The Mandeville School also has a further reason to celebrate after national figures showed its students make more progress between the ages of 11 and 16 than students at some of the region's fellow grammar schools.

The school is already a facility used by the community for training and sports, but it plans to expand its provision in the next year. In January it will host the first Yamaha music school in the county and in September next year the first phase of a £1m sports complex will be complete.

And all this is happening while students enjoy some of the best results the school has seen.

Headteacher Peter Patchett said: "We have restructured the whole school in such a way to be able to support individual learners and make sure they are on target. We are over subscribed in every age group, we have doubled in size in the past 10 years, quadrupled performance and it's been a tough journey, but innovation has been the real driver.

"We support other schools in terms of our training and development programmes across the county. I have trained head teachers here and I am working on an outstanding teaching project because the quality of teaching will make a difference.

"The students' targets are important but their wellbeing and how they feel about themselves is more important. All of our students have high self-esteem and that's proved by high spirits. It's the 'can-do' culture we want to cultivate."

He also revealed a £1m project to build a new sports complex funded by the Football Partnership and other sports organisations, which will develop it as a specialist school for sports.

"It will be accessible to the general public and the school 24/7. It includes a flood-lit all-weather pitch, improved changing facilities and a drama studio as well as reception area."

He said phase one, including building the all-weather pitch, would be finished by September 2009 and phase two during 2010.
The music school opens in the new year.

For the full story see this week's Bucks Herald.

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