The de Ferrers Academy (formerly De Ferrers Specialist Technology College) 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 ...

with academy status located in

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England.

Admissions

The school is split into three Campuses. Dove campus for years 7-8 on ''Harehedge Lane'', and Trent campus, for years 9,10,11, on ''St Mary's Drive'' and the new Sixth Form Campus for years 12-13. The school offered the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

Diploma Programme from 2008 until 2010 and replaced it with the

AQA Baccalaureate The AQA Baccalaureate (known as the "AQA Bacc" for short) is a British educational qualification launched in April 2009 and managed by Charlotte Christie for the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance AQA Education, trading as AQA (formerl ...

.De Ferrers Specialist Technology College
IBO.com, accessed March 2010 The main campus, Trent, is in the west of Burton on Trent, north of Horninglow and west of the A38 in the parish of Horninglow and Eton. Dove, the other campus, is located less than a kilometre away in Outwoods, directly to the west. The third campus for Sixth Form, is located next to the town hall in Burton town centre.

History

Former schools

It opened in 1965 as Dovecliff Grammar School on ''St Mary's Drive''. Nearby was Horninglow Secondary Modern School on ''Harehedge Lane'' which opened in 1958.

Comprehensive

In 1975 it became the Wulfric Comprehensive School when the grammar and secondary modern schools merged under the headship of John "Jack" Atherton, with two separate sites. It became known as the De Ferrers High School in 1985 when it merged with the Forest of Needwood High School in

Rolleston on Dove Rolleston on Dove, also known simply as Rolleston, is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England near Burton upon Trent. On 28 March 1983 the parish was renamed from "Rolleston" to "Rol ...

. Forest of Needwood Secondary School had opened in 1963 as a secondary modern school and was named after

Needwood Forest Needwood Forest was a large area of ancient woodland in Staffordshire, England, which was largely lost at the end of the 18th century. History The forest was on extensive lands owned by the Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershi ...

Partnerships

Like many schools, De Ferrers is in close partnership with its feeder primary schools. Other schools partnered include the Catholic Collège Sacré Coeur, Ploermel.

Academic performance

It gets above average results at

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 ...

, and at

A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

, The school has been awarded various awards for ICT, and won numerous sports competitions. The Academy has been running a 1:1 iPad programme since 2012, the first in Staffordshire. It became an Apple Regional Training Centre in 2013 and has been awarded recognition as an Apple Distinguished School in 2015-2017 and 2017-2019. In 2017 it was shortlisted for a TES Digital Innovation Award.

Academy status

In late 2010 de Ferrers was offered the chance to fast-track into becoming an academy, due to its outstanding report from

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 ...

. Although in short term this will have little effect, it will be an important development in the college's future. As well as de Ferrers,

John Taylor High School John Taylor High School is a specialist science and leadership Academy (English school), academy located in the East Staffordshire village of Barton-under-Needwood, near Burton-on-Trent. Founded in 1957, the school was named in the honour of Jo ...

were also offered the chance to become an academy and have accepted.

Alumni

Dovecliff Grammar School

* Chris Simpkins, Director General since 2007 of

The Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. ...

, and Chief Executive from 1988-2003 of South Holland District Council. * Graham Smith, Managing Director since 2006 of TSS Solutions Ltd * Nigel Boddice MBE, Hon. ARAM, Trumpeter and conductor with the Royal Scottish Conservatoire.

Wulfric School

* David Hawthorn, Businessman and author of 'Dancing with Dragons, Swimming with Sharks'

de Ferrers Specialist Technology College

* Frazer Clarke, boxer

References

External links

de Ferrers website

EduBase

News items

Bullied choirboy in 1998
{{DEFAULTSORT:de Ferrers Academy Academies in Staffordshire Educational institutions established in 1965 Secondary schools in Staffordshire 1965 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Burton upon Trent Specialist technology colleges in England