Erasmus Darwin Academy (previously Chasetown High School then Chasetown Specialist Sports College) 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 t ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

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 located in the

Chasetown Chasetown is a village in the town of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England. It is split between the civil parishes of Burntwood and Hammerwich. History Chasetown developed in the mid 19th century as a coal mining village. At first the village wa ...

area of

Burntwood Burntwood is a former mining town and civil parish in the Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England, approximately west of Lichfield and north east of Brownhills. The town had a population of 26,049 and forms part of Lichfield district. ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England.

History

It was built in 1970 as a temporary site. The school however still remains open after its high achievements through the past 50 years. Chasetown High School's gym facility was attacked by arsonists in 2004, requiring a whole new gym to be built. This work was completed in 2006, following which the school bought a field opposite Pool Road as an extension for more field activities. The road was demolished and now is part of the school grounds. After the new gym facility was built the school acquired a new Specialist Sports status and became Chasetown Specialist Sports College. In 2022, The prime minister at the time

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...

visited the school.

Name change

However it lost its Specialist status in 2010, but required the potential to convert to an Academy. It is now known as

Erasmus Darwin Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist, inventor, and poet. His poems ...

Academy and is one of many schools in England achieving very high grades.

Facilities

The school also invested in an all weather Astro-Turf in 2010. The school has a modern Sports Centre with a large sports hall, dance studio and gymnasium, a high quality, full-sized Astro-Turf facility, information technology rooms, design technology workshops, a refurbished Sixth Form Centre, a theatre with tiered seating, a Library Resource Centre, seven science laboratories, a student support base, specialist teaching areas.

Sports

There are eight hard-court tennis courts and extensive playing fields providing opportunities for a full range of sport, e.g. rugby, cricket, football, athletics and hockey.

Alumni

Chasetown High School

* Mike Garmston, former Chief Physiotherapist to the British Olympic

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

team in the mid-1990s, a former athlete, and husband of sprinter

Sonia Lannaman Sonia May Lannaman (born 24 March 1956) is a British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She won the Commonwealth Games 100 metres title in Edmonton 1978 and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 19 ...

, and father of footballer

Bradley Garmston Bradley Jordan Garmston (born 18 January 1994) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Having come through the academy at non-league side Sutton Coldfield Town he went on to join West Bromwich Albion where he spent time ...

. *

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...

, radio broadcaster. *

Kim Betts Kim Betts (born Kim Williams 25 December 1971) is a British Gymnastics, gymnast, female bodybuilding, bodybuilder, and TV presenter best known as Lightning in the ITV (TV network), ITV show ''Gladiators (1992 British TV series), Gladiators'', wh ...

gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

, and TV presenter best known as Lightning in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

show ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

'', where she was the longest-serving female star. *

Matty Fryatt Matty may refer to: * Matty (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the nickname, given name or surname * Matty, Hungary, a village in Baranya County * Matty Island, a Canadian arctic island * Former name of Wuvulu Island * Matty ...

, former professional footballer. * Holly Moore, physicist. *

Hannah Hampton Hannah Alice Hampton (born 16 November 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for FA Women's Super League club Aston Villa and the England national team. Hampton is a product of the Stoke City and Birmingham Ci ...

, Aston Villa and England football goalkeeper . * Tom Leak, footballer. * Dave Goddard, motorsport journalist and commentator.

References

{{authority control Academies in Staffordshire Burntwood School buildings in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson Secondary schools in Staffordshire