Worden Academy is a coeducational

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

with academy status, located in Leyland, in the

South Ribble South Ribble is a borough in the county of Lancashire, England. Its council is based in Leyland. The population, at the 2011 Census, was 109,057. Notable towns and villages include Walton le Dale, Bamber Bridge, Leyland and Penwortham. It ...

district of Lancashire, England. It opened in 1955 as Worden County Secondary School, and became Worden High School in 1972 with the introduction of the Comprehensive System to Lancashire and the abolition of the

11-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a Test (assessment), standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools ...

examination. The school was renamed Worden Sports College when it became a specialist Sports College. The school converted to academy status in February 2013 and was renamed Worden Academy.

Developments

In the early 1990s, the

ROSLA The raising of school leaving age (ROSLA) is an act brought into force when the legal age a child is allowed to leave compulsory education increases. In most countries, the school leaving age reflects when young people are seen to be mature enough ...

block was gradually sold off to the Westfield Centre, with a major extension to the building being completed by 2003. The first Worden Sports College web site went live on 6 March 1996. Online newspaper "Making The News" goes live October 2005. The new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Moodle went live July 2006. 2004 the school field had a new £150,000 field drainage system put in. The Sports Hall and entrance were refurbished as a result of the Sports College status. Subsequently, two classrooms were knocked together to form the first air-conditioned computer suite followed by the second suite in September 2006. The third computer suite followed later that year. A refurbished £500,000 Science Block (The

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

Suite) was officially opened on 28 September 2007 by the Mayor of South Ribble and

Suzanne Hall Suzanne Hall (born 1972), is an Australian born British actress. Before attending her first secondary school, Worden Sports College in Leyland, she went to Hayward School in Bolton and, at that time lived in Great Lever, but now lives in Smit ...

('' Hollyoaks'' actress). September 2010 saw the launch of the new school web site and school logo.

Headteachers

House system

The original house system, used the names of local rivers: Shaw, Lostock, Bannister and Atherton. After many years of no house system, 2005 saw the house system relaunched. The students and staff are divided into four houses

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

(red),

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

(blue), Phoenix (yellow) and Unicorn (green). Five trophies are presented each year: House Point Cup, Competition Shield, Attendance Shield, Sports Day Cup. Each winner of one of the previous four trophies is awarded four points, second place gets three points etc. The house with the most points is awarded the Championship Cup. In 2018, their houses were changed to Windsor (red),

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

(yellow),

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a loca ...

(green) and Balmoral (blue).

National competitions

In 2004, together with the Wellcome Trust, the BBC launched a national photographic competition inviting entries on the theme of 'How is Science changing us?' The competition focused specifically on developments in bio-medical technology and was open to both individuals and group entries from schools. The team's entry was awarded RUNNERS UP prize in the schools section, winning £1000 of photographic equipment for the school and £50 worth of equipment for each pupil involved. They were invited to the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, London, to collect their prize. All photos will be part of a national exhibition that will tour six venues around the country.

World record

61 boys and girls from Worden took part in a '

keepy uppy Keepie uppie, keep-ups or kick-ups is the skill of juggling with an association football using feet, lower legs, knees, chest, shoulders, and head, without allowing the ball to hit the ground. It is similar to Kemari, a game formerly practiced in ...

' world record attempt on 26 April 2006. It was organised by the England fans and The FA with over 650 schoolchildren from 16 schools throughout England taking part. The officials were in constant radio contact with each school, to make sure every pupil could keep the footballs in the air for ten seconds. 459 pupils managed to keep the footballs in the air at the same time to beat the previous record of 446 which had stood for the last seven years.Cooper (2006); Gee (2006)

Notes

References

*Cooper, Andrin (2006
''New record set''
The Football Association, online news 26 April ccessed 14 July 2007*Gee, Chris (2006
''Sven thanks pupils for keeping up a record''
The Citizen, online news 4 May ccessed 14 July 2007*Leyland Guardian (2007
''School's first head dies at 95''
online news 3 May, ccessed 17 July 2007*Wellcome Trust (2005
''Schools Runner Up : Worden Sports College, Lancashire''"Imagine" – Winners' Gallery
online, ccessed 14 July 2007

External links

Worden Sports College Website

Worden Sports College Radio Broadcast

Worden Sports College OFSTED report

Leyland Society of Engineers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy at Worden Schools in South Ribble Educational institutions established in 1955 Secondary schools in Lancashire 1955 establishments in England Academies in Lancashire Leyland, Lancashire