Magna Academy is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

located on

Canford Heath Canford Heath is a suburb, an area of heathland, and an electoral ward in Poole, Dorset. It is known for being the largest heathland in Dorset, and the largest lowland heath in the UK. It is also the name of the housing development built on th ...

area of

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

in the

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

History

1989 to 2001: Ashdown School

The school was first opened as Ashdown School on 7 July 1989 following the merger of Ashley Cross Girls School and Seldown Boys School. The name 'Ashdown' is a combination of the two previous school names. The construction of Ashdown School began in 1986 in a large field in Canford Heath, Poole, Dorset. During construction, a

time capsule A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...

was placed somewhere within the brick walls, the capsule being removed from its previous location in Seldown Boys School. Fifty

ash tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some subtropical species are evergr ...

s were planted around the border of the school's field, to represent the school's new name. On 7 July 1989, the new Ashdown School was opened by

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

and headteacher Mollie Snell. Six hundred students attended the opening of the school. In 1990, Snell retired from her post as headteacher. Ashley Pellegrini, previously deputy headteacher of Mellow Lane Comprehensive School in Hayes, Middlesex, became the new head. In 1995, the Charter Mark Award was given to Ashdown for Excellence in Public Service. On 7 October 1997, two arsonists set fire to the school overnight, closing the school for a week. Parts of the building were badly damaged and the music room destroyed. New facilities were constructed in 1999, with a new music room and five new classrooms added. The school received a second Charter Mark Award in 1998. In 2000, the school was presented a

DfES The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007, responsible for the education system (including higher education and adult learning) as well as children's services in England. ...

School Improvement Award.

2000 to 2013: Ashdown Technology College

In 2001, under the DfES

specialist schools programme The specialist schools programme (SSP), first launched as the Technology Colleges programme and also known as the specialist schools initiative, specialist schools policy and specialist schools scheme, was a government programme in the United ...

, Ashdown became a

Technology College In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 598 ...

and changed its name to Ashdown Technology College. New technology is added in several classrooms, including interactive whiteboards. In 2005 Ashdown was recognised by the

Specialist Schools Trust SSAT (The Schools Network) Limited (branded as SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers network) is a UK-based, independent educational membership organisation working with primary, secondary, special and free schools, academies and UTCs. It ...

as one of the "Most Improved" and "Best Added Value" Schools in the country. The DfES also designated Ashdown as a

High Performing Specialist School The specialist schools programme (SSP), first launched as the Technology Colleges programme and also known as the specialist schools initiative, specialist schools policy and specialist schools scheme, was a government programme in the United ...

. Near the end of the school term, In 2006 Ashdown was redesignated as a Technology College with Vocational Learning added to its specialisms. A Sixth Form was introduced. Headteacher Pellegrini was replaced in 2007 by Liz Jones. In 2012 Ashdown Technology College was placed in

special measures Special measures is a status applied by regulators of public services in Britain to providers who fall short of acceptable standards. In education (England and Wales) Ofsted, the schools inspection agency for England and some British Overseas Ter ...

after

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 ...

assessed the school as "inadequate" for overall effectiveness.

2013 onwards: Magna Academy

Previously a community school administered by

Poole Borough Council Poole Borough Council was the unitary authority responsible for local government in the Borough of Poole, Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 1997 following a review by the Local Government Commission for England (1992), becoming administ ...

, in September 2013 Ashdown Technology College converted to academy status and was renamed Magna Academy. The school is now sponsored by the Aspirations Trust. In 2015, the academy underwent its first Ofsted inspection. It gained a
Outstanding rating
the highest award the inspector can give to a school. In September 2015, the academy received national media attention after it removed students from classes for having incorrectly sized classroom equipment. An Ofted inspection in December 2018 again rated the academ
Outstanding
endorsing its polarising silent corridors policy. Students were expected to transition between classrooms in silence, arriving at their next lesson calm and ready to work. The policy was also a reaction to the commonly held belief among educators that most bullying at school occurs in the transitions between lessons. According to the report that followed its inspection, Principal Richard Tutt stated that "some of our students have come from schools where they had been subjected to verbal and physical aggression in transitions." In the summer of 2019, Richard Tutt left the Academy to pursue a new role with a competitor Trust. After a term under interim management, the Academy appointed Natasha Ullah as Principal. Ms Ullah joined the school from the Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester. She is the first

BAME A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship betwe ...

headteacher to be appointed on England's South Coast. In the wake of the unfolding

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

, Magna Academy was obliged to temporarily close its doors to students from 20 March 2020. Its early and rapid preparation for closure allowed it to launch a Virtual School on its website at the point of closure.

References

External links

Magna Academy official website
{{authority control Schools in Poole Educational institutions established in 1989 1989 establishments in England Secondary schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Academies in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole