Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre
Address
Surley Row Reading , Berkshire , RG4 8LR England
Coordinates	51°28′54″N 0°58′30″W / 51.481551°N 0.975113°W / 51.481551; -0.975113
Information
Type	Academy
Motto	Aspire and Achieve
Established	1971
Local authority	Reading Borough Council
Specialist	Maths and Computing
Department for Education URN	136307 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Chair Of Governors	A Rajantie
Head teacher	Rachel Cave
Gender	Mixed
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1550
Colour(s)	Black, red, and white
Website	http://www.highdown.reading.sch.uk/

Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre is an academy in Emmer Green on the outskirts of Reading, Berkshire, England. It has a capacity for approximately 1600 students aged 11–18. There are currently 1459 students on roll at the school with 262 students attending the Sixth Form.^[1] Highdown School is a non-selective school with provision for Special Education Needs and is a specialist school for maths and computing.^[2] Rachel Cave has been the head teacher since 2013.^[3] The school's most recent Ofsted inspection, in 2018, rated the school "good".^[4]

History

Grove house, a grade II listed building on the school grounds was built in the 1780s as a small farmhouse for thirty acres of arable farmland.^[5]

Highdown School was established as a comprehensive school in September 1971.^[6] Highdown School has three Grade II listed buildings within its grounds. The main building was altered and extended by Richard Norman Shaw from 1878–80.^[7][8][9]

On 1 November 2010, Highdown School became an independently run academy after being judged outstanding by Ofsted.^[10] It was the first school in Berkshire to be awarded academy status.^[11] During April 2015 Highdown School was judged as "Good" by Ofsted.^[12]

On 6 December 2012, the school’s governing body announced that Rachel Cave, formerly a Deputy Headteacher at The Heathland School in Hounslow, would take over the school from Easter 2013, replacing Tim Royle, Headteacher of 13 years.^[13]

Controversy

Former headteacher Timothy Royle was accused of three counts of fraud and one count of theft in a case at Reading Magistrates Court.^[14]

Royle was accused of falsely reporting how bursary funds were being spent, keeping £7,000 and stealing computers and computer equipment from the school.^[15] The ex-headteacher was one of the first appointed National Leaders in Education to advise the Government on education policy who left the school in December 2012.^[16] He was cleared of these charges in March 2015.^[17]