Gospel Oak School (formerly The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Academy and Willingsworth High School) is one of the new

academies An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

opened in England. The school's history dates back to September 1958, when Willingsworth Secondary Modern School to serve the Ocker Hill and Princes End areas of Tipton, replacing a smaller secondary modern at Ocker Hill and gaining comprehensive status in September 1969, when it became Willingsworth High. It became the RSA Academy in September 2008 and moved into its current buildings in September 2010, with the old buildings being demolished the following spring. It was one of the seven schools in the RSA Family of Academies, all in the West Midlands, of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

. In September 2021, the school was renamed Gospel Oak School after the

renounced their association with the school.

Senior staff

The Principal of the Academy is Mr Ross Trafford. Helen Tanner is Senior Vice Principal.

School building

The school is housed in the same building that originally housed the RSA Academy from September 2010 to its rebranding in September 2021. This building was constructed by Willmott Dixon. A new block, located to the rear of the existing building, was constructed to house additional students the academy would be taking on following the closure of a local school nearby. This building was completed in 2019 and was constructed by Interserve.

School day

The Academy operates a different school day from other schools, with lessons being 60 minutes long. Therefore there are five lessons per day. The Academy also follows a 5 term year, with 2 week holidays at the end of terms 1-4 and a 6 week summer holiday.

Debatemate

The Academy takes part in the Birmingham area Debatemate.
Debatemate website The aims of the scheme are to mentor pupils in debating and therefore improve their public speaking skills, literacy skills and general knowledge. Gospel Oak School compete in two of the Debatemate competitions; the Urban Debate League and the Debatemate Cup formerly known as the Richard Koch Cup.

Derelict buildings fire

On the evening of 11 October 2010, the disused school buildings of the former Willingsworth High School were set on fire and around fifteen fire engines were sent to deal with the fire. Luckily nobody was hurt in the incident, and the police believed it may have been committed by the same arsonists who started a fire hours later at Wilkinson Primary School in nearby

Bilston Bilston is a market town in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. It is in the Black Country, south east of Wolverhampton city centre and close to the borders of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, Sandwell ...

. The building's shell was demolished within the next six months.

References

{{authority control Academies in Sandwell Tipton Secondary schools in Sandwell International Baccalaureate schools in England