Swavesey

Coordinates: 52°17′51″N 0°00′00″E / 52.2975°N 0.0°E / 52.2975; 0.0

Swavesey is a village lying on the Greenwich Meridian in Cambridgeshire, England, with an approximate population of 2,480. The village is situated 9 miles to the north west of Cambridge and 3 miles south east of St Ives.

Listed as Suauesye in the Domesday Book, the name Swavesey means "landing place (or island) of a man named Swaef".

History

Swavesey, forming a historical parish of 3982 acres on the border with Huntingdonshire, lies on a narrow clay ridge rising to 18 metres above sea level at one time surrounded by fenland. The village was of importance during the early Middle Ages as the centre of a large 11th-century estate. A castle was built here in the late 11th or early 12th century, though is believed to have been derelict by 1200. Swavesey served as a port and subsequent market town and was fortified at the end of the 12th century.

An alien priory was founded in Swavesey shortly after the Norman Conquest, possibly replacing a Saxon minster.

Village college

Coordinates: 52°14′50″N 0°06′58″E / 52.247093°N 0.116214°E / 52.247093; 0.116214

The village college is an institution specific to Cambridgeshire, England (including the Peterborough unitary authority area). It caters for the education of 11- to 16-year-olds during the day, and provides educational and leisure facilities to adults out of school hours.

Village colleges were the brainchild of Henry Morris, the then Chief Education Officer for Cambridgeshire, who had a vision of a school that would serve the whole community, stem migration from the countryside to the towns, and provide a decent education to pupils who had previously only been served by the upper years of Elementary schools.

Between the implementation of the Education Act 1944 and Cambridgeshire's adoption of the Comprehensive school system in 1974, village colleges were effectively reduced to secondary modern schools; since 1974 village colleges have returned to their original mission as schools for the whole community. Indeed, many argue that the village college model had a large influence on the design of the Comprehensive system.

Swavesey Village College

Swavesey Village College is a village college and academy school in the village of Swavesey in south Cambridgeshire. As of 2010 the school has around 1,200 students. The school was officially opened on 14 November 1958.

The school has an intake from many surrounding villages including Bar Hill, Over, Longstanton, Fenstanton, Fen Drayton, Hilton, Papworth Everard, Boxworth, Elsworth, Lolworth and Willingham.

On 11 June 2008, Swavesey Village College became a foundation school within the Swavesey Village College Educational Trust. On 1 April 2011, Swavesey Village College became an academy. The school also has specialisms in science and languages.

Swavesey Village College received a comment of 'outstanding in every respect' from Ofsted. SVC achieved full marks in every category in the Ofsted report.

The school runs many after school extra curricular clubs, which vary in category greatly, from sports to maths, to journalism to chess.

The school is able to accept students with learning disabilities such as Autism.