Workington Academy is a mixed

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

located in

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. It was established in September 2015 following the merger of

Southfield Technology College Southfield Technology College was a mixed secondary school in Workington, Cumbria. It was established in 1984 following the merger of Moorclose Boys School and Salterbeck School. Closure and merger In 2014, following a failed inspection, the ...

and Stainburn School and Science College.

History

Establishment

In 2014, both Southfield Technology College and Stainburn School and Science College were placed into special measures by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

after receiving inadequate inspection reports. As a result, it was decided that the two schools would close and merge to form a new

academy 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 ...

. To support the transition, an executive headteacher, Lorrayne Hughes, was appointed. It was also announced that

William Howard School The William Howard School is a co-educational secondary academy school on ''Longtown Road'' ( A6071) in Brampton, Carlisle, Cumbria, England for pupils aged 11–18. History The school is named after Lord William Howard (1563–1640), who w ...

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

would act as the sponsor for the new academy. This led to the formation of the William Howard Trust, a

multi-academy trust Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or academy chain 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 aut ...

, in September 2015, which was later renamed

Cumbria Education Trust Cumbria Education Trust (formerly William Howard Trust) is a multi-academy trust of primary and secondary academies throughout Cumbria. It was established in September 2015 to sponsor the new Workington Academy following the merger of Southfield ...

. Both schools officially closed in August 2015, and Workington Academy opened the following month.

New Building

Workington Academy was initially located in the building of the former Stainburn School and Science College. In 2015, plans for a new £20 million building were approved by

Cumbria County Council Cumbria County Council was the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in the North West of England. Established in April 1974, following its first elections held the previous year, it was an elected local government body re ...

, with construction taking place at the rear of the existing site. The new building was completed in early 2017, and the academy officially relocated in March 2017. The new building was officially opened by The Duchess of Gloucester in a ceremony held in September 2017.

West Coast Sixth Form

In September 2020, Workington Academy launched the West Coast Sixth Form in partnership with

The Whitehaven Academy The Whitehaven Academy (formerly Whitehaven School) is a comprehensive co-educational secondary school with academy status, located in Whitehaven, in west Cumbria, England. The school was established in 1984. History The Whitehaven School ope ...

. The initiative was designed to expand post-16 education opportunities across West Cumbria, offering a broad range of academic and vocational courses. The sixth form provides qualifications equivalent to one, two, or three

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 a ...

, including Extended Certificates, National Diplomas, and Extended Diplomas. Courses offered include

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

, Health and Social Care,

Performing Arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

Applied Science Applied science is the application of the scientific method and scientific knowledge to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines, such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted with basic science, ...

Sports Science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

, and

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

. Students benefit from a combination of classroom-based learning and practical experience, with many vocational courses including a weekly workplace placement. Free transport is provided between the Workington and

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

campuses to support accessibility.

Workington Academy Radio

Workington Academy Radio is the student-run radio station of Workington Academy. In 2020, students from the station conducted an interview with

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English broadcaster and author. He has been a presenter on BBC Radio 1 since 2007, hosting shows including his old drive-time show and the station's flagship breakfast show. Since 201 ...

Awards and nominations

Public criticism

In July 2017, Workington Academy faced criticism on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

, where parents and pupils raised concerns about the quality of teaching. Comments posted on a local

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page, "Workington Rants - News And Views", alleged an overreliance on supply teachers and a lack of classroom discipline, including claims that students were using mobile phones during lessons. The interim headteacher at the time, Colette Macklin, responded to the criticism in an interview with the News and Star, defending the school and addressing the concerns raised.

Headteachers

Since its establishment in 2015, Workington Academy has been led by the following headteachers:

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Workington Academy website

West Coast Sixth Form website

Cumbria Education Trust website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Cumberland (unitary authority) Academies in Cumberland (unitary authority) Workington Educational institutions established in 2015 2015 establishments in England