Churchill Academy and Sixth Form, previously known as Churchill Community Foundation School and Sixth Form Centre, is an

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

famously situated in the South West of England, in the village of

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

, England, surrounded by countryside and overlooked by the Mendip Hills. It educates students from ages 11 to 18 and offers

General Certificate of Secondary Education The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

and BTEC courses. In 2002, the school was granted specialist

Arts College An Arts College, in the United Kingdom, is a type of specialist school that specialises in the subject fields of the performing, visual, digital and/or media arts. They were announced in 1996 and introduced alongside Sports Colleges to England i ...

status. In August 2011, the school became an academy. The current headteacher is Chris Hildrew, who has held this position since the beginning of 2016; Dr Barry Wratten retired in 2015 after being at the helm of the school for 13 years (since 2002). The school was rated 'Outstanding' in its 2015 Ofsted Report. The school, which had 1,519 students as of 2019, is organised by house system, with the houses named after royal dynasties of Britain: Stuart (green), Hanover (gold), Tudor (red) and Windsor (blue). A fifth house, Lancaster (purple), was introduced in 2020. Churchill celebrated its diamond jubilee in 2017. A new Computing and Business Studies block, named the

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical co ...

Building, was built and completed in 2017. Funding was also received in 2017 to build a new Science and Technology block to replace the original 1956 building known as "Tudor Block." The new building was named the Dame

Athene Donald Dame Athene Margaret Donald (née Griffith; born 15 May 1953) is a British physicist. She is Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge, and Master of Churchill College, Cambridge. Outside the University, she chaired the ...

Building following a student competition.

History of the school

The school took its first intake of students in January 1957, before its official opening as Churchill Secondary Modern School on Friday, 20 September 1957. In 1969, the school became a comprehensive. In 1996, it became Churchill Community School, before adopting

foundation status In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools. Foundation schools were set up under the School Standards and Framework A ...

in 2007 as Churchill Community Foundation School and Sixth Form Centre. The school became an

on 1 August 2011 as Churchill Academy & Sixth Form. As of 1 April 2023 Churchill Academy & Sixth Form has been part of the Lighthouse Schools Partnership

multi-academy trust Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or school trust is an academy trust that operates more than one academy school. Academy schools are state-funded schools in England which are directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local author ...

Notable alumni

Rhianna Pratchett Rhianna Pratchett (born 30 December 1976) is an English video game writer and journalist. She has worked on '' Heavenly Sword'' (2007), ''Overlord'' (2007), '' Mirror's Edge'' (2008) and ''Tomb Raider'' (2013) and its follow up, '' Rise of the ...

– game writer

Stefanie Martini Stefanie Martini (born 6 October 1990) is an English actress, known for her leading role in ITV's 2017 production '' Prime Suspect 1973''. She also starred in ''Doctor Thorne'' (2016), '' Emerald City'' (2017), the 2017 film '' Crooked House'' a ...

– actress Ruby Harrold – gymnast

Other activities

Since 1995 the school has been a member of the Gabblers Club, the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

-based

debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

organisation. The school has won its annual competition four times, the most recent being 2015 In 2017 George Rabin and Ed Thurlow, students at Churchill Academy, were named GSK Young Scientists of the Year. Also the school has produced an array of successful debating champions who compete each year in a local competition run by Dr. Liam Fox MP. The most recent victory was in 2019.

References

External links

*
Churchill Music school site
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1956 Academies in North Somerset Secondary schools in North Somerset 1956 establishments in England