Oak Academy (formerly Oakmead College of Technology) is a

co-educational 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

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

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 ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

History

Previously 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

Bournemouth Borough Council Bournemouth Borough Council was the local authority of Bournemouth in Dorset, England and ceased to exist on 1 April 2019. It was a unitary authorities in England, unitary authority, although between 1974 and 1997 it was an administrative non-m ...

, in December 2012 Oakmead College of Technology converted to academy status and was renamed Oak Academy. The school is now sponsored by the Ambitions Academies Trust due to a legacy of low expectations and low exam outcomes for students. The current OFSTED rating is "Requires Improvement." The school previously operated a

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 ...

provision, but it was suspended in July 2018 due to low pupil numbers. In September 2012 the school was the temporary location of the new LeAF Studio before the

studio school A studio school is a type of specialist secondary school in England that is designed to give students practical skills in workplace environments as well as traditional academic and vocational courses of study. Like traditional schools, studio s ...

was relocated to its own building in September 2013. On 23 November 2023, work began on the complete redevelopment of the school site. The plans will see a phased demolition of the existing buildings, excluding the LeAF Studio School sports hall, to replace them with a single block for all subjects.

Buildings

The school is divided into blocks A and B (the original girls' and boys' schools). A Block contains the following curriculum areas: English and Science, French & Spanish, Health & Social Care, Business and a media classroom. It also contains an assembly hall (hall A), a playground, the sports hall, one IT room, eight science labs, the library and two modern foreign language rooms. B Block contains other curriculum areas: Geography, History, ICT & Computer Science, Drama, Music and Design & Technology, Sociology and Psychology. There are 5 Design & Technology rooms — one Food Technology room, one Resistant Materials room, one Graphics room, one Art room and one Electronics room. This section of the school also contains four ICT rooms, one Music room, another assembly hall (hall B), a playground, the canteen, the Inclusion Support Centre, and the main administrative offices. A recently refurbished block now houses all of the Maths lessons delivered at the Academy.

References

External links

Oak Academy official websiteAmbitions Academies Trust official website
{{authority control Schools in Bournemouth Secondary schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Academies in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole