Belfairs Academy
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Belfairs Academy (formerly Belfairs High School) is a non-selective secondary school with academy status in
Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish within the city of Southend-on-Sea, located in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 22,509. Geograph ...
, Essex.


Inspection judgements

As Belfairs High School, the school was inspected 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 ...
in 2010 and judged Good. Following conversion to an academy, the school was inspected in 2013 and judged Good. A short inspection took place in 2016, and found that the school continued to be good. An inspection took place in 2024, where the school was judged Needs Improvement; teaching was not effective and students' outcomes were too low.


History

In March 1955, UK Minister of Education David Eccles joined local dignitaries at Belfairs High School to open eight schools in the County Borough of
Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...
. The opening of these eight schools in the Southend-on-Sea borough would "represent an addition of 3,520 school places." During this period, demand upon the council to increase school locations was driven by a number of factors. During the war, the County Borough suffered relatively little damage to school buildings. Only two schools were severely bombed, and the post-war urgent need for new school places was therefore only attributable in a small part by war damage. The greatest need has been to provide schools for the increased numbers of children of school age, due to an increased total population, the higher birth rate, and the raising of the school leaving age from 14 to 15 in 1947. With an increase in total school places across the borough, a large proportion of these places were created in the development of Belfairs High School. Belfairs was originally conceived as a comprehensive school for 1,600 boys but due to the 'changes in national economy and the need for more school places' the site was developed into two 'Modern Secondary Schools,' Belfairs High School for boys and Belfairs High School for girls. The two schools were created to serve the area of Leigh-on-Sea, with a zone extending from the western boundary of the County Borough to Southbourne Grove and Crowstone Road. They replaced the former West Leigh High School, which was part of an "all-age" school built before the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In July 2009, the school was given permission for a £24 million rebuild. Belfairs High School was the only school in Southend to be completely rebuilt under the previous government's 'Building School's for the Future' scheme. In September 2011, the newly built school building was opened. In March 2012, Belfairs was granted
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 ...
Status coinciding with a newly appointed head, taking responsibility from Headteacher John Duprey, Beverly Williams. In January 2015, it was announced that Belfairs Academy and Cecil Jones College would be combined to form an academy trust with Beverly Williams as Executive Headteacher, headquartered at Belfairs Academy Site.


Academic standards

Students' achievement is good with 69% of students achieving 5 A*-C
GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...
grades (including English and Maths) in 2013 against a national average of 59%.


Notable former students

* The Most Revd
Stephen Cottrell Stephen Geoffrey Cottrell (; born 31 August 1958) is a Church of England bishop. Since 9 July 2020, he has been the Archbishop of York and Primate of England; the second-most senior bishop of the church and the most senior in northern England ...
, Archbishop of York *
Robert Daws Robert Daws (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor, and crime fiction author. He is best known for his television roles, including Tuppy Glossop in ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1990–1993), gruff cricketer Roger Dervish in the comedy '' Outside Ed ...
, actor * Alfie Lewis, footballer * George Sear, actor *
Maisie Smith Maisie Louise Collender Smith (born 9 July 2001) is an English actress and singer. She appeared in the feature film ''The Other Boleyn Girl (2008 film), The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2008) and played the regular role of Tiffany Butcher in the BBC O ...
, actress in ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
'' * Elizabeth Dormer-Phillips, actress in Fortitude, Off the Rails


References


External links


Ofsted Parent View results
{{authority control Secondary schools in Southend-on-Sea Educational institutions established in 1955 Academies in Southend-on-Sea 1955 establishments in England