Chailey School
| Established | 1958 |
|---|---|
| Type | Community school |
| Headteacher | Mrs Lesley Young |
| Location |
Mill Lane South Chailey East Sussex BN8 4PU England Coordinates: 50°56′21″N 0°01′37″W / 50.93923°N 0.02686°W |
| Local authority | East Sussex |
| DfE URN | 114594 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 852 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–16 |
| Houses | Ashdown, Caburn, Ditchling, Firle, Glynde |
| Colours | Navy Blue and Sky Blue |
| Website |
www |
Chailey Secondary School is a relatively small comprehensive secondary school located in the village of South Chailey, Chailey, just outside Lewes in East Sussex, UK. Chailey School was awarded Language College Status in July 2002. In the year 2007, the school was also awarded Humanities College. The school also provides adult classes in French, Italian, and Spanish. It does not have a sixth form. In 2008 it celebrated its 50th anniversary since opening as a secondary modern in 1958.
In 2007 at least 99% of students acquired one GCSE at grades A*–G and in 2009, 82% of students achieved 5 or more A*–C grades with an impressive 72% achieving 5 or more including English and maths. The school's success spans a range of disciplines with all talents and abilities catered for – whether in the arts, sciences or humanities.
The current head teacher is Mrs. Lesley Young. She has been head teacher since 2004.
Chailey has recently had new developments on the school grounds such as new front entrance, new bus parking and maths block.
On 6 June, HRH The Duchess of Gloucester visited the school to attend a citizenship ceremony, the first of its kind to be held in a school with students present. This was to coincide with the school's 50th anniversary. Cleo Demitriou, an actress known for Matilda and CBBC's So Awkward is a current pupil.
Drama and Music
The school usually presents two shows each year, performed by the students. This normally consists of one musical and one showcase piece each academic year, with the musical most commonly taking place in the last week of the Christmas term. In the last few years, such shows have included:
- 2011 - Annie (musical)
- 2012 - The Wind in The Willows
- 2014 - 13 (musical)
On top of this, Chailey School has taken part in the Shakespeare Schools Festival for several years. It is a national event and each school taking part produces a 30 minute adaptation of a famous Shakespearean play. The last few years have seen Chailey produce pieces such as As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night.
Houses
The house groups, known as forms, are named after local hills and landmarks. The most forms in a year group has been seven.
- Ashdown
- Caburn
- Ditchling
- Firle
- Glynde
- Weald (only used for year groups with six forms or more, currently only the class of 2015)
- Keymer (only used for year groups with seven forms)
Notable former pupils
- Piers Morgan, television presenter and former Daily Mirror editor
- Perou, fashion, portrait and music photographer
- Stuart Davies, art director of Geographical and design editor of Country Life
- Nick Holzherr, candidate on The Apprentice 2012