Compass School Southwark opened in September 2013 with the ambition to become an outstanding local school. In a short space of time, Compass School has already become the school of choice for many families in our local community, and we are providing a unique education to the children that we serve.
We aim to be the best school available to our students, renowned for delivering outstanding academic results, developing world-class opportunities for our students, and ensure a global outlook and high aspiration in every student, regardless of their background.
Everyone in the Compass School Community holds the unshakeable belief that every child can achieve their full potential given the right support and challenge. This is reinforced in our vision that “everyone in the Compass Community will confidently reach the destination to which they aspire.” We want every student to achieve more than they first thought they were capable of to lead fulfilling and inspiring lives.
There are four core values that we strongly believe will help to deliver this vision – aspiration, integrity, exploration, and resilience. All aspects of school life, including the school day, the curriculum, and our enrichment opportunities, are focused on supporting these core values.
Compass School is a 600 place free school in Southwark for pupils aged 11-16: Our commitment is that: "Everyone in the Compass School Community will confidently reach the destination to which they aspire".
Compass School will work closely with the Local Authority and other Southwark Schools to ensure that we help to meet the local need for good school places – complementing existing provision rather than abstracting from it.
Compass School will provide High expectations and aspirations, a varied and student-driven curriculum, a safe, caring, and inclusive environment, a strong relationship with its community, and an enriching extra-curricular program.
At Compass School Southwark, we believe that education is about more than just academic achievement. We want to engage and enhance all aspects of our student’s lives and in doing so help them to determine their course, with a good understanding of the world and opportunities around them.
We can deliver this vision by focusing on our four core values:
- Aspiration
- Integrity
- Exploration
- Resilience
In each subject area at KS3 there is an emphasis upon developing independent learners who have good thinking skills, are good researchers, can be team players and leaders within the same lesson, and think innovatively to solve a range of problems. These skills are taught and modeled in assemblies, learning family time, and in lessons as well as encouraged through independent learning, exploration projects, and homework.
In Year 7 and 8 students follow a broad and balanced curriculum. The curriculum covers the core subjects (English, Maths and Science) as well as the humanities (Geography, History and Relating) the Arts (Drama and Art) French, Computing and PE. This prepares the students so that as many students as possible will have access to the English Baccalaureate courses. At the end of Year, 8 students choose whether to study Geography or History as well as French or Spanish to begin these GCSE courses in Year 9.
Year 9 is a mixture of KS3 and GCSE courses. The students begin to study the GCSE curriculum in Science as well as their choice of humanity and modern foreign language. Their remaining subjects follow the KS3 curriculum in preparation for their GCSE choices at KS4.
At KS4 students continue to study the core subjects (English, Maths, and Science), and to recognize their importance for the student's life chances the hours per week are increased to 5 per subject, over 50% of their curriculum time. To ensure most students cover the English Baccalaureate set of subjects, students take a Humanity (History or Geography) and a modern foreign language (French or Spanish). The students also choose two further option subjects to study to GCSE.
Compass School Southwark will not have its own Sixth Form, but on joining the City of London Academies Trust, Compass pupils can expect equal access to the new City of London Academy Sixth Form on Rotherhithe New Road.
