Castleford Academy is a secondary school in

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

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 ...

for children aged 11–16 located on

Ferrybridge Ferrybridge is a village in West Yorkshire, England. Ferrybridge lies at a historically important crossing of the River Aire which borders the North Yorkshire village of Brotherton. It is linked to other communities by the A1 road (Great Brita ...

Road, just east of the town centre and next to Queen's Park.

History

Castleford Secondary School was established in 1906 to meet the need for secondary education in the town, which then had a population of 17,000.''Castleford Grammar School, 1906-7 – 1956-7, The First Fifty Years'' (1957). Castleford: Castleford Grammar School The

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 ...

provided education to children of both sexes and employed both male and female teachers, which was not common for that time. The main school buildings were opened in 1909. By the time of the school's Golden Jubilee in 1956 it was called Castleford Grammar School. In 1970 the Grammar School joined with a

secondary modern school A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...

to become a

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 ...

called Castleford High School. School uniform was abolished at the same time. From 1989, a partnership was developed with Hickson & Welch, a local chemical company and school uniform was re-introduced and the school 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 ...

. In 1995 a new drama theatre was built. In September 2007 the school was officially renamed Castleford High School Technology and Sports College due to the success of the rugby, football and netball teams gaining it a

Sports College Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The programme enabled sec ...

classification. The school's boys and girls

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

teams have been a dominant force in the Champion Schools competition; in 2009 the school fielded 6 teams in the national finals for the third year in succession. On 1 April 2011, the school was renamed Castleford Academy and was registered as a charity under the

Academies Act 2010 The Academies Act 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It aims to make it possible for all publicly funded schools in England to become academies, still publicly funded but with a vastly increased degree of autonomy in issues ...

, a move that allowed the school to set its own curriculum.

Academic performance

The school gets reasonable results at GCSE for West Yorkshire, well above the England average. There is the sixth form college on site, also NEW College is located nearby, and Castleford Academy now offer a Sports A level. In the sixth form college they offer 3 BTEC Extended Diplomas (at Level 3) in Performance and Excellence (sport), Health and Social Care, and Public Services (uniformed).

Arson

The school has suffered from one incident of arson, with a fire on 4 January 2007 started by three teenagers. It was put out by ten fire engines. It completely gutted the sports hall.

Head Teachers

Castleford Secondary School and Castleford Grammar School * Thomas Richard Dawes (1906–1930) * J.L. Hampson (1930–1955) * E. Riley (1955–1973) Castleford High School * Peter Hughes (1973–1981) * Malcolm Butler (1981–1988) * David Earnshaw (1989–1995) * Michael Porter (1995–2005) * Roy Vaughan (2005–2012) Castleford Academy * Steven White (2012–2013) * George Panayiotou (2013–2021) * Wesley Bush (2021-present)

Alumni

Mike Amesbury Michael Lee Amesbury (born 6 May 1969) is a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Runcorn and Helsby (previously Weaver Vale) from 2017 until 2025. Formerly a member of the Labour ...

(born 1969), Labour MP for Runcorn and Helsby * Nigel Beard (1936–2017), Labour MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford from 1997–2005 * Tim Bresnan (born 1985), English and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

player from 1995–2001 * J. L. Carr (1912–1994), school teacher, novelist and publisher * Hollie-Mae Dodd (born 2003), rugby league footballer *

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

(1898–1986) OM CH, sculptor * Alan Rhodes (born 1947), rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1980s * David Treasure (born 1950), rugby player * Denzil Webster (1933–2010), cricketer, rugby union and professional rugby league footballer

References

External links

Official Website

EduBase

News items

Arson in January 2007 (with BBC film clip)

Video clips

Fire in 2007
{{authority control Academies in the City of Wakefield Educational institutions established in 1906 Castleford Secondary schools in the City of Wakefield 1906 establishments in England School buildings in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson People educated at Castleford Academy