Be The Best You Can Be
The Castle Rock School is a mixed gender academy for students aged between eleven and eighteen years of age. It serves an extensive area which includes the eastern and northern parts of Coalville together with the expanding village of Whitwick and other adjacent housing areas.
The origins of the school date back to 1958, when Castle Rock High School opened on the plot of land that is now occupied by our neighbours, the Forest Way School.
The original Castle Rock school building.
Many decades later, the building was deemed no longer fit for purpose and a new school was commissioned and built on the current Meadow Lane site by the Local Authority. The new school building opened with a fanfare in April 2006, featuring state-of-the-art facilities rich in technology with a fantastic library, sports hall, modern ICT suites and classrooms. It also incorporated a number of environmentally friendly elements such as the harvesting of rainwater for later use in flushing of toilets, and energy-efficient construction and maintenance techniques.
The new main building of The Castle Rock School, opened in 2006.
The school converted to Academy status in 2012, and In October 2017 the school was inspected by Ofsted, who deemed that Castle Rock continued to be a Good school. Some of the report’s findings are summarised below;
– Senior leaders have continued to improve the quality of teaching since the last inspection. They make effective use of a thorough process for checking on the quality of teaching.
– Teachers use questioning well to check on pupils’ understanding and to make them think more deeply.
– Leaders give safeguarding a high priority and it continues to be effective. All safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Records are detailed and of a high quality.
– Pupils’ behaviour within the classroom and around the school is good. They listen respectfully to staff and work well, both independently and together. Pupils who spoke with inspectors were articulate, confident and polite. They are smartly dressed and wear their uniform with pride.
– Pupils say they feel safe in the school and they know that they can talk to an adult about any concerns they may have. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations. This includes when working online.
More details can be found on the Ofsted Report section of this website.
In November 2017, Castle Rock became lead school of The Apollo Partnership Trust, a multi-academy trust formed by Castle Rock, Newbridge High School and Broom Leys Primary School. Strong ties were already in place between the three local schools and we continue to build upon this relationship. In March 2020, the adjacent King Edward VII College formally joined the Trust with plans to merge with Castle Rock High School. The new school was to be known as The Castle Rock School, opening formally under it’s new name from the beginning of Autumn Term 2020.
You can be confident that The Castle Rock School is a successful school in which your child can achieve and truly be… the best they can be!