CHILDREN learn about more than just the three Rs at Allenbourn Middle School in Wimborne.

An emphasis on extracurricular activities, including music and sports, gives children aged nine to 13 a well-rounded and social school life before they move on to secondary education.

Allenbourn’s students come from primaries including Merley First School, Pamphill CE School and St John’s CE First School, with many going on to join the huge range of clubs on offer.

From netball to jazz bands and reading groups, pupils are given the chance to grow and flourish outside of their lessons.

Head teacher Derek Brooks, who has been at the school for 14 years, said the school will continue to improve, despite being classed as outstanding in all areas during their Ofsted report last year.

“The focus is totally about the quality of teaching and learning,” he said.

“But we want the children to be well-rounded. Once every two years, we hold an activities week, where everyone is off timetable for the whole week. Children can take part in anything from horse riding to sand sculpting in Weymouth or a French exchange week during that time.”

Others may soon be able to learn the magic behind Allenbourn’s successes – it has applied to become a teaching school with St John’s First School, and will hear the results in March next year.

Me Brooks said: “If we are successful, it will mean we’re at the forefront of classroom practice.

“It would be a very exciting step forward following our Ofsted results. In that respect, we have hit the glass ceiling – with top results across the board, we now would like to take it to the next level, and becoming a teaching school would be that next step.”

Chair of governors Sharon Eldridge has seen both sons flourish at the school – Max, 16, is now doing his A-levels at Queen Elizabeth’s School in Wimborne, while 13-year-old Harry is in his final year at Allenbourn.

“The music provision here is excellent,” she said.

“My oldest son was encouraged to play an instrument, and he is now grade eight at the euphonium. We would never have chosen that ourselves, but he has had an opportunity here to learn something unusual and it has really paid off.”

The school has spaces in years seven and eight. For more information, visit www.allenbourn.dorset.sch.uk

Factfile

  • ALLENBOURN Middle School has 605 pupils aged from nine to 13.
  • It has links with the school of Sourdeval, in Normandy, and is building contacts with both the Guixhou province in south-west China, and with school on French-speaking Martinique.
  • Children can take part in any of the 40 clubs that take place on the grounds
  • Head teacher Derek Brooks is a specialist maths teacher who still spends nine hours per week teaching. He has been head since 2009, and before that was a deputy head
  • The school was the first in Dorset to achieve a Rights Respecting School status with UNICEF, and is on level two.
  • Allenbourn Middle School, East Borough, Wimborne, Dorset, BH211PL. 01202 886738