The Dean Academy (formerly Whitecross School) is a mixed

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

Lydney Lydney is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is on the west bank of the River Severn in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester. The town has been Bypass ( ...

in the

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

Location

The school is located on the edge of

, a small river-side town in the Royal

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

. It adjoins the Lydney Park Estate on Church Road near Bathurst Park, St. Mary's Church and

Lydney Town Hall Lydney Town Hall is a municipal structure in the High Street, Lydney, Gloucestershire, England. The structure, which is used as an events venue, is listed by the local authority as a "building of local architectural or historical interest". His ...

History

Whitecross School was a

foundation school In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the school governor, governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in Community school (England and Wales), community schools. Foundation schools ...

administered by

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in England. The council was created in 1889. The council's principal functions are county roads and rights of way, social servi ...

. It converted to academy status on 1 November 2012 and was renamed The Dean Academy. It joined the Prospects Academy Trust but continued to co-ordinate with Gloucestershire County Council for admissions. In May 2014, it was announced that the trust was to cease operations, and The Dean Academy formally joined the Athelstan Academy Trust in March 2015. which also contains

Malmesbury School Malmesbury School in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England, was founded in 1971 with the merger of Malmesbury Grammar School at Filands with Bremhilam Secondary Modern at Corn Gastons. History Until 2002, the school operated on two sites, with the lo ...

and

Bradon Forest School Bradon Forest School is a mixed secondary school in Purton (near Swindon) in Wiltshire, England. In September 2015 the school converted to academy status and is now part of the Athelstan Academy Trust, which also includes Malmesbury School i ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. In November 2015, the Dean Academy was put into

special measures Special measures is a status applied by regulators of public services in Britain to providers who fall short of acceptable standards. In education (England and Wales) Ofsted, the schools inspection agency for England and some British Overseas Ter ...

after a critical

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 ...

report, and the headteacher, David Gaston, resigned. Following his resignation, John Barrett was head appointed teacher for the 2015–2016 school year. In September 2016, a new permanent head of school, Tom Beveridge, was appointed.

Academics

The Dean Academy offers

GCSEs 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 ...

, BTECs,

OCR Nationals OCR Nationals are vocationally related qualifications which were officially launched by the OCR Board in September 2004. The qualifications are designed to meet the needs of those seeking vocational education in place of the traditional, theory- ...

and

ASDAN ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) is a UK education charity and awarding organisation based in Bristol. It develops and accredits programmes and qualifications aimed at supporting learners in developing personal, social, ...

courses and programmes of study for pupils. The school also offers hair and beauty courses.

Notable former pupils

Whitecross School

Wayne Barnes Wayne Barnes (born 20 April 1979) is a retired English international rugby union referee. He was a frequent referee in the English Premiership, and refereed games in the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup. At international level, Bar ...

, rugby union referee * Paddy Henderson, Athlete and Journalist * Andy Lewis, Rio 2016 Paralympic gold medalist

References

External links

The Dean Academy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean Academy Secondary schools in Gloucestershire Academies in Gloucestershire Lydney