History of the School

The Bromfords School & Sixth Form College was opened in 1973, one of two secondary schools which served Wickford. The first headteacher was Mrs Irene Ramm. It was designed to cater for a thousand plus pupils between the ages of 11 and 18. The school was planned to grow by 180 pupils a year initially with the main catchment area between the London Road and the A127. Bromfords was based on one site of 31 acres, including playing fields. The first phase of building  included six science laboratories, language facilities and rooms for art and technology. The second phase of building began in 1978 and included a library, a large hall and teaching rooms for English and mathematics. A third phase added more classrooms and a community sports hall.

             The original logo and school badge

Local media reported that Bromfords had up to the minute teaching aids “including tape recorders, record players, film and overhead projectors”. There was a “well-equipped centre” for pupils who needed help with reading and number work. Extra-curricular activities organised by the staff included adventure holidays, overseas trips, a film club and natural history groups. In addition to the usual football, rugby, netball and hockey teams pupils could also apparently be involved with “squash, golf, horse riding and volleyball”. As the school expanded into the 1980, there were about 50 full time teaching staff plus secretaries, technicians, care-taking and catering staff. In 1996, the school was awarded specialist school status, as a Technology College.

In 2007, the school was expanded and renovated again, adding a two-storey building which provided eight new classrooms which currently provide teaching for ICT, Art and Science.  External renovation of the original buildings included cladding with blue panelling, which is still in place today.

The additional two-storey block, ready to open in 2007.

 External cladding was also added to the building in 2007

In January 2013, the school was converted to academy status and Bromfords joined Compass Education Trust the following year. In November 2022, the school was included as part of the Department for Education’s schedule of school rebuilding.

September 2022 saw a renaming and rebranding of the school to The Bromfords School with a new modern logo and motto of Achieve, Enrich, Prepare. The new branding was heavily influenced by student voice with the logo also giving a nod to Wickford’s agricultural heritage.

The new logo and the special 50th Anniversary edition logo for 2023-24

At the start of the 2023-24 academic year, Bromfords was amongst a number of schools affected by Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and directed by the DfE to close a number of areas of school for safety. These included the English and Humanities classrooms. A number of temporary classrooms were added onto the playground areas and the Sixth Form were relocated to the CLC building on the school site. A semi-permanent building housing sixteen classrooms, PE changing rooms, student toilets and office spaces opened in May 2024, allowing the temporary classrooms to be removed from the playground areas.

Installation of temporary classrooms on the playground, October 2023

The semi-permanent building which opened in May 2024 to support the school through to the full rebuild which will commence in Autumn 2025.

On July 2024,  the culmination of the school's 50th Anniversary celebrations took place with an afternoon tea including current and former staff, students and members of the wider community. It was a very special afternoon with guests entertained by the cast of the then school production of Annie Jr. and sharing their memories of the school.

The school remains part of the school rebuilding programme with a full rebuild of the site due to commence in 2025 with estimated completion in 2028. This will provide state of the art facilities and a school that will support the community we serve into the future.

Former Headteachers

Mrs Irene Ramm

Mr John Poad

Mr Richard Thomas

Mrs Marian Spinks

Mr Daniel Gee

Mr Martin Coulson

Mr Neil Dunn

Mr Jochen Tree (current Headteacher)

Notable Bromfords Alumni

Charlie Kelman Forward for Queen’s Park Rangers/USA

Dan Bentley Goalkeeper for Wolverhampton Wanderers FC

Big Brother winner Brian Belo

YouTuber Emma Blackery

Big Brother winner Chantelle Houghton