Our History
· Can non-selective comprehensive schools work?
· Can they meet the needs of all the pupils in the school?
· Can they be a force for community cohesion?
The answer to all three questions is yes when discussing The Charter School in South London.
The Charter School is mixed, non selective comprehensive school located on the borders of Dulwich and Camberwell. It was founded 10 years ago after a campaign by local parents as there was no such state provision for secondary school age pupils. The main ethos of the school was to provide a school for all the community – that includes some of the leafiest parts of London as well as some of the most deprived housing estates in Europe.
The lack of such a school before 2000 had a devastating effect on the local community. Families with secondary aged pupils either moved out of the area or their children had to travel miles to a school. As an example, the 90 Year 6 pupils leaving the local primary school in 1999 went to 50 different secondary schools!.
Ten years on and the school is a beacon of success in the local community on a number of levels. It is classed as Outstanding by Ofsted, it is now a High Performing Specialist School amongst the top 20% in the country and it has two specialisms, science and business & enterprise.
Community cohesion is strong and getting stronger, pupils are proud to come to the school and they succeed. This year we recorded our best ever GCSE results with 56% of pupils getting at least 5 A* to C grades including English and Maths. But those figures don’t tell the whole story. All our gifted and talented cohort got at least 5A* or A grades, all pupils studying Biology and Physics got A* or A grades and 94% studying Chemistry got A* or A grades. Importantly as a non selective school serving the whole community, all our year 11 pupils last summer gained qualifications. We also have some exceptional students gaining in excess of 12 A* and A grades at GCSE. This year in our 6 form for example, 15% of the cohort are applying for Oxbridge, Harvard or UK medical schools.
Last Modified: 19/10/2009
