Brookfield Community School, Chesterfield

Brookfield Community School
Location
Chatsworth Road

Chesterfield
,
Derbyshire
,
S40 3NS

England
Coordinates53°13′55″N 1°28′14″W / 53.23188°N 1.47052°W / 53.23188; -1.47052
Information
TypeAcademy
Established1990
Local authorityDerbyshire
Department for Education URN136548 Tables
OfstedReports
Chair of GovernorsProfessor Tom Denton [2]
HeadteacherK. Hirst[1]
Staff7 senior leadership, 77 teaching, 74 support [3]
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1084
Websitehttp://www.brookfield.derbyshire.sch.uk

Brookfield Community School is an academy school located on Chatsworth Road (A619) in the west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection judged it to be 'Good'.[4]

Admissions

Brookfield Community School is a comprehensive secondary school which caters for around 1300 students between the ages 11–18 (Years 7-13), including approximately 300 sixth formers.[5]

Academic performance

In the data for the year 2016/2017, the school had a Progress 8 score of -0.14, indicating that pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 had made less progress, on average, than pupils across England who got similar results at the end of Key Stage 2. The same data shows 57% of pupils achieving a GCSE grade 5 or above in English & Maths.[6]

Charity Work

Since 2022 the school has taken part in a whole school sponsored walk[7] for the local charity Ashgate Hospice, as of 2025 the school has raised a total of almost £60,000.[8] This most recent Sponsored Walk has raised a lot of good sentiment and publicity for the school due the current struggles that the hospice is facing.[9]

History

Brookfield Community School's history stretches back to the founding of the Chesterfield Grammar School in 1598.[10] This school taught boys throughout the 17th and 18th century, until its closure in 1832. In 1845, the school was restarted in a new building (which remains on Sheffield Road today, and is now part of Chesterfield College), expanding to a size of around 500 in 1928.[11] Additional land on Storrs Road (on the west side of the town) was acquired in the 1930s, but minimally used due to lack of funds and the Second World War. In 1949, work began on the levelling of playing fields on the site, which was opened in 1953.[12]

The present site of Brookfield (on Chatsworth Road/Brookside, adjacent to the Storrs Road playing fields) was opened for Chesterfield School in 1967.[13] Following the Education Act 1944, the school became a state-sponsored grammar school.

Brookfield Community School was formed in 1991 in a re-organisation of schools in Chesterfield,[14] On 1 April 2011, Brookfield Community School officially gained academy status.[15]

In 2018, following an Inadequate OFSTED inspection[16], the school was encouraged to join a MAT (Multi Academy Trust). Shortly afterwards they announced they where joining Redhill Academy Trust.[17] Since joining the school's OFSTED inspections have improved.

Staff incidents

In April 2018, a TRA disciplinary panel found that Mark Rodda had engaged in multiple forms of unacceptable conduct while working as a science teacher at the school between January and May 2017. His behaviour included inappropriate physical contact, such as massaging pupils' shoulders and placing his arm around them. He also made explicit sexual remarks to students. Mr Rodda was indefinitely banned from teaching in any school or sixth form college in England.[18][19]

In Janurary 2023, John Lees who was a science teacher at Brookfield Community School was charged by police for a car crash that happened on the 16 January 2023 [20]on his way to work. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel heared that[21] "(Mr) Lees drank wine in the morning before he set off to work" At the scene of the accident a breath test found he had 61 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit is 35 micrograms. The panel felt that this admission demonstrated insight, and as a result he is still allowed to teach in the UK as the panel was satisfied that the incident was a one-off event. He has since left the school, where he worked for 20 years, and took a temporary position at another school.

Notable former pupils

  • Ian Blackwell, cricketer
  • Ellie Simpson, world para-athlete (100m World Number 2, 200m World Record Holder and GB medalist) and founder of CP Teens UK[22]

Chesterfield Grammar School

Notable former teachers

  • Cyril Bibby, biologist; taught biology (1938–40)
  • Paul Holmes,[24] History master (1979–83), Liberal Democrat MP for Chesterfield (2001–10)
  • Cec Thompson, former professional rugby league footballer; Head of Economics and Rugby Master (at the school for 17 years, retired 1991)

References

  1. ^ "Contact Us". Brookfield.derbyshire.sch.uk. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Governors". Brookfield.derbyshire.sch.uk. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Brookfield Community School - Staff List". Brookfield.derbyshire.sch.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  4. ^ Ofsted https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50219980. Retrieved 13 July 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ "About Us". Brookfield.derbyshire.sch.uk. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Brookfield Academy Trust - GOV.UK - Find and compare schools in England". Comapre-school-performance.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Students from Chesterfield's Brookfield Community School sponsored walk raise £15,824 for Ashgate Hospice". Derbyshire Times. 12 October 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  8. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  9. ^ "Ashgate Hospice cuts 19 jobs including nursing roles". BBC News. 24 December 2025. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  10. ^ "CHESTERFIELD GRAMMAR SCHOOL : Based on a brief history by Roy Smith published in Reflections Magazine in March/April 2007" (PDF). Oldcestrefeldians.org.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  11. ^ "The Best Days of Your Life?" (PDF). Oldcestrefeldians.org.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  12. ^ "65th annual Athletics Sports Day" (PDF). Oldcestrefeldians.org.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  13. ^ "OFFICIAL OPENING of the NEW BUILDING for CHESTERFIELD SCHOOL" (PDF). Oldcestrefeldians.org.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  14. ^ "A Tribute To Excellence : 1598 - 1991" (PDF). Oldcestrefeldians.org.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  15. ^ "200 invalid-request". Brookfield.derbyshire.sch.uk. Archived from the original on 22 August 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  16. ^ "Headteacher celebrates as previously 'inadequate' Chesterfield school improves Ofsted rating – and is now 'good'". Derbyshire Times. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  17. ^ "Chesterfield school announces decision to join academy trust". Derbyshire Times. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  18. ^ "Chesterfield teacher banned after 'massaging' pupils". 10 May 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Mark Rodda". GOV.UK. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
  20. ^ "Science teacher crashed into tree on the way to work after drink-driving". BBC News. 8 April 2025. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  21. ^ "Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr John Lees". GOV.UK. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
  22. ^ "CP Teens UK". Cpteensuk.org. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  23. ^ "Chris Adams - Cricket Players and Officials". Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
  24. ^ "Examination of Witnesses (Questions 960 - 979)". House of Commons. 8 December 2003. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
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