Ofsted gave an overall rating of the school as Good, point two on a four-point scale. The personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils was described as outstanding.

Results for pupils at age 16 showed clear improvement between 2006 and 2009 outperforming both local and national indicators for pupils gaining 5 GCSE grades between A* and C, including English and Maths.^[7] In 2009 the school had the best contextual value added scores of any school in Suffolk.^[8]

Headteachers

The current headteacher at The Thomas Gainsborough school is Mrs Helen Yapp, who became head in March 2021,^[9] after a brief period of filling the role as Acting Headteacher, after Mr Wayne Lloyd's departure from the school in December 2020.

Mr Wayne Lloyd was the headteacher between January 2012 and December 2020.^[10] The previous headteacher Mr Michael Foley moved to become headteacher of the Thomas Hardye School in September 2011.^[11] Andy Samways (Deputy Headteacher) was Acting Headteacher between these dates.^[12]

Incidents

• Former head of religious studies and head of year Steve Morris, who had moved to Aldershot, was sentenced to 15 months in prison in May 2007 having admitted three counts of indecently assaulting a pupil at Great Cornard Upper School.^[13]
• On 10 June 2004, three girls needed medical attention for the effects of gas after raiders struck at the hotel where they were staying during a school trip in Villepinte, France.^[14]
• Across the 25, 26 and 27 January 2019, the school was victim to a series of acts of vandalism outside of school hours, resulting in an estimated £10,000 worth of damage. Similar incidents also occurred at the neighboring school of Ormiston Sudbury Academy.^[15]

Notable former pupils

• Television actor Rocky Marshall studied at the school in the late 1980s.^[16]
• Ipswich Town footballer Jamie Griffiths studied at the school from 2006–08 and currently plays for Kettering Town, after a loan spell at Plymouth Argyle,^[17] and a short time at Sudbury.
• England Goalkeeper Ian Walker studied at the school in the late 1980s.^[18]
• Olympic Competitor (London 2012 seated discus) Jonathan Adams (athlete), studied at the school during his youth^[19]

External links

• Official site

Notes and References

1. Web site: Thomas Gainsborough School. Ofsted. 2017 Report. 5 December 2019. 5 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191205152729/https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/2734643. live.
2. http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/Schools/ListOfSuffolkSchools/GreatCornardUpperSchooAndTechnologyCollege.htm Suffolk County Council
3. http://www.babergh.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B5F1E123-E88C-4F3C-903A-034AAC7CF556/0/p11.pdf "Lottery Grant ‘Activates’ Great Cornard"
4. Web site: "EADT Bid Backed" . 9 August 2012 . 28 May 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120528091428/http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/suffolk_government_backs_bids_to_rebuild_schools_1_1388632 . live .
5. Web site: Great Cornard: Work starts on new Thomas Gainsborough School building. Brennan. Emma. East Anglian Daily Times. 24 June 2014. en. 2019-12-05. 5 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191205152609/https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/great-cornard-work-starts-on-new-thomas-gainsborough-school-building-1-3654081. live.
6. Web site: £17m Thomas Gainsborough school in Great Cornard officially opened. Brennan. Emma. East Anglian Daily Times. 20 October 2015. en. 2019-12-05. 5 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191205152528/https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/17m-thomas-gainsborough-school-in-great-cornard-officially-opened-1-4277255. live.
7. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_09.pl?No=9354019&Mode=Z&Type=SC&Begin=s&Phase=1&Year=09&Base=b&Num=935 "Department for Education, Performance Table 2009"
8. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/09/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/935_alevel_lea.stm "BBC News School Performance Tables, Secondary Schools in Suffolk"
9. https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/helen-yapp-appointed-headteacher-at-tgs-7811350 East Anglian Daily Times, 8 March 2021
10. http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/west_suffolk_new_headteachers_announced_at_two_schools_1_932162 East Anglian Daily Times, 24 June 2011
11. http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/localnews/9009597.New_headteacher_appointed_at_Thomas_Hardye_School_in_Dorchester/ Dorset Echo, 5 May 2011
12. http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/Schools/ListOfSuffolkSchools/GreatCornardUpperSchooAndTechnologyCollege.htm Suffolk County Council School Information
13. http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=News&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED05%20Jul%202007%2017%3A40%3A54%3A960 "Inquiry launched after teacher arrest"
14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/suffolk/3813929.stm "Pupils caught in hotel gas attack"
15. Web site: Headteachers condemn acts of vandalism at schools in Great Cornard and Sudbury. 2019-01-31. Suffolk Free Press. en. 2019-12-05. 5 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191205152723/https://www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk/news/headteachers-condemn-acts-of-vandalism-at-schools-in-great-cornard-and-sudbury-9060753/. live.
16. http://www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk/news/Rocky39s-road-to-success.567880.jp "Rocky Road to Success"
17. https://web.archive.org/web/20140423230847/http://www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk/sport/football/griffiths-sees-his-loan-deal-extended-1-3127048 Griffiths sees his loan deal extended
18. [Ian Walker (footballer)]
19. Web site: Archived copy . 16 August 2012 . 15 September 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120915042510/http://www.jonathanadamsgb.com/results.cfm . dead .