Park Vale Academy (formerly Top Valley School and Top Valley Academy) 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 ...
located in the
Top Valley
Top Valley is a largely residential area in the north west of Nottingham, England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers ...
area of
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
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 ...
of
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 ...
.
History and governance
Previously a
community school administered by
Nottingham City Council
Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Nottingham, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. Nottingham has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous ...
, Top Valley School converted to
academy status on 1 September 2012 and was renamed Park Vale Academy. The school is sponsored by
Central College Nottingham
Nottingham College is one of the largest further education and higher education colleges in the United Kingdom. Based in the city of Nottingham in England, it provides education and training from pre-entry through to university-degree level at i ...
; It continued to coordinate with Nottingham City Council for admissions.
The school benefitted from an £18m rebuild in 2017.
Pastoral
The school runs vertical tutor groups, overseen by a head of house, (a senior position) and a house achievement co-ordinator. There are 36 tutor groups. In each tutor group there are approximately 5 students from each year group. The houses are named after local monuments
Clumber,
Newstead,
Rufford,
Wollaton
Wollaton is a suburb and former civil parish in the western part of Nottingham, in the Nottingham district, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. Wollaton has two wards in the City of Nottingham (''Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey'' ...
.
Academics
This is an 11 to 16 academy with no sixth form. At the end of Key Stage 4, year 11 students automatically transfer the
Redhill Sixth Form Academy.
Key Stage 3
All students study: Mathematics, English, Science, Spanish, Geography, History, Computing, Design & Technology, Food Technology, Art, Drama, Music, Physical Education, PSHE, and Religious Education. In Year 8, some students also study French.
Key Stage 4
This is started in year 9. All students must study English, English Literature, Mathematics, Science, Physical Education which is not examined), PSHE, Religious Education, and at least one otherl EBacc subject. The choose one options from a list of GCSE and BTEC courses- triple sciences, French and Spanish are all available as is an examined PE course.
Ofsted
In May and June 2019 Ofsted inspectors called and found, like its predecessor the management and leadership of the school was inadequate. They found they were tardy in addressing weaknesses and failed to evaluate any improvement scheme they introduced. They found that special needs teaching was weak as was mathematics and felt that work was pitched at too lower level of difficulty, as some teachers had low expectations of pupils. In all other areas strategies were found to be ineffective. The governors did not hold leaders to account for low standards as they lacked the necessary knowledge and skills to carry out their delegated duties.
A monitoring visit was made in February 2020, where inspectors found the leaders and managers are taking effective actions facilitating the removal of the serious weaknesses designation. They found both the schools and the trusts improvement plans are fit for purpose.
References
External links
School website
{{authority control
Secondary schools in Nottingham
Academies in Nottingham