Marlwood School
Marlwood School (founded 1606) is a state-funded co-educational secondary school currently part of the CSET multi-academy trust. Located at Alveston, South Gloucestershire, it is situated on the B3561 on the outskirts of the south-west of the village. School has around 550 pupils aged 11–16.
Marlwood School

Roger Cornfoot · From geograph.org.uk · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Marlwood School
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Overview
Overview
In its most recent Ofsted inspection, Marlwood was rated ‘Good’ in all areas.

MARLWOOD SCHOOL, South Gloucestershire
Peppermintleaf
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Marlwood School • Motto — Working Together For Excellence (Originally Disce Aut Discede, Latin for "Learn or Leave") • Established — (converted to academy in 2014) • Type — Academy • Trust — Castle School Education Trust • Head Label — Headteacher • Head — Helen Simmons • Address — Vattingstone Lane • City — Alveston • County — Gloucestershire • Country — England • Postal Code — BS35 3LA • Ofsted — Good • Urn — 141341 • Capacity — 750 • Enrollment — 550 • Gender — Mixed • Lower Age — 11 • Upper Age — 16 • Houses — Berkeley; Holt; Kingsley; Witton • Colours — Bottle green and maroon (grey blazer); House Colours: Blue, Red, Yellow, Purple • Free Label1 — Former name • Free Text1 — Thornbury Grammar School • Website — http: marlwood.com
House system
House system
The modern-day school operates a house system, whereby students are divided up into four houses, which are named after old English words for woodland and thus pick up the theme of ‘wood’ in Marlwood, the school site at one time being woodland belonging to the Marlwood estate. Houses are then broken down into tutor groups for each house per year. Each House is led by a member of staff and all staff members belong to a house: • House — Colour • Kingsley — Yellow • Holt — Red • Berkeley — Blue • Witton — Purple The houses compete throughout the year in various sporting, academic and performing art competitions.
Comprehensive
Comprehensive
Thornbury Grammar School was relocated to new buildings on the outskirts of neighbouring Alveston in 1972 where it received its first comprehensive intake and was renamed Marlwood School under the headship of Terry Fazey.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni
• Tony Britton – Actor • Sally Conway – Olympic medalist judoka • Ellie Leather – British middle-distance runner • Paul Nicholls – Champion National Hunt Trainer • Miles Normandale – Rugby player • Rhys Oakley – Welsh rugby player • John Pullin – England rugby captain • Wayne Thompson – Rugby player
Media
Media
Marlwood School featured in the BBC Two series, School in November 2018. The head explained the impossible nature of improving a school, with declining numbers, a then poor Ofsted judgement and annual cuts to an inadequate budget. He was filmed writing his resignation letter. This act was received favourably and with sympathy by fellow headteachers.
Histories
Histories
* *
Grammar school
The school was founded in 1606 as Thornbury Free School. In the following centuries, it was housed in a number of buildings throughout Thornbury. In 1879 the school merged with Attwell’s Free School to become Thornbury Grammar School, moving to buildings on Gloucester Road.
Academy
Marlwood School converted to academy status on 1 November 2014 and is now independent of local authority control. However, the school continues to coordinate with South Gloucestershire Council for admissions. The school is now part of the education trust CSET (Castle School Education Trust). It was formerly a Beacon school and had attained the status of Science College, due to excellence at science. Sixth form provision is shared with The Castle School and based in the old Thornbury Grammar School buildings.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Marlwood School, revision 1354996107 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Marlwood School Ofsted Report: November 2023. Ofsted.gov.uk.
- 2.Supporting Students.
- 3.History - Thornbury Grammar School. Thornbury Grammar School.
- 4.Sims, Aaron. Olympic medallist Sally Conway inspires pupils in Thornbury and Alveston with school visits. Gazette Series. 22 November 2016.
- 5.Athletics: Castle School and Marlwood School youngsters win silver medals. Gazette Series. 30 January 2014.
- 6.Iles, Rob. Interview with champion trainer Paul Nicholls ahead of the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. Gazette. 17 March 2011.
- 7.www.uprisevsi.co.uk, upriseVSI. Cardiff Blues cement relationship with Cardiff Met through Miles Normandale signing. upriseVSI. 23 May 2013.
- 8.Cotton, Steven. Where are they now? The 15 familiar faces Bristol Rugby could come up against next season. Bristol Live. 13 March 2017.
- 9.Schoolfriends are reunited. Gazette. 20 January 2006.
- 10.Weale, Sally. BBC film crew documents England's school funding crisis. The Guardian. 2 November 2018.
- 11.Ferguson, Donna. BBC headteacher tells of outpouring of sympathy after he resigned on TV. The Guardian. 27 November 2018.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 27 September 2026.
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