Welcome to Thorns Community College

It gives me very great pleasure to welcome you to the Thorns Community College website.  I’ve been Principal at Thorns now for just over a year but in that time I’ve discovered what a welcoming and friendly place it is.  I hope you will find the website helpful and constructive and if it fails to answer your questions then please don’t hesitate to contact the college directly.

Thorns is a place where learning is always at the top of our agenda.  Our vision statement clearly recognises that we are all learners on a lifelong journey through education and that includes every member of staff as well as our students.  We have worked hard to become the school of choice for parents and students in the local area and our student numbers are extremely healthy.

Despite the challenge of special measures (Ofsted 2011) we have continued to move forward and examination grades have improved 2 years running. In 2011 we achieved our best ever results and 2012 promises to be another record year. With further good progress we are confident of coming out of special measures in the very near future.

However, education at Thorns is about so much more than results.  We offer a broad and balanced curriculum, which ensures that all our students not only achieve in the key core subjects but also experience success in a wide range of other areas too.  As a Specialist Performing Arts College we have a strong tradition in delivering excellence in Drama, Music and Dance and this was evidenced by the recent, outstanding college production of Hairspray.  Our sports facilities are some of the best in the Borough and we value all sporting endeavours.  I firmly believe that many of life’s most important lessons are learnt outside of the classroom and this philosophy is supported in all our learning.

Since my arrival we have invested heavily, not only in improving the quality of teaching and learning, but also in the student environment. With well above average attendance our students will be the first to tell you how much they enjoy coming to Thorns and how much the college is improving. Our extensive site was recently enhanced by the completion of the Thorns Community Learning Village (TCLV) project when we were joined on campus by Old Park Special School, bringing a further dimension to learning in the community.

I’m very optimistic about the future of Thorns and I’m really looking forward to the journey we’ve embarked upon.  A number of other significant changes and improvements are underway and the staff have been superb in embracing this opportunity to make Thorns an outstanding educational provider.

If you have any concerns or queries, please e-mail:

info@thorns-s.dudley.sch.uk

Click here to log onto your Thorns email account