The Halifax Academy (formerly Halifax High) is a mixed all-through school located in Halifax,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. The school is predominantly made up of children from a South Asian background.

History

The school's name derives from the original The Halifax High School, a school in a town centre Victorian building off Huddersfield Road. The school was relocated to The former

Wellesley Barracks Wellesley Barracks is a former military installation in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. History The barracks was built in the Gothic Revival architecture, Fortress Gothic Revival Style as a Regimental depot, depot for ...

in 2005. The

Duke of Wellington's regiment The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, forming part of the King's Division. In 1702, Colonel George Hastings, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, was authorised to raise a new regiment, which he di ...

regimental depot was based at the barracks until 1958. Halifax High was formed in 1992 following the amalgamation of the Clare Hall and Haugh Shaw Schools. By 2003 the school was the tenth most improved in England according to government performance tables, and in 2007 was judged as 'outstanding' by

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 ...

. It received a visit from Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in May 2004. The school was converted to academy status on 1 November 2013 and was renamed The Halifax Academy. It has a

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 ...

for pupils aged 11 to 16 and a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

phase, which opened in September 2014, making the academy an all-through school for pupils aged 4 to 16. The June 2023

(Office for Standards in Education) inspection rated the school as Grade 2 (Good) for overall effectiveness. It judged that the school had improved in mathematics and English. Pupil behaviour was considered 'Outstanding' due to the effectiveness of the school's house system. The current Headteacher of the school is Matt Perry. The former Executive Headteacher of The Halifax Academy, Matt Kay, is now the CEO of the Impact Education Trust, which the school is a part of.

Subjects

Mathematics, Science, English Language and English Literature is compulsory for all students to study until they leave the academy. When students enter Year 9 they will be given the choice to choose 2 or 3 subjects from the following: Art, Computer Science, Design, Geography, Graphic Communications, Health & Social Care, History, ICT, Spanish, German, Photography, PE, Religious Studies and Sport. They will sit GCSE examinations for these subjects in the second half of Year 11.

House system

Pupils belong to one of three houses: Auriga, Orion and Pegasus – house names were chosen by pupils when the school moved from the previous location to Wellesley Park. There are competitions between houses each year, including a sports day and inter-house games. Houses and tutor groups raise money for charities such as Comic Relief and Children in Need. A pupil's house is identified by tie colour: sky blue for Auriga; dark maroon for Orion; and royal blue for Pegasus. This can be seen as accents on the student's ties.

Incidents

Violent protests involving hundreds of students led to disruption and vandalism occurring in 2009 and 2020. In both instances, projectiles such as eggs were thrown and police were called to the school grounds to break up the pupils. On 8 October 2021, the school was evacuated after a hoax bomb threat.

References

External links

School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halifax Academy Secondary schools in Calderdale Schools in Halifax, West Yorkshire Academies in Calderdale Primary schools in Calderdale