Sawston Village College

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Sawston Village College is an academy school in Sawston, Cambridgeshire, England. It was previously the first community college in the country and the first Village College. It was founded in 1930 and realised the vision of Henry Morris, then Chief Education Officer for Cambridgeshire.

In 1924, Henry Morris wrote a Memorandum on the Provision of Education and Social Facilities for the Countryside, with Special Reference to Cambridgeshire. Morris wrote that:^[1]

• the village college would be "the community centre of the neighbourhood";
• "it would not only be the training ground for the art of living, but the place in which life is lived";
• "the village college could lie athwart the daily lives of the community it served; and in it the conditions would be realised under which education would not be an escape from reality, but an enrichment and transformation of it".

The introduction of the Education Act (1918) raised the school leaving age from 12 to 14. This would overwhelm the existing education system within the local rural villages, which grouped all ages of children together into large class sizes.

Morris' vision of a school indivisible from its community still holds true today at Sawston, his first village college. Its circa 1060 pupils aged 11 – 16 share the campus with adults who come to the college for a range of purposes: education, social activities, leisure and sports. The college has a partnership for community education and the arts, the Broadening Education Partnership, and a community sports centre.

The college also has the only youth-led cinema in the country. Its pupils take responsibility for the function of the cinema – front of house, projection, business planning; for example, offering regular screenings to the local community.

On 1 June 2011, Sawston Village College gained academy status, effectively ending Cambridgeshire County Council's control and funding of the school.

On 6 September 2012, 14:15 BST, one wing of the original college building was devastated by a fire. The Walnut gallery (a community meeting room), Main Staff Room, Sawston Public Library were destroyed, and the Henry Morris Hall (the assembly area) was flooded from the hosepipes. The staff evacuated the pupils. Everyone was accounted for, and there were no casualties. The incident is thought to have been an act of arson.

Feeder schools

Children from the following schools generally start attending Sawston Village College at age 11:

• Bellbird Primary School]p, Sawston
• Icknield Primary School, Sawston
• Babraham CofE Primary School
• William Westley Primary School, Whittlesford
• Duxford Primary School
• Stapleford Primary School
• Great and Little Shelford Primary School
• Fawcett Primary School

Destinations

Students continuing in Further Education beyond 16 generally attend one of the following:

• Cambridge Regional College;
• Hills Road Sixth Form College;
• Impington Village College;
• Long Road Sixth Form College;
• Netherhall School;
• Saffron Walden County High School.

References