Headteacher: Dr. Andy Sievewright MA PhD
ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Our students have achieved great success in recent years. They come from a wide range of ethnic
and social backgrounds, including many who experience significant disadvantage (our FSM figure
is currently 39%). We moved into a brand new building in 2007 with state-of-the-art facilities in all
curriculum areas. We started our own Sixth Form in September 2012, and this has been a highlysuccessful and exciting development. The improvements the school has made in recent years and
the impact of the Sixth Form are clearly influencing parental choice, and we are currently full to
capacity in Y7.
Acton High is a dynamic, forward-looking school. We have, in recent years, been designated as a
specialist school for Media Arts and for Applied Learning, and still have a strong focus on
developing opportunities for students in these areas. In February 2013, we were awarded the
status of Lead School in the Network of Excellence for the Teaching of Computer Science.
Our results have risen since 2010-11, which was a very difficult period for the school: during this
year the schools had to cope with the extended absence and early retirement through ill-health of
inspirational headteacher Mandy Golding. With an established headteacher and a new Senior
Leadership team structure now in place, we are focused on accelerating the upward trend of our
results, and have a robust Development Plan in place.
GCSE Trends 2011-14: 5A*-C EM
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2011
2012
AHS
2013
Ealing
2014
National
Achievement in the school, once starting points and context are taken into account, has been
improving, and this has been achieved through a range of approaches including improved data
processing and analysis, targeted interventions and curriculum changes which have been
designed to personalise learning. These developments were noted and praised in our very positive
Ofsted report in June 2013. Our Progress 8 Score for 2014 was 0.32+, indicating that students
made good progress overall. We are predicting that our results for 2015 leavers at KS4 and KS5
will see us making a significant move forward in terms of attainment and progress.
Headteacher: Dr. Andy Sievewright MA PhD
Staff here work very hard, giving freely of their time to extend the opportunities available.
Staff/student relationships are good, and students are extremely appreciative of the amount of
time staff invest in them and their well-being. Teachers are well supported by learning mentors,
classroom assistants and other staff in responding to the complex needs of our student body. The
design of our building provides many dedicated spaces for mentoring and support teams and
small group work areas.
We are proud of our record of care and support. Time and again students return to thank us for the
difference we have made. Staff enjoy working here, so they stay and create the stability which is
so important for success.
Positions within the senior team have been rotated so that all members of the team have the
opportunity to undertake a range of roles and be ready for Headship. The ethos in the team is
supportive and forward looking.
We believe that our students deserve the best, because education really can make a difference to
their life stories, and we look forward to building on the team of passionate, committed staff
already at the school.
Transport links to the area are excellent e.g. as well as bus routes, we have a District and
Piccadilly line station within 5 minutes walk of the school gate (Acton Town). There is an
expectation that most staff will use public transport to get to school, though we do have limited
parking facilities on site and a published protocol for how these places are allocated.
Please contact Louise Strauss at Acton High School if you require further information
([email protected]).
Andy Sievewright
Headteacher
September 2014