Benfield School

General information

Our school aims are:

•To create an inclusive, calm and caring learning environment offering a broad, balanced and challenging curriculum for all our students
•To ensure all members of our school contribute to a safe and calm environment, where the atmosphere reflects respect and dignity
•For our students to develop into sensitive, tolerant and responsible individuals who make a positive contribution both within and beyond school
•To support our pupils to be happy, confident and motivated so they engage in their learning and the wide range of other activities on offer
•To ensure our pupils thrive, experience success and are prepared for adult life
•To develop leadership skills that can be applied to all areas of life

Our Curriculum

Our students have the opportunity to leave school with a number of excellent qualifications. We offer a wide range of GCSEs and A levels, as well as Level 1 and Level 2 courses. We offer all of the subjects needed to gain the English Baccalaureate at GCSE level, as well as several vocational options, and the range of subjects we offer at Post 16 is further enhanced by our partnership with Heaton Manor School. Our Sports Leadership courses are extremely popular and help students to develop a range of skills vital to later life.

Identity

We are proud of our constantly improving academic success and we want students to share this pride. We place a great emphasis on our students looking smart and wearing their uniform correctly. The uniform gives our students a clear identity, a sense of belonging and shows them at their best when working with other schools and in the local community.

Care, Guidance and Support

Probably the most distinguishing feature of Benfield is that it is a very nurturing and caring school. This has been noted by OFSTED and is remarked upon by all of the agencies who work with us. We make it a priority to get to know each child as an individual and seek to develop their interests and talents. We are fully committed to being as inclusive as possible and really do 'go the extra mile' for each child in our care. Working closely with parents is a key priority for us and we seek to involve parents and caregivers at every opportunity.

Facilities

We are extremely lucky to have excellent facilities following a refurbishment of the school. We have 8 modern science laboratories, specialist teaching rooms for all curriculum areas and the most up to date ICT equipment. In addition we also have our very own Sports Centre, which is open to the community in the evening. This has a six court multiuse sports hall; a club / conference room; a Gymnastics high performance centre; dance studio; fitness suite; floodlit Astroturf; acres of playing fields and a recently refurbished swimming pool, the only one in a Newcastle school.

Achievement

We are very proud of our A level results, which in the last few years have
consistently been above the average for Newcastle. In 2012 we achieved an
excellent pass rate of 99%, of which 68% were at grades A*-C.

Progression

During their time in Sixth Form our students get a great deal of information
and help in terms of planning for their future. This ensures that by the end of
their time with us everyone is well organised and ready to move on. Most of
our students choose to go to university but some take up apprenticeships or
other forms of training or go straight into employment.

Out of Hours Learning

Due to the wide range of specialist teachers and superb facilities within our school, we are able to offer an excellent range of out of hours learning opportunities for our students. We offer many activities, including: Language clubs, ICT clubs, Homework club, Dance, Cheerleading, Athletics, Basketball, Cricket, Football, Non Contact Boxing and Trampoline to name but a few.