Welcome to the Downsbrook Middle School Website
Everyone at Downsbrook Middle School works hard to ensure that we are a happy caring school where every child and their future matters.
We have excellent teachers with a vibrant and exciting curriculum and environment. We want you to make the right choice for you and your child, we hope that you will take the time to visit our school or contact us with any questions or queries you may have.
I hope that this website will give you valuable information about what life is like for pupils at our school. Just use the links around the windmill to navigate around the site.
About Downsbrook
Downsbrook Middle school has a long and proud history dating from 1910 when the school first opened on the Whytemead first school site as Ham Road school.
About the Windmill
Our school logo is a windmill but many parents and children are confused by this as there are no windmills for some distance around the school, however it hasnt always been the case.
Worthing once had many windmills, most of which were still standing a century ago. Cheap grain and imported flour combined to bring about a rapid decline in windmilling and by 1915 only the High Salvington Mill remained. Documented evidence tells us that there were, in fact, at least two windmills at the southern end of Ham Road. These were known as The Navarino Windmills and they were certainly still standing at the turn of the century.
At this time Ham Road extended into what was later renamed as Dominion Road and our original school (now Whytemead First School) was known as the Ham Road School and according to our log books was opened on 4th April 1910. At this time, it is probable that there was also a bakers shop close to or attached to one of the Navarino Mills. Consequently, the windmill was adopted as the schools logo.
There was a period of time when logos were not in general use and it disappeared from our records. However, in the late 1980s it was decided by parents and governors to resurrect the motif, and it now stands proudly on parts of our school uniform, headed notepaper and school gates.
Downsbrook at the Moment
All of this history and amalgamation of sites has provided us with our current excellent and spacious school. A tragic arson attack burnt down significant sections of the school and lead to a major re-organisation of the school in 2002. Adaptations and extensions resulted in our current fantastic facilities which include a recently refurbished ICT suite, interactive whiteboards in every classroom, two spacious performance areas, a technology suite, a music suite a fully equipped laboratory and pupils kitchen all or which enable us to cater for the needs of all of our pupils included our secondary aged pupils in year 7.
School Policies
All of the school policies are avalible for download from this website, please click the link below:
Other Documents
Contact the School
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