Waingels College

Waingels College (previously Waingels Copse School) is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school located in Woodley, Reading, Berkshire, England. It has a population of 1,500 students but may rise due to overcrowding in the area and an appeals process which now has to take place. Over 400 people apply for entry annually, though there are only 270 places available (a rise from 240 in previous years). The school previously held specialist status as a Mathematics and Computing College, and converted to academy status in July 2015.[1]

Waingels College
Address
Waingels Road

Woodley
,
Berkshire
,
RG5 4RF

England
Coordinates51.464722°N 0.889722°W / 51.464722; -0.889722
Information
TypeAcademy
MottoBetter Never Stops
Local authorityWokingham
Department for Education URN142166 Tables
OfstedReports
Chair of GovernorsMichael Marsden
PrincipalTom Bartlett
Staffc.170
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolmentc.1,470
HousesAstor, Brunel, Da Vinci, Holmes, Rowling, Turing
Colour(s)Green Red Yellow               
Websitehttp://www.waingels.wokingham.sch.uk

Houses

In September 2006 the school was split into six houses. Each house is named after an inspirational role-model. Each house has a learning community, Red, Green and Gold which are seen on the uniform with a Red, Green or Yellow collar around it and on the logo. Brunel and Da Vinci are in the Green Zone, Holmes and Rowling are the Gold Zone and Turing and Astor are the Red zone.[2]

Name of house Colour Role Model
Astor      White Nancy Astor, the first woman to sit as an MP in the UK.
Brunel      Green Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the engineer and creator of the Great Western Railway.
Da Vinci      Blue Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian scientist, inventor and artist.
Holmes      Red Kelly Holmes, the Olympic gold medalist at middle distance.
Rowling      Yellow J. K. Rowling, the British author who created the Harry Potter series.
Turing      Black Alan Turing, the British mathematician and cryptographer.

Until 2006 the school was split into two 'houses', Wain and Gels. In the 1970s and 1980s the school had four houses named for local connections: Bader (house colour red), after the airman Douglas Bader who flew from the old Woodley airfield; Brunel (house colour yellow), the only survivor in the current line-up; Jerome (house colour blue), after the author Jerome K. Jerome who wrote about the nearby River Thames; and Miles (house colour green), after the Miles Aircraft company, once based at Woodley airfield.

The school was originally built back in 1970 to replace the old secondary modern school on Loddon Bridge Road, Rivermead Primary School, which is now a primary school. The school has been rebuilt (except for the blocks for Sports, ICT and Maths, which have been refurbished) and was completed in November 2011 at a cost of £31M.

Redevelopment

Waingels College underwent a £31.1 million redevelopment as part of the Schools for the Future building programme, which is now complete. There are now four buildings in total: the "Community Zone" (home to the sixth form common room, staff room, library, canteen and main hall); the "Green Zone" (home to mathematics, science, P.E. and food technology); the "Yellow Zone" (home to English, foreign languages and the arts) and the "Red Zone" (home to the humanities, Tech and IT).

The building work has been generally well received, although teachers and students alike were having problems with the open plan design in some parts of the school. There have since been extra walls built, with improvements to the original design being continually made. The new college was officially opened on 26 March 2012 by HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

Notable former pupils

References
  1. http://www.waingels.wokingham.sch.uk/about-us/latest-news/the-school-designated-as-an-academy/
  2. "Inform Waingels Newsletter" (PDF). Waingels College. September 2006. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  3. Interview with the Hoosiers on BBC Berkshire, 18 December 2007 accessed 20 January 2008
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