Abbey College, Ramsey
 | |
| Established | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Type | Academy |
| Headteacher | Mr Andy Christoforou |
| Location |
Abbey Road Ramsey Cambridgeshire PE26 1DG England Coordinates: 52°26′50″N 0°05′51″W / 52.44736°N 0.09755°W |
| Local authority | Cambridgeshire |
| DfE URN | 131205 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1842 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Colours | Blue (7-11), Black (VI Form) |
| Website |
www |
Abbey College is a secondary academy school in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England. The school is situated about 10 miles from Huntingdon and Peterborough, and offers education for 11- to 18-year-olds within its area. On 1 September 2011 the school officially gained academy status. There are over 1800 pupils.
History
In 2006, Ailwyn community college and Ramsey Abbey School amalgamated into a single school. Ramsey Abbey had been active for centuries since it was founded by monks whereas Ailwyn was founded in the 1950s.
Layout
The school is located over the sites of the former schools from which it was formed.
The north part of the site (former Ramsey Abbey part) comprises:
- Ramsey Abbey - home to Social Sciences, the Abbey Library, Sixth Form area and some computing rooms.
- The 'old' block - home to the North Hall, part of Technology and Art.
- The Millennium building - home to Science, Humanities, Religious Studies and part of Drama.
- The Garden building - home to Languages and Physical Education.
- The canteen and Café 6 (6th Form only).
The south part of the site (former Ailwyn part) comprises:
- The Hereward Building - home to Maths, part of Technology and administration area.
- The Jones block - home to part of Technology and part of ICT.
- The Cromwell building - home to Cromwell Library, part of ICT and infirmary.
- The Oswald building - home to English.
- The Frank Burton building - home to Music and part of Drama.
- The Ailwyn Science Building[1] - home to Science in the college.
General Information
As of September 2011, the school has used a new 'vertical system' in which students from different year groups are all in the same tutor groups. The 'vertical system' has also seen the introduction of four new houses, these are Mandela, Curie, Newton and Edison. Each house is headed by a member of staff. Shakespeare House has since been removed as of Christoforou becoming headmaster.
The school offers a wide variety of extra curricular activities. The opportunities provided by the music department in particular have been praised throughout the community; the Abbey College Concert Band recently won a competition, resulting in a tour to Paris, where they played a concert on Disneyland Paris' main stage. The flute group was recipient of the 'Best Overall Group' prize in the Rotary Club's 2010 Young Musician of the Year Competition, whilst year 11 students Hannah Butson and Natalie Davies were awarded the top prize in the 'Vocal Ensemble' category of the same competition. The school year 11 rugby team should also be acknowledged for exceptional performance in the national schools cup being the last public school left in the competition in 2010.
In 2011 the school was labelled by Ofsted as "A good school with outstanding features". In 2014 it was labelled as requires improvement.