Talk:The Downs School, Compton

Status

Downgraded to stub status. There are no "serious element[s] of gathered materials". Certainly not a "moderate amount of information". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.111.145.131 (talk) 13:18, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Edit request: academy conversion, Summit Education Trust and updated information

Disclosure: I am employed by Summit Education Trust, which runs The Downs School & Sixth Form, and editing this article relates to my work. I am requesting these changes rather than making them myself, in line with WP:COI and WP:PAID. Facts are sourced to official DfE and Ofsted records; the Trust's own website is cited only for its CEO's job title, per WP:ABOUTSELF.

1. Lead

• Current text: "It is a state school run by West Berkshire Education Authority."
• Proposed text: "It is an academy within Summit Education Trust, a multi-academy trust, having converted from a local authority maintained foundation school on 1 April 2026."

2. Infobox

• Type: "Academy converter"
• Add Trust: "Summit Education Trust"
• URN: 151957 (predecessor URN 110102, as linked on the DfE record)
• Head teacher: "Chris Prosser"
• Enrolment: 1,437 (from 1200)
• Website: thedownsschool.org (DfE record lists this rather than thedownsschool.org.uk)

3. Overview – replace first paragraph with: "Starting at age 11 in Year 7, The Downs has approximately 1,440 pupils, including a sixth form. The headteacher is Chris Prosser, previously deputy headteacher, who succeeded Valerie Holdey on her retirement in December 2013. Prosser is also chief executive of Summit Education Trust. The school is on Manor Crescent in Compton. The nearest major town is Newbury, 8 miles away, and other neighbouring towns include Wantage, Didcot, Thatcham and Reading."

• Remove: "For the past 2 years it has been the highest attaining school in West Berkshire using the measure of 5A*-C GCSEs…" It is tagged [citation needed] and [when?], and the 5A*-C measure has not been used in performance tables since 2016.

4. New section: History "Summit Education Trust was incorporated in October 2025. The Downs School converted to academy status and joined the trust on 1 April 2026, alongside Compton C.E. Primary School; Basildon C.E. Primary School joined on 1 May 2026.

The school was judged Good by Ofsted in 2007 and Outstanding in 2013. Following an inspection in October 2024, under a framework that no longer gives an overall effectiveness grade, it was judged Outstanding for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and sixth form provision, and Good for leadership and management."

5. Specialisms – replace section text with: "The school was formerly a specialist Language College, and also held specialist status in science and mathematics, under the government's specialist schools programme, which ended in 2011. Pupils study French, German and Spanish to GCSE, and the school runs exchange visits to France, Germany and Spain."

6. Sixth form – replace section text with: "The sixth form offers A levels including mathematics and further mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, economics, law, government and politics, sociology, psychology, philosophy, history, geography, English, computing, film studies and fine art, as well as BTEC qualifications and the Extended Project Qualification. Sixth form provision was judged Outstanding by Ofsted in October 2024."

• This removes the unsourced figure of 260 students, internal building names, the name of the head of sixth form, and the unsourced claim about A level results.

Thank you for reviewing. ~~~~ Downlandhorse (talk) 13:50, 6 October 2026 (UTC)