Why should you choose the Sir John Colfox Academy?  

We want every child to enjoy school. We are proud of our excellent exam results and OFSTED ‘Good’ Rating - but believe education is about much more. 

We believe every child deserves an education filled with extracurricular opportunities and cultural enrichment. Whether through sport, drama, art, music, public speaking, trips, activities, clubs – we want all our students to find their passions and pursue them. 

Our young people are encouraged to try new things, to grow, to make mistakes. We believe these experiences shape us and help build strength. We want our students to enjoy activities they never thought they would and achieve things they never thought they could! We are proud that Ofsted saw that our students have strong relationships with adults, are encouraged to try new things and enjoy extracurricular opportunities. 

Academic Excellence 

We are ambitious for all our students and offer high quality teaching and learning. Lessons are engaging and our curriculum is ambitious. Academically, we aim to meet our students' changing interests and provide new courses that reflect their interests. Lately, we have offered new courses in Ancient History, Latin and Astronomy in response to student demand. 

OFSTED recognised that our school is ambitious for our pupils and has worked hard to create a new well-planned curriculum to increase achievement and students’ enjoyment of learning. We offer excellent academic, practical and vocational opportunities, and we are lucky to have a modern building, well-equipped with excellent facilities in magnificent grounds. We also have an excellent Sixth Form, and our students go on to win places at some of the country’s most prestigious universities.             

Student Voice - Students as Leaders 

Student Voice and empowering our students to be leaders with the power to change things is valued at Colfox. We were proud to become the first secondary school in the southwest to achieve UNICEF’s ‘Gold’ Rights Respecting Schools Award – meaning students’ rights are valued and their voices are heard. Our students are taught to understand their rights and honour the rights of others. Respect for the environment and others is a key pillar of our ethos. 

What is it like at Colfox? 

We aim to make learning fun! Recently in Science we hatched chicks, and during Science Week we had falconry show, experimented with dry ice, dissected eyeballs, made slime and competed to create and launch the highest rocket!  In History, we experienced life in the trenches during a living history workshop. In Maths, we had a ‘Feast’ where we invited schools to come and compete with us. Our latest school show was amazing! Our spacious Library is student-led and pledges to get any book or magazine any student wants to read. This term we’ve also enjoyed dozens of educational and cultural trips and our four houses Toro, Adler, Hinomaru and Fleur de Lys have competed in many fun House Cup Challenges.