The Downs School, Compton
Overview
Starting at age 11 in Year 7, The Downs has approximately 1150 pupils, which includes 260 students in the sixth-form. The head-teacher is Chris Robert Prosser, previously Deputy Head-teacher before Valerie Holdey's retirement in December 2013. The school is located on Manor Crescent, with the nearest major town being Newbury 8 miles away. Other neighbouring towns include Wantage, Didcot, Thatcham and Reading.
For the past 2 years it has been the highest attaining school in West Berkshire using the measure of 5A*-C GCSEs including higher passes in English and mathematics.It is also the last remaining West Berkshire Authority secondary school to retain its own swimming pool after St Bartholomew's School removed its pool in Summer 2009.
Specialisms
The school specialises in languages. The school has exchange visits to France, Germany and Spain. Sports tours are also annually organised. Teams have been to Spain, the Netherlands, Cyprus and Malta.
The Downs also has specialisms in science and maths.
Sixth-form
The school has a sixth-form centre of about 260 students. Previously located on the bottom floor of the Graham Taylor building (GT), It is located in the newly renovated old science block, after moving there when the new Science building (Hubble) was built. Subjects range from all the sciences to politics, economics, law and media studies. The current head of sixth-form is Phil Wilson. Its results at A-Level are exceptional for a non-selective state school.
Notable former pupils
- Tessa Kennedy, British interior designer (b. 1938)
- Joe Romanski
- Theo Walcott
References
- ^ "The village with one shop, one pub, one field and Theo Walcott". The Guardian. 21 January 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
