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CONGLETON HIGH SCHOOL

Ofsted 2023 WELCOME TO

“Congleton High School is a warm, welcoming place to learn and work.”

‘Together

in the Pursuit of Excellence’

Our vision is to inspire scholarly excellence in all students.

We work as a community to provide support, care and guidance that enables students to excel.

Our values of courage, curiosity and ambition shape confident, happy learners who make a valuable contribution to society.

WELCOME

Joining Congleton High School in Year 7 is the start of a journey that will ensure your child has access to an exceptional education and the opportunity to develop the resilience to be best prepared for the wider world.

We pride ourselves on a community that is ‘together in the pursuit of excellence’ in conduct, learning and leadership.

Our promise to families is that students are supported and encouraged to be scholars who are courageous, curious and ambitious in their determination to excel. They are polite, respectful, kind, well-presented citizens who are ready to learn, and who contribute positively to our school.

Excellence in learning is at the heart of everything we do, supported by an unwavering, uncompromising focus and determination from staff, governors, trustees and our families, that all students leave Congleton High School with the best set of qualifications and character possible, equipping them for our rapidly changing, highly competitive and exciting world.

We work closely with our community to ensure students attend school fully, embracing opportunities and overcoming challenges, in order to develop their character and prepare them for future success and happiness as young adults who will make a positive difference to their community.

Heidi Thurland Headteacher

THE CHS LEGACY

The Congleton High School Promise is at the very heart of our culture and ethos. As custodians we are committed to:

• providing a rigorous academic programme that engages and challenges all students to achieve excellence.

• offering a wide variety of enriching activities with access to high quality modern facilities that allow students to explore their interests and talents.

• creating a positive and supportive learning culture where students and staff thrive while feeling safe, respected and valued.

• working with families and our community to provide students with the support and guidance they need to succeed.

• creating a professional culture where we model and demonstrate excellence in learning, conduct and leadership.

Being part of CHS is your child’s path to achieving excellence, and we believe that every individual has a unique and valued contribution to make to our community. Our commitment to the highest standards makes Congleton High School the best choice for your child.

Please take the time to visit us, explore our website and speak to our educators - we are confident that CHS is the foremost provider of secondary and post-16 education in the area.

TOGETHER

Your child will be part of a form, year group and House. They will be valued members of these mini-communities as well as the whole school community.

At Congleton High School we work ‘together in the pursuit of excellence’.

We work as a community to support, care and guide all our students, inspiring them to strive for scholarly excellence in every aspect of school life.

Our values of courage, curiosity and ambition nurture confident, happy learners who make a valuable contribution to society.

These values characterise our community as we work towards the highest standards and achievements.

Courage

• Courage is essential for success and we encourage students to be courageous in their academic endeavours, the life choices they make and in choosing positive relationships with those around them.

• The courage to be kind, respectful and resilient is an essential part of our ethos.

Curiosity

• Curiosity is essential for personal growth and development as it helps our students to understand the world around them, to solve problems and to innovate.

• We encourage our students to be confidently curious about the world around them, to ask challenging questions and be open to new experiences and differing views.

Ambition

• Ambition is empowering and hopeful. We encourage students to be ambitious in their goals and dreams. Together, we believe ‘we can’!

• We aim for excellence in all areas of our school community and value the unique contribution of every student. We provide diverse opportunities that build character and open hearts and minds, preparing your child for an exciting and rapidly changing world.

‘ Together in the Pursuit of Excellence’

Congleton High School Students are Scholars who:

Ask lots of questions and have a thirst for knowledge. They recognise learning is continuous and there is always more to learn! They are highly motivated to increase their knowledge.

Ponder ‘The Big Ideas’ and are prepared to take risks. They are not afraid to make mistakes!

Are active listeners who are focused on learning opportunities and acting on constructive feedback in order to improve knowledge and skills.

Congleton High School Staff: Congleton High School Families: Curious

Know their students really well - this allows them to provide excellent learning opportunities and pastoral care. Engage with key information shared by the school to support their child’s learning.

Listen actively and communicate effectively, capturing their students’ attention and interest.

Read widely. Engage in professional learning. Seek to improve and to grow as lifelong learners.

Seek to understand learning approaches and expectations through constructive discussion. Read fluently and widely, broadening views, vocabulary and perspectives.

Have high standards and expectations for themself. They strive for excellence in conduct and learning.

Have high standards and expectations for themself and others, striving for excellence in learning at all times.

Are immaculately dressed and take pride in their appearance. Seek to be inspirational role models.

Are prepared, well organised and have fantastic habits that ensure they are punctual, equipped and ready to learn.

Plan carefully, ensuring that students are challenged and that they think hard. Staff have an uncompromising belief in their students’ ability to excel.

Courageous

Think hard and do not give up! Embrace challenge. Make mistakes. Find solutions. Demonstrate the ability to work independently.

Set goals and strive for excellence. Expect and strive to work hard and be resilient – keep returning to a problem until it is solved.

Listen and act kindly, safely and respectfully, taking responsibility for their choices and actions.

Plan and implement a rich and broad curriculum offer that develops character, knowledge and skills through a diverse range of opportunities.

Share the high expectations of the school for appearance, attendance, conduct and learning.

Recognise and value the impact they have on the community and the importance of making a positive contribution.

Ensure that students are encouraged to think deeply about their learning. Allow them to ‘fail well’ using mistakes within the process of learning, building student independence and resilience.

Work with the school positively, recognising we all want the very best for the children in our care. Promote kindness and respect within our community.

Support their child in relation to creating an effective learning environment at home:

• Take an interest in homework to encourage good study habits.

• Encourage reading at home

• Take care with screen time/ mobile phone use.

• Provide structure and routine e.g. bedtime, habits for organisation, time keeping.

We offer views appropriately; we take account of and listen to the views of others; we are respectful and tolerant of difference; we build good relationships with each other and seek support to overcome difficult situations if they arise.

Value being part of our ambitious school community – we are proud to excel!

Ambitious

PREPARING FOR YEAR 7

Congleton High School is a warm, welcoming and highly ambitious school.

Our staff work tirelessly to build strong positive relationships with students throughout their seven-year journey with us, ensuring that they are able to strive for excellence in everything they do.

We are proud to offer excellent pastoral support, curriculum specialists and a strong community ethos. These enable all students to grow into well-rounded, capable human beings who know how they can excel.

We provide a well-developed transition period that includes meeting each student to talk about their strengths and worries during our Primary visits. This allows us to ensure that all students have the smoothest and most beneficial start to their seven-year Congleton High School journey.

All our new students attend two transition days in June and, along with visits to primary schools and our Activity Day in August, they really are set up for success in September. Our settling-in evening early in the first half-term helps to address any further worries and, most importantly, to celebrate success.

Mrs Darling Deputy Headteacher/ Safeguarding Lead

Mrs Glendening Year Team Leader Year 7

Miss Laverne Assisant Year Team Leader Year 7

CURRICULUM

‘Teachers have strong subject knowledge…they use this expertise to help pupils remember and apply the essential knowledge and skills they have been taught.’ Ofsted 2023

At CHS we have high expectations and aspirations for all of our students in terms of attendance, behaviour and academic achievement, and our exceptional teaching drives an ambitious curriculum.

We stretch and challenge all students through academic rigour, and it is our responsibility to ensure that students are engaged with a broad and balanced curriculum that meets the needs of everyone without exception.

When your child starts their seven-year journey at CHS, they will find a broad balance of traditional and vocational courses on offer that deliver opportunities to gain the qualifications and skills needed to thrive in later life.

All students follow a strong academic core of English, Maths, Science, a Humanity subject, a Modern Foreign Language, RE and PE, and upon reaching Year 9, will choose from a wide range of subjects, opting for two further qualifications that include both GCSEs and vocational opportunities.

‘Leaders place as much emphasis on pupils’ personal development as they do on their academic achievement.’ Ofsted 2023

You will find that we place as much emphasis on pupils’ personal development as we do on academic achievement, promoting good manners and respect for all staff and students alike. Through our personal development curriculum children at CHS learn how to keep themselves and others safe and how to grow into happy, confident members of a rapidly changing world. Students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural mindfulness, as well as the development of modern British values, are just as important as excellent academic qualifications.

In the summer of 2025, we celebrated significant improvement in GCSE results. Student outcomes were above national results and 48% of subjects secured outcomes which place them in the top 20% of the country for students achieving the highest GCSE grades 7-9 and distinction grades in vocational subjects.

ENRICHMENT

Our Enrichment programme offers an expansive choice of experiences and opportunities outside of normal lessons, catering to the most diverse interests. Whether your child is interested in sports, art, media, the environment, coding or engineering - we have something for every student.

We run clubs that include rugby, football, netball, basketball, rounders, athletics, table tennis, badminton and volleyball, engineering, science, art, cookery, foreign language film club, media, eco, coding, and chess.

At CHS we value enrichment so much that if a group of students have an interest that isn’t covered, we will help them set up a club.

Enrichment isn’t just for years 7 to 11. Our Sixth Form has a whole afternoon of enrichment. They may spend this time as part of the student leadership team, doing work experience, preparing for university, debating the big issues, being the voice for mental health, anti-bullying and other groups or helping younger students in the school through our peer mentoring programme.

Our sports teams travel to Europe annually to compete as well as experience other cultures. Water-sports visits, also run by our wonderful PE team, are extremely popular.

We know that happy, engaged learners really do grow into happy, engaged young adults who contribute to their local communities, wherever that may be.

We hope your child has fun exploring everything we have to offer!

OUR CAMPUS

Situated on the outskirts of Congleton in a semi-rural location, our large campus has great facilities for all aspects of the curriculum and school life.

Our buildings are grouped together by faculty to make it easier to find them, but also to provide excellent facilities specifically for each subject. We are continually working to improve and upgrade the facilities that we offer. We have recently completed a bespoke Humanities block (The Machin Building) that provides a superb learning environment, as well as a new dining facility (The Hungry Bear) that delivers diverse, healthy menu choices for every palate.

Congleton High School prides itself on excellent ICT facilities across the whole site, together with well-resourced specialist areas for Art and Photography, Design Technology, Science, PE and the Performing Arts.

Our sports facilities include a modern gymnasium, large sports hall, five grass pitches, a state-of-the-art all-weather pitch and fitness suite. These allow us to offer a wide range of sports, both in lessons and as extra curricular activities. Our student excel at regional and national levels across a wide range of sports.

Humanities

Dining

THE SIXTH FORM JOURNEY

At Congleton Sixth Form College we pride ourselves on being able to offer a positive learning ethos, securing excellent A Level/Vocational teaching and results, with ALL students challenged to do their best in a supportive and nurturing environment, where students have the benefit of already existing strong relationships with staff.

Our September 2025 results were above national with students making significantly strong progress, 26% of students achieving A* to A, and outstanding results in Maths and Science.

Our Sixth Form is based around three key principles:

• Strong care, guidance and support – we foster a safe and welcoming community where students are nurtured to be courageous and supported both academically and with the aspects of life that are pertinent to those in Years 12, 13 and 14, including developing an independent A Level mindset. Students are encouraged to work as part of a team with each other and with staff. They are also encouraged to contribute to our school community by taking part in various opportunities such as the DofE, volunteering and various leadership and ambassador groups facilitated by our Personal Development and Enrichment programmes.

• A wide range of courses leading to positive outcomes that help students to secure their chosen pathway - students have a wide range of courses on offer in our Sixth Form including A Levels and vocational subjects. With over 30 courses on offer, there is something to satisfy everyone’s curiosity.

• Preparing students for their future - to enable them to achieve their ambitions, students are supported through the university and apprenticeship application process to help them to secure their chosen destination. They receive personalised support from the Sixth Form Team with personal statements and CVs; we also utilise links with employers to help prepare students for interviews and assessments centres.

All Sixth Form students have opportunities to undertake work experience in careers that they might be considering. With a tutor dedicated to supporting students through the Oxbridge and Medical/Veterinary courses and our Honours Programme to stretch and challenge those students applying to these courses and to other Russell Group universities, our students secure positive destinations.

SEND

(Special Educational Needs and Disability)

At CHS we appreciate that every child is unique, and ensure that our educational provision is tailored to meet the needs of every student.

Our SEND department is a passionate and creative team that strives to find new and interesting ways to support students, whether this is through in-class support from one of our highly experienced and knowledgeable Teaching Assistants, small group interventions for Maths or English or Social Skills, or even one-to-one assistance with Physiotherapy or Speech and Language.

We work closely with a range of agencies and charities to access the most bespoke and appropriate support, and regularly share good practice with staff, meaning all teachers at CHS are teachers of SEND.

The school has a number of dedicated rooms, such as Thrive and our Student Workroom, collectively known as XL, which provide spaces for students with additional needs to meet with their key worker. These areas can also be used as social spaces, to eat lunch or simply to make friends in a calm, controlled environment.

We have recently added a Sensory Room to complement our existing SEND provision, and this has created a superb space where students can self-regulate, enabling them to thrive in a large, busy, mainstream school.

The SEND team works with teachers, families and individuals to encourage courageous, resilient and inquisitive learners, who will go on to become successful and valued members of the community, fulfilling their potential in an ever-changing world - it is our passion and privilege to do so.

SEND Leadership Team