Outwood Academy Valley (formerly Valley Comprehensive 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 ...

with

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 ...

status, located in

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located south of Doncaster, south-east of Sheffield and north of Nottingham. Located close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbys ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England. It had an enrolment of 1,550 pupils in 2017, with a comprehensive admissions policy. The school is operated by

Outwood Grange Academies Trust Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) is a multi-academy trust (MAT) that operates forty schools (twenty-eight secondary and twelve primary) across northern England and the East Midlands. It is an exempt charity, regulated by the Department for ...

, and the current principal is Dave Cavill. Alongside Outwood Academy Portland they publish a termly magazine called Outlook.

History

Valley Comprehensive School was a community school operated by the Local Education Authority. Prior to its conversion, Valley Comprehensive School was graded as an inadequate school with a Notice to Improve with 43% of students achieving the 5+A*-C measure including English and Maths in 2011, which was more than 10% below its target. In September 2011 Outwood Grange Academies Trust began its journey with Valley Comprehensive School. The school was converted and became part of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust and was renamed Outwood Academy Valley with Rob Tarn as the Principal on 14 August 2014. The transformation began immediately and by May 2012 Ofsted stated that the ethos of the school was so different they were going to remove the inadequate category, and grade the school as good with outstanding features. They commented that behaviour was constantly outstanding and that the outstanding leadership and management had resulted in the school making rapid progress in a short period of time. That year the school exceeded its target for the first time and achieved 68% 5+A*-C including English and maths. The academy continued to excel in all aspects, with results the following year reaching 78% with Angela Hull as Principal. Ofsted re-visited the school in March 2014 and graded it once again as good with outstanding features. The report stated 'Outstanding leadership and management ensure that the quality of teaching and students' achievement are continually improving. In September 2014, Dr Smith became Principal at both Outwood Academy Valley and Outwood Academy Portland. Results have continued to improve and in 2015 the academy achieved a record breaking value added score demonstrating outstanding progress and achievement. The academy received a rating of "Outstanding" from Ofsted in its latest inspection in May 2017.

Academic tracking and reporting

The progress of each student is monitored through a system known as Praising Stars. This system of half-termly assessment, monitoring and intervention includes a report to parents on their child's progress in all subjects every six weeks. The academy holds three parents' evenings per year where parents/carers have the opportunity to meet subject teachers to discuss progress.

Behaviour and discipline system

The academy uses a system of escalating "consequences" as a framework for discipline, beginning with C1 and ranging through to C6 (exclusion).

Daily pastoral support

Students are members of mixed-age

tutor group A tutor group is a term used in schools in the United Kingdom to denote a group of students whose pastoral and academic needs are looked after by one tutor. This will happen either through regular tutorials, or on a more casual basis. A group of s ...

s, known as Vertical Mentoring Groups, each including students from all 5-year groups at the school. This means that each group evolves every year, as older students leave and are replaced by younger students entering the school. An advantage of mixed age tutor groups is the increased sense of community, allowing for students to share experiences and foster understanding.

Post 16

On 3 September 2008 the then Worksop Post-16 Centre opened. The building is across the road from the then Valley Comprehensive School which later became Outwood Academy Valley. The Post-16 centre is operated in conjunction with Outwood Academy Portland.

Notable former pupils

Gary Bellamy Gary Bellamy (born 4 July 1962) is an English former professional footballer. He began his career at Chesterfield, making over 150 appearances for the club before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1987. He helped the club to back-to-back promo ...

, footballer * Andrew Hadfield, slalom canoeist * Sam Walker, table tennis player *

Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour an ...

, golfer Liam Palmer, footballer

References

External links

Outwood Academy Valley Website

Outwood Post 16 Centre Website

Headmaster discusses PFI project
{{authority control Secondary schools in Nottinghamshire Academies in Nottinghamshire Worksop

Valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...