Burnt Mill Academy
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Burnt Mill Academy (formerly known de facto as Burnt Mill School) is a
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 ...
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 ...
and
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 ...
performing A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Performance has evolved glo ...
arts college An Arts College, in the United Kingdom, is a type of specialist school that specialises in the subject fields of the performing, visual, digital and/or media arts. They were announced in 1996 and introduced alongside Sports Colleges to En ...
situated on First Avenue in
Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...
,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. The school originally opened in May 1962 as Burnt Mill Comprehensive School,
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
keeping this name until academisation in 2011.'''' In 2003, it became a specialist performing arts college, specialising in
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
,
drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
and
music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
. It joined the
Confucius institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs of the state of China. The stated aim of the program is to promote Chinese language and culture, support local Chinese teaching internationally, and facilita ...
programme in 2007, partnering with Suzhou Lida Middle School in
Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. This granted the school an
International School Award The International School Award is a British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the Un ...
. It gained academy status in 2011 and formed the Burnt Mill Academy Trust (BMAT) in 2013. BMAT has since become 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 ...
, with 12 member schools as of 2021. At Burnt Mill's most recent
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 ...
inspection, in November 2012, the school received outstanding grades in all categories. The school is the founding and leading school of the Burnt Mill Academy Trust, with the CEO being Helena Mills, the school's former headteacher. The trust was praised in 2016 by Prime Minister
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
as an example of the success of the academies programme, being used for the programme's defence when challenged by
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during
Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention (political custom), constitutional convention in the United Kingd ...
. The band
Swim Deep Swim Deep are an English indie pop band formed in 2011 in Birmingham. The band currently consists of Austin Williams (vocals), Cavan McCarthy (bass), James Balmont (keyboards), Robbie Wood (guitar), and Thomas Fiquet (drums). Swim Deep were f ...
recorded the music video for their song ''Grand Affection'' at the school, which featured the school's
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 ...
drama students.


History

The construction of Burnt Mill
Comprehensive School A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...
began in 1958 in order to serve the
post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...
new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...
of Harlow. The school opened in May 1962 and was originally housed in the site of nearby Passmores School, moving to its own site in September later that year.'''' Originally the school served 169 children and was headed by Ray Stirling. The motto was ''Adventure In Faith''. In 1963, the school opened an evening institute that provided
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 ...
education. This would be extended into the day as a normal sixth form in 1966. In 1969, the school experienced multiple expansions concerning its buildings and also provided disability units for pupils suffering from partial hearing loss. In 1974, Headteacher Ray Stirling left the school, being replaced by Ronald Wallis in 1975. In 1985, the school's sixth form was discontinued after the
county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...
forced all schools in Harlow to end sixth form provision.
Further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...
was hereafter provided exclusively by the town's tertiary college. A year later, Headteacher Ronald Wallis retired and was succeeded by Anthony Ward. Burnt Mill Comprehensive School would over the years become widely known as Burnt Mill School. This name was even used by the school itself with "Burnt Mill Comprehensive School" falling into disuse. Despite this, the school's legal name until academisation was always Burnt Mill Comprehensive School. By 2000, the school held community status and had a student body of 970. The headteacher was still Anthony Ward and it was graded as "satisfactory" by Ofsted. The school's partial hearing loss disability units introduced in 1969 were still present and were praised by Ofsted as being "well resourced and effective." Ward left in 2001, being replaced by Silvia Jones. In 2003, the school was designated as a specialist performing arts college under the
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 ...
. Silvia Jones was succeeded as headteacher in April 2005 by Stephen Chamberlain and in December the school was graded as inadequate by Ofsted. Ofsted mostly criticised the low GCSE results in English, maths and science, stressing that only one in five students achieved a C or above. A C grade in all three subjects was the minimum requirement for employment and entry into
college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...
at the time. In 2007, the school recovered and was graded as satisfactory. Later that year, the school would enter the Confucius institute programme, forming a partnership with the Suzhou Lida Middle School in China. The UK government would award Burnt Mill with an International School Award as a result. Headteacher Stephen Chamberlain left Burnt Mill in the summer of 2009, taking up the post of executive principal at the new Clacton Coastal Academy. Two co-acting heads, Ann Davis and Joanna Clark, assumed his post at Burnt Mill. In September 2009,
St Bonaventure's St Bonaventure's is a Roman Catholic boys' secondary school and sixth form in Forest Gate, London, England. The school was founded in 1875. History St Bonaventure's was founded as a private Roman Catholic school in 1855, by members of the F ...
Deputy Head Helena Mills was appointed as Burnt Mill's headteacher designate, entering the post from January 2010. Ofsted would inspect the school again later that year. Although the school was still seen as satisfactory, Ofsted noted that the school was "improving rapidly, already has several good features and has good capacity to improve further." Ofsted accredited this to Helena Mills' new leadership strategy that promoted "
equality of opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. For example, the intent of equa ...
". Under her leadership the school became an academy on 1 December 2011 and became outstanding in 2012 (the highest Ofsted grade). It was graded as outstanding in all four categories. In 2013, the school founded the Burnt Mill Academy Trust (BMAT) with Headteacher Helena Mills becoming CEO. From 2015 the headteacher was John Blaney. Blaney became the school's executive headteacher in 2017, appointing Deputy Head Laura McGlashan as the head of school from September. In 2019, the school's management was restructured. The headteacher role was restored from September, replacing the head of school role, and the executive headteacher position was abolished. The duties of the executive headteacher are now fulfilled by the BMAT CEO, making Helena Mills the de facto executive head. In 2021, the school was selected by the
DfE The Department for Education (DfE) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further, and higher education), apprenticeships, and wi ...
to join the School Rebuilding Programme as part of its second batch of schools. Schools involved in the programme will rebuild and refurbish their buildings over a period of 10 years, sharing a £500 million fund. Work at Burnt Mill is expected to begin in the summer of 2022 and finish by 2024.


House system

Burnt Mill Academy has pastorally managed its students using a
house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...
since its inception in 1962. Currently the school has six houses, each named after an influential individual. They are
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,
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,
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,
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,
Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
and Cockcroft. Students are assigned by the house leaders, who also ensure that students maintain participation in house activities and competition. The main mode of competition for the houses at Burnt Mill is through the house point system. Students earn points for their house by participating in the BM Xtra scheme, a form of extracurricular activity at the school. These points are also earned during competitions and house assemblies. Each house is represented by a colour and shield. They also have their own respective mottos featured on these shields.


Awards and recognition

In April 1964, Burnt Mill was visited by Italian Prime Minister
Aldo Moro Aldo Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and prominent member of Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC) and its centre-left wing. He served as prime minister of Italy in five terms from December 1963 ...
, resulting in the school being broadcast on regional
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channel ''Town and Around.'' Two years later the school was visited again, this time by British Secretary of State for Education Quintin Hogg.'''' Burnt Mill Academy achieved the Platinum Artsmark Award in 2019.


School site

Burnt Mill's site was built between 1958 and 1962. Most of the buildings were handed over to the school in September 1962, which is when it relocated from the site of Passmores School. Some buildings, such as the school's
assembly hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the s ...
and main teaching block were handed over in 1963. At this time there were three house blocks, six common rooms and 21 classrooms. In 1964, the school began a long tradition of installing "
stained-glass windows Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...
" every Christmas.'''' This tradition was discontinued in 2021 because of
Health and Safety Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...
violations according to one of the school's teachers.


Notable former pupils

* Michael Arthur, academic * Lily-Rose Aslandogdu, actress *
Liam Byrne Liam Dominic Byrne (born 2 October 1970) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, previously Birmingham Ho ...
, politician *
Graham Cole Graham Cole OBE (born Graham Coleman-Smith on 16 March 1952) is an English actor. Early life Cole was born in Willesden, Middlesex in 1952 to Victor and Freda Coleman-Smith (née Coleman), the youngest of three children. Career He appeared ...
, actor * Scott Hann, Director of Coaching *
Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and TNT Sports. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...
, footballer, manager, pundit *
Carl Hoddle Carl Hoddle (8 March 1967 – 2 March 2008) was an English football player and coach. The younger brother of England international Glenn Hoddle, Carl began his career with Tottenham Hotspur in 1984. After two years he moved to Barnet, where he ...
, footballer, coach *
Richard Keogh Richard John Keogh (born 11 August 1986) is an Irish professional footballer who played as a defender. He is assistant head coach at Barnsley. He formerly represented the Republic of Ireland national team. His main positional role was at centr ...
, footballer *
DJ Nihal Nihal Arthanayake (born 1 June 1971) is a British radio and TV presenter. Early life Nihal Arthanayake was born on 1 June 1971, to Theravada Buddhist Sri Lankan parents. Nihal began his involvement in the music industry as a promoter of rap ...
, BBC radio presenter *
Bill Rammell William Ernest Rammell (born 10 October 1959) is a former British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harlow from 1997 until 2010, and served as a Minister of State in several departments from 2002. From August 2 ...
, politician *Stephen Sparrow, Phil Titus, of the indie band Morning Parade * Josh Tedeku, actor *
Jaime Winstone Jaime Margaret Winstone (born 6 May 1985) is an English actress, best known for her roles in ''Kidulthood'' (2006), ''Goldplated'' (2006), ''Dead Set (TV series), Dead Set'' (2008), ''Donkey Punch (2008 film), Donkey Punch'' (2008), ''Boogie ...
, actor


Headteachers

* Ray Stirling (1962–1974) *Ronald Wallis (1975–1986) * Anthony Ward (1986–2001) *Sylvia Jones (2002–2005) * Stephen Chamberlain (2005–2009) *Ann Davis and Joanna Clark (co-ruling and acting 2009–2010) * Helena Mills (2010–2015, de facto executive 2019–present) * John Blaney (2015–2017, executive 2017–2019) * Laura McGlashan (2017–present)


References


External links

* {{authority control Academies in Harlow Secondary schools in Harlow Specialist arts colleges in England Educational institutions established in 1962 1962 establishments in England