The Willink School

The Willink School
Address
School Lane Reading , Berkshire , RG7 3XJ United Kingdom
Coordinates	51.396°N 1.0704°W / 51.396; -1.0704
Information
Type	Comprehensive community school
Motto	Fides et Amor (Faith and Love)
Established	1957
Local authority	West Berkshire
Department for Education URN	110048 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Chair of Governors	Alison Kerevan
Headteacher	Nicolle Browning
Gender	Co-educational
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1,218
Houses	Berlin London Mexico New York Paris Shanghai Tokyo
Publication	WeLink[1]
Website	willinkschool.org.uk

The Willink School is a comprehensive community school in Burghfield Common, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Founded in 1957, the school is co-educational and has an enrolment of 1,218 students aged 11–18. The headteacher is Nicolle Browning.

History

The school opened on 8 January 1957 as a secondary modern with an enrolment of 245.^[2][3] It was named after Henry George Willink (1851–1938), the former chairman of the Berkshire County Education Committee who lived in Burghfield.^[4]

The school underwent significant expansion in the 1970s, and in the 1980s a leisure centre was built as part of the site.^[3] In 1996, the school became one of the first in the country (and the first in Berkshire) to be awarded Language College status.^[3][5] The leisure centre was expanded in 1997 to include a 25-metre (27 yd) swimming pool.^[3] By the end of the decade, enrolment at the school had reached 789.^[6] In 2005 it had risen to 927,^[7] and had reached 1,030 by the time of the school's 2012 Ofsted inspection.^[8]

Admissions

The school is a co-educational comprehensive, and as such is non-selective in its admissions at Key Stage 3 and 4.^[9] Its current enrolment—from Year 7 to Year 13—is 1,218; of these, 228 are in the sixth form.^[10][11] The school's planned admission numbers for each year group in the 2022–23 academic year was 208; the actual intake that academic year was 206.^[12]

Feeder schools for the Willink include primary schools in Aldermaston, Burghfield and Burghfield Common, Mortimer, and Ufton Nervet, although the school reports admissions from schools across Berkshire and north Hampshire.^[12]

Admission to the sixth form is selective, with offers dependent on predicted GCSE grades as well as an entrance interview.^[11] The majority of students continue into the Willink sixth form after Year 11, although a large minority undertake Key Stage 5 education elsewhere. A small minority was recorded as having entered apprenticeships.^[13]

Governance

The school governing body consists of 20 governors. The current chair of the governing body is Alison Kerevan.^[14]

Operationally, the school is led by a seven-member senior leadership team comprising the head teacher, a deputy head teacher, three assistant head teachers, an assistant deputy head, and the data manager.^[15][16] The school's headteacher is Nicolle Browning who took up the position at the beginning of the 2023–24 academic year.^[17][18]

Headteachers

The school has had four headteachers since its founding.^[3] Mary Hulbert received an OBE in the 1993 Birthday Honours for services to education.^[19]

• Noel Jackson (1957–1980)
• Mary Hulbert (1980–1993)
• Barbara Wynn (1993–2007)
• Peter Fry (2007–2023)
• Nicolle Browning (2023–present)

Inspections

At its most recent full Ofsted inspection, carried out in February 2014, the Willink School was judged to be "good", with behaviour and safety described as "outstanding".^[10] A short follow-up inspection in 2018 stated that the school continued to be "good".^[20] Results of that year's Ofsted Parent View, in which the body allows parents, carers, and guardians to feedback opinions about educational establishments,^[21] showed that 95% of agreed that children were happy at the school and 97% agreed that they were safe. Behaviour and bullying received the most criticism, with 10% of parents believing that behaviour was not well managed and 8% believing that bullying was not effectively dealt with.^[22]

The school's three previous inspection reports graded it "satisfactory" (2009 and 2012) or "good" (2005).^[10]

Attainment

At GCSE level, 69% of students during the 2021–22 academic year achieved grade 5 or above in English and Mathematics;^[23] the West Berkshire average was 55% and the national average 50%.^[23] At A-Level, the school had a 100% pass rate with 91% of students achieving A*–C and 38% attaining A* or A grades.^[24] Undergraduate degree courses favoured by the highest-achieving students that year were those involving computer science, with those students going to study at either the University of Southampton or the University of Bristol.^[24]

Pastoral

The school uses a house system; since 2005 the houses have taken their names from major global cities. The current system of seven houses (Berlin, London, Mexico, New York, Paris, Shanghai, and Tokyo) was adopted in September 2021;^[25] between 2005 and 2021 the houses were Barcelona, London, Milan, New York, Paris, and Sydney.^[26] Prior to this, the school consisted of four houses named after local manors (Abbots, Bannister, Ufton, and Wokefield).^{[citation needed]}

References

1. "WeLink Issue 46". WeLink (46). The Willink School. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
2. "Help trace teachers for 50th celebration". BerkshireLive. 5 January 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
3. "School Heritage". The Willink School. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
4. "Mr. H. G. Willink, Work for Education in Berkshire". The Times (47986): 18. 5 May 1938.
5. "The Willink > Language College". West Berkshire Council. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
6. "INSPECTION REPORT THE WILLINK SCHOOL". Ofsted. 1999. p. 11. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
7. "The Willink School Inspection Report". Ofsted. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
8. "The Willink School Inspection Report". Ofsted. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
9. "The Willink School". get-information-schools.service.gov.uk. Get Information about Schools. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
10. "The Willink School URN: 110048". reports.ofsted.gov.uk. Ofsted. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
11. "Sixth Form Course Guide 2023" (PDF). The Willink School. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
12. "Admissions Policy" (PDF). The Willink School. September 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
13. "Pupil destinations (leavers 2020) - The Willink School". Find school and college performance data in England. Get Information about Schools. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
14. "Governance". Get Information about Schools. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
15. "Senior Leadership Team" (PDF). The Willink School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
16. "Years 7 – 10 Home Study Guidance" (PDF). The Willink School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
17. Gosney, Mirek (14 March 2023). "Burghfield Common school gets a new headteacher". Newbury Today. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
18. "Welcome". willinkschool.org. The Willink School. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
19. "Supplement 53332, 11 June 1993". www.thegazette.co.uk. The Gazette. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
20. "Short inspection of The Willink School". Ofsted. 13 July 2018. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022.
21. "Parent View". parentview.ofsted.gov.uk. Ofsted. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
22. "Parent View - The Willink School". parentview.ofsted.gov.uk. Ofsted. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
23. "Secondary - The Willink School". Find school and college performance data in England. Get Information about Schools. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
24. "Press Release A Level Results 2022" (PDF). The Willink School. 18 August 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
25. "Prospectus 2023". calameo.com. The Willink School. p. 7. Retrieved 9 March 2023. Seven cosmopolitan 'global cities' showing geographical, cultural, and linguistic diversity have been selected [from September 2021]: Shanghai, Berlin, New York City, Tokyo, Paris, Mexico City and London.
26. "School Houses". The Willink School. The Willink School. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2023.

External links

• Official website