Benjamin Britten Academy (formerly The Benjamin Britten High School) is a

coeducational 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 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 the northern outskirts of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England. It caters for scholars aged 11 to 16. It is also home to the Suffolk Centre of Excellence in Mathematics. The school was named after the Lowestoft-born composer

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

and was designed as he approached his death in 1974. Its modernist design reflected the style of his compositions and remains distinctive in its layout and intended black and white colour scheme. The school was completed in 1979. In September 2011 the school became an 11 to 16 school as part of the reorganisation of schools in Lowestoft by

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Governme ...

. Pupils in years 7 and 8 joined the school after the closure of eight middle schools in Lowestoft. The opening of

Lowestoft Sixth Form College Lowestoft Sixth Form College is a sixth-form college in the town of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. The college opened in September 2011, replacing sixth form provision in the existing high schools in Lowestoft. The college is a membe ...

also meant that the school lost its role in the Lowestoft 6th consortium, which had operated as a shared sixth form between the high schools in the town. Previously a

Local Authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

school administered by Suffolk County Council, in May 2016, the Benjamin Britten High School was converted to academy status. It was granted 11-18 Sixth Form status, as part of the Hartismere family of schools. The school continues to coordinate with Suffolk County Council for admissions. The academy was awarded a rating of 'good' from Ofsted in 2019, as an improvement from its previous rating of 'Special measures'.

Suffolk Centre of Excellence in Mathematics

Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney, opened the school's Centre for Excellence in Mathematics on 5 July 2016. The centre occupies its own specialist accommodation, the Foxborough building, and is intended to remedy the perceived shortage of specialist mathematics teachers in the Waveney Valley area. It is distinctive in having a mathematics library and five specialist mathematics computing suites. Benjamin Britten School Choir

Music academy

With the sponsorship of the Britten-Pears Foundation the school operates as a

specialist A specialist is someone who is an expert in, or devoted to, some specific branch of study or research. Specialist may also refer to: Occupations * Specialist (rank), military rank ** Specialist (Singapore) * Specialist officer, military rank in ...

music academy A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

offering scholarships to those with a particular aptitude and love of music and the performing arts. As part of this arrangement a new dance studio,

green room In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre, or a similar venue, that functions as a waiting room and lounge for Performing arts, performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on Stage (thea ...

, community lounge with kitchens, recording studio and additional music practice rooms were added along with a refurbished theatre. The Britten Theatre forms the centre piece of the music academy's work in the performing arts.

Hartismere family of schools

Hartismere School was given sponsor academy status on 1 September 2010, the first in England to receive this status. In 2016 the multi-academy trust was set up. This became known as the Hartismere family of schools. On 1 May 2016 the Benjamin Britten Music Academy and Centre of Excellence in mathematics became part of the Hartismere Family."Benjamin Britten Academy of Music and Mathematics"
Compare school and college performance, GOV.UK, retrieved 29 July 2016

References

External links

Benjamin Britten Academy official websiteBBHS Eco Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin Britten Academy Secondary schools in Suffolk Academies in Suffolk Specialist music colleges in England