Skegness Academy is a

coeducational 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 and

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

with academy status, in

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 19,579 as of 201 ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...

, England.

History

Secondary modern schools

Skegness Secondary School opened in 1932. By 1951, the school was overcrowded. By 1956 around 720 children in Skegness would need secondary modern education. The secondary school could not be enlarged to hold 720 children, so John Birkbeck, the director of education of Lindsey Education Committee proposed a new two-form mixed

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...

by 1956. On Friday 13 April 1956 Lindsey Education Committee decided to call the former secondary modern school the Lumley Secondary Modern School, and the new secondary modern would be the Morris Secondary Modern School, named after Canon A.H. Morris, the former rector of Skegness. The new head of the Morris school would be Ronald Johnson from

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its e ...

, who had been headteacher of Winterton Secondary Modern School for seven years. Morris Secondary School opened with 240 children, with places for 300. Ronald Johnson had served in the war as a Captain with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. He moved to the Army Education Corps, working at the headquarters in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and lectured at the Army College of Education in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...

. He mentioned to the children of his knowledge of

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...

and Nazareth. The Morris school opened Tuesday 4 September 1956, on Church Road, being built by Adkins of Boston.; it was officially opened by the Earl of Scarbrough on Monday 30 September 1957, with the chairman of

Lindsey County Council Lindsey County Council was the county council of Parts of Lindsey in the east of England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 1974. The county council was initially based at the County Hall, Lincoln Castle and then ...

, Sir Weston Cracroft-Amcotts, of

Kettlethorpe Hall Kettlethorpe Hall is a Victorian house in Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire, noted for its connection to Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster. It encloses fragments of the former manor house including the medieval gatehouse, within the surviving m ...

. Mr T Bagshaw, the deputy head of Ullswater School, in Penrith, took over as headteacher in June 1966, when Ronald Johnson resigned, due to ill health.Mr Bagshaw moved in January 1973. Brian Drinkall, deputy head of the

William Allitt School William Allitt Academy (formerly William Allitt School) is a co-educational secondary school located in the village of Newhall, Swadlincote in South Derbyshire, England. The school was founded in 1895 as the Newhall Central Board School, whe ...

in south

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

, took over in January 1974.

Merger

Lumley merged with Morris to form the Earl of Scarbrough High School in 1986. The Earl of Scarbrough High School was officially opened on Tuesday 7 November. A new £400,000 block was built from 1995, to open in 1996. Skegness Earl of Scarbrough High School continued until 2004 when it was closed, and reopened as St Clements College.

Academy

This 'fresh start' school converted to academy status in 2010, being one of the first academy schools in England, and was renamed Skegness Academy. The Skegness Academy is part of the

Greenwood Academies Trust The Greenwood Academies Trust is a large multi-academy trust Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or school trust is an academy trust that operates more than one Academy (English school), academy school. Academy schools are State-funded schools (England) ...

. In 2017 Skegness Academy was found 'inadequate' by Ofsted but has 'ambitious plan for improvement'. Skegness Academy has since been monitored closely by Ofsted. In January 2020, Ofsted did a full inspection and acknowledged that the improvements had been put in place, but would take time to show effect. As a result, the school was removed from special measures as is now rated as 'requiring improvement'.

Curriculum

A higher proportion than average enter the school with attainment that is significantly below the national average need support to effectively to develop literacy and numeracy skills. During Key Stage 3, pupils are taught English, mathematics, science, geography, history, RE, modern foreign languages, ICT, technology (including food technology), expressive arts (music, drama), art and PE. Key Stage 3 includes years 7, 8, and 9. Twenty minutes a day is devoted to a recreational reading session (Drop Everything and Read). In years 10 and 11, pupils choose four subjects to go with the core subjects Maths, English, Science, in either Level 2 BTEC or GCSE format, and PE.

Pathways

At Sixth Form three pathways are offered, students can take the Academic Pathway with A-Levels for university entry, the Core Level 3 pathway which includes Level 3 BTECs and can also retake GCSE Maths and English if they have not achieved a Level 4 grade or above at Year 11. There is a Level 2 pathway offering vocational courses The Sixth Form has a 100% pass rate across all Level 3 courses.

Notable former pupils

Morris Secondary Modern School

Graham Bonnet Graham Bonnet (born 23 December 1947) is an English rock singer. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri ...

(1958-64), rock singer, known for the 1979 ''

Since You Been Gone "Since You Been Gone" is a song written by former Argent guitarist Russ Ballard and first released on his 1976 album ''Winning''. It was covered by Rainbow in 1979 and released as a single from their album '' Down to Earth''. Rainbow version ...

Earl of Scarbrough High School

Jason Atherton Jason Atherton (born 6 September 1971) is an English chef and restaurateur. His flagship restaurant Pollen Street Social gained a Michelin Star in 2011, its opening year. He was the Executive Chef at Gordon Ramsay's Michelin starred ''Maze'' i ...

, chef *

Helen Dobson Helen Dobson (born 25 February 1971) is an English professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Dobson won the 1989 British Ladies Amateur. Dobson won once on the LPGA Tour in 1993. She also finished second at the 1998 Nabisco Dinah Shore ...

, golfer''Lincolnshire Echo'' Wednesday 10 August 1988, page 9

References

External links

* 1956 establishments in England Academies in Lincolnshire Educational institutions established in 1956 Secondary schools in Lincolnshire Skegness {{Lincolnshire-school-stub