Excel Academy (formerly Holden Lane High School) is a
mixed 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) ...
located in
Sneyd Green,
Stoke on Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
,
England. It was established in 1963 and educates
pupils of ages 11–16.
Situated in the north of Stoke-on-Trent, the school has a
catchment from the neighbourhoods of
Sneyd Green,
Milton
Milton may refer to:
Names
* Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname)
** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet
* Milton (given name)
** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
,
Baddeley Green,
Norton-in-the-Moors
Norton le Moors is in the north-east of the city of Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, England, mostly within the city boundary, with the rest in the Staffordshire Moorlands district.
Geography
The suburb borders Ball Green in the north, Stockto ...
, and Ball Green. The socio-economic circumstances of the area the school serves are below average. The vast majority of students are White British. The academy is the school of choice for an increasing number of parents/carers and is over subscribed.
Specialist school and academy status
Holden Lane High School became a specialist
Sports College in 2001 and became a hub for the development of
P.E. and school sport for both
secondary
Secondary may refer to: Science and nature
* Secondary emission, of particles
** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products
* The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...
and
primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
schools in the north of the city.
The school converted to with
academy status in March 2014 and was renamed Excel Academy. The school is part of the College Academies Trust, sponsored by
Stoke-on-Trent College
Stoke-on-Trent College is a provider of further and higher education based in Stoke-on-Trent. The college has two campuses: one, called Cauldon Campus, in Shelton and one in Burslem.
Stoke-on-Trent college is part of UniQ, the university quar ...
. Other schools in the trust include
Discovery Academy Discovery Academy may refer to:
* Discovery Academy, Stoke-on-Trent, a secondary school in Staffordshire, England
* Discovery Academy (Richmond Hill, Ontario), a private school in Canada
* Discovery Academy (Provo, Utah), a high school in Utah, ...
, Maple Court Academy and
Stoke Studio College.
Ofsted Inspections
An
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
inspection in May 2011 rated Holden Lane High School as 'inadequate' and as a result the school was placed into special measures. A follow-up inspection in June 2012 rated the school as 'satisfactory'.
An Ofsted inspection in October 2013 rated Holden Lane High School as 'Good', allowing the school to convert to academy status.
An Ofsted visit in November 2016 decided that The Excel Academy is still a Good Academy.
Academic standards
In 2010 the school achieved
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
examination performance of 89 per cent of pupils obtaining 5 or more GCSEs at the higher grades of 'A star' to 'C' (5A*-C), and 55% of pupils obtaining 5 or more GCSEs at the higher grades of A*-C including English and Maths. This latter figure exceeds the 'Fisher Family Trust' measure FFT D, which indicates the progress made by schools in the top 25% percentile of value-added scores nationally.
In 2009 the school's achieved 75% 5A*-C and 43% 5A*-C including English and Maths.
In 2011 Holden lane achieved 87% (5A*-C)in their GCSE Results.
School Leadership & Management
The Principal is Mr Darren Bishop. Darren was formally deputy head at the academy.
Initially in 1963 the Head was Mr Taylor with Miss Young as deputy head.
For 17 years, the school was led by Mr. D. Gray. He retired in July 1996. Mr. P. Roberts, Deputy Headteacher, became Acting Headteacher for one term prior to Lynne Hardcastle's appointment in January 1997. Mrs. Hardcastle took early retirement in July 2006. She was succeeded by her Deputy, Mrs. Jacqueline Lewis. Mrs. Lewis served the school in various capacities from September 1972 and was Acting Head until May 2011. Mr J Patino was headteacher from 2011 to 2015.
He was extremely successful and eventually became Executive Principal of the College Academies Trust which sponsored the Excel Academy .
'Feeder' Primary Schools & 'Cluster' Secondary Schools
Pupils at the school are drawn largely from Norton, Milton, Hillside, Sneyd Green, Ball Green and Holden Lane Primary Schools, with lesser numbers coming from Newford (
Smallthorne) and Greenways Schools.
Notable former pupils
Holden Lane High School
*Famous Performer
Jonathan Wilkes attended the school. Wilkes is famous for being in multiple pantomime performances including
Snow White,
Cinderella and
Aladdin
Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...
. He also presented Stokes' Got Talent at the Regent Theatre and has appeared on programmes such as ''
The Paul O'Grady Show'',
BBC Radio 1 and was captain of
ITV's Celebrity Soccer Aid in 2008.
*Professional footballer
Anthony Malbon
Anthony Jordan Malbon (born 14 October 1991) is an English footballer who plays as a forward for club Eccleshall.
He played for Port Vale between 2009 and 2010, before he signed with Leek Town in summer 2010. He moved on to Newcastle the foll ...
attended the school from 2003 to 2008.
*professional footballer
Tom Pope[ Tom Pope]
References
External links
Excel Academy official website
{{authority control
Secondary schools in Stoke-on-Trent
Educational institutions established in 1963
1963 establishments in England
Academies in Stoke-on-Trent