Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA) (formerly Portslade Community College) is a OFSTED rated 'Good' secondary school led by Principal Mr Mark Poston located in
Portslade
Portslade is a western suburb of the city of Brighton and Hove in the ceremonial county of East Sussex, England. Portslade Village, the original settlement a mile inland to the north, was built up in the 16th century. The arrival of the railwa ...
, in the city of
Brighton and Hove
Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...
, England. The school has around 1000 pupils. It is part of the Aldridge Education
multi-academy trust
Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or academy chain is an academy trust that operates more than one academy school. Academy schools are state-funded schools in England which are directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local aut ...
.
In June 2015 the Governors at Portslade Aldridge Community Academy announced the appointment of Mark Poston as the new Principal at PACA.
The school is involved in the Aldridge Cricket Academy which allows students from
Brighton Aldridge Community Academy or Portslade Aldridge Community Academy to combine academic studies with an intensive cricket development programme.
Location and history
Portslade Aldridge Community Academy is located on Chalky Road in Portslade. It was previously located over three sites, however £12.7 million was invested in extending the Chalky Road site to include a dance studio, community library, and STEM Centre, completed in 2014.
* Main school (Chalky Road site)
The Chalky Road site was previously known as Portslade Secondary Modern School for Girls, (circa 1947) and then later Mile Oak Girls School, (circa 1954).
The school was renamed Portslade Community College in the 1970s, and was opened by
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
, while
Secretary of State for Education
The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...
.
Sixth Form Centre
PACA Sixth Form closed in 2019.
Move to academy status
In 2009, an OFSTED inspection
judged the overall effectiveness of the school "inadequate" and found that "Standards are exceptionally low". A further inspection
led to the decision that the school required special measures.
The Aldridge Foundation, led by
Rod Aldridge
Sir Rodney Malcolm Aldridge (born 7 November 1947) is the founder and former executive chairman of Capita, a British company specialising in business process outsourcing.
He formerly chaired Vinspired, a charity launched in May 2006 aiming ...
, expressed an interest in 2009 in sponsoring PCC to become an academy, in the same way that it had sponsored the academy at
Falmer High School. This was approved by the Department for Education and finally agreed by the City Council in February 2011.
The council report proposing the closure of PCC to make way for the academy stated that to leave PCC unchanged was "''not considered acceptable as in discussions with the DfE it has been agreed that the school requires significant structural change to improve the results achieved by the school''".
The sum of £12.7 million will be available to the academy which will enable the sixth form provision to be moved to the main site at Mile Oak, as well as providing new science facilities.
Academic results
In 2015 they reported their best ever results with 60% of students achieving 5 GCSEs at grade A*-C including English and Maths, 78% achieving A* to C grades in English and 68% achieving A* to C grades in maths.
Previously, it had been as low as 25% of students achieved Level 2 (5+ A*-C) including English and maths GCSEs, in 2009, compared with 44% across all Brighton and Hove schools. In 2010, this had risen to 35%.
Adult education
The adult education centre within the school was shortlisted, as one of four institutions, for an "Education Oscars" event organised by the Centre for Excellence in Leadership.
In 2006, 645 adult students gained a qualification with the school.
References
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Secondary schools in Brighton and Hove
Academies in Brighton and Hove