The Downs School is a comprehensive secondary school in rural Compton, Berkshire, England. It is a state school run by West Berkshire Education Authority.

[edit] Overview

The Downs is a small school of about 1,000 pupils, but with the completion of the new VI form building, the number will rise. The school is located on Manor Crescent. The nearest major town is Newbury which is 8 miles away. Other neighbouring towns include Wantage, Didcot, Thatcham and Reading. Within a short walk of the school is the Compton village shop and the large Compton recreation ground. It is just over 2 miles from the East Ilsley junction of the A34.

The headmaster was Graham Taylor, but he retired after 22 years at the school. The new headteacher is Valerie Houldey.

It is also the last remaining West Berkshire Authority secondary school to retain its own swimming pool after St Bartholomew's School demolished theirs in Summer 2009.

[edit] Specialist status

The school is a specialist language college. This means that pupils have the chance to learn at least one foreign language, with the opportunity of learning others. The school has exchange visits to France, Germany and Spain. Sports tours are also annually organised. Teams have been to Spain, Holland and in 2007 went to Cyprus.

The Downs recently became a science and maths specialism school to match its language college status.

[edit] VI form

The school has a sixth form centre of about 210 students. It is located on the ground floor of the new Graham Taylor building (GT). Subjects range from all the sciences to politics, economics, law and media studies. The current head of sixth form is Andrew Hartley, who recently replaced Anna Purnell. It's results at A-Level are exceptional for a non-selective state school.

[edit] Past pupils

• Theo Walcott
• Pete Allen
• Charlie Booth

[edit] External links

• The Downs School website

Coordinates: 51°30′46″N 1°15′12″W / 51.5129°N 1.2532°W / 51.5129; -1.2532