The Grangefield Academy is a
secondary school with
academy status situated in the heart of the borough of
Stockton on Tees, on Oxbridge Avenue,
Grangefield, Stockton-on-Tees, a
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
in the
ceremonial county of
County Durham,
North East England.
History
The school dates back to 1896, originating as the Stockton Higher Grade School. However the current site is that of the former Grangefield Grammar Schools, which opened on 2 November 1951. Prior to this, from 1944, it was in different buildings as the Stockton Secondary Grammar School, and before that, from 1906, as Stockton Secondary School. The boys' and girls' lessons were taught separately, with separate heads of school.
In 1973 the grammar schools were merged into the comprehensive and co-educational The Grange Comprehensive School, which operated until 1985.
In 1985, another school merged in, and the combined entity was renamed Grangefield School. The merging school was Hardwick Secondary Modern School, founded in 1963, later known as Sheraton Comprehensive School. The new institution did not have a sixth form but was a co-educational comprehensive school of over 1000 students aged 11–16. It became a specialist Technology College from 1999 to 2013, during which period it was named Grangefield School and Technology College.
The school undertook formal consultation about plans to re-establish itself as an academy sponsored by
Northern Education Trust
Northern Education Trust is a multi-academy trust operating in the North of England. It was established in 2010 and operates 22 academies; 10 primary and 12 secondary. In 2017 it was instrumental in setting up the Northern Alliance of Trusts.
H ...
, a
Department for Education
The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England.
A Department ...
-approved charity, and the conversion to The Grangefield Academy was finalised in early 2014.
Buildings and grounds
The Grangefield Academy is located amid extensive school fields, adjacent to the town ring road and opposite the
Stockton Cricket Club Ground.
In 2016 plans were completed to rebuild the school, with a new building featuring a large sports hall, activity studio, drama studio, main hall and dining hall.
The now-demolished attractive and substantial main buildings of the old Grammar Schools that stood on the site dated from the early 1950s. Comprising Grangefield Boys' and Grangefield Girls' Grammar Schools, the premises were connected to one another by a shared dining hall. The original brick, sandstone and Cumberland slate buildings faced out over the playing fields and were constructed around four well-planted quadrangles that provided a distinctive learning environment. The land will be used for a new car park, multi-use games area and school fields.
Before the transition to academy status many areas of the school were extensively refurbished; a new extension for the Design and Technology block was completed in 2005. Modern additions included a sports hall and library. The school field and grounds provide 11 tennis courts, 2 football pitches, 2 rugby pitches, 2 hockey pitches and 2 artificial cricket wickets.
There has been substantial investment to provide fully equipped ICT suites. Mathematics, Modern Languages and Humanities and many other subject areas have in-class ICT provision, including Art, Music, Design and Technology and Science. Many curriculum areas have access to interactive whiteboards and data projectors. The facilities are enhanced through the Grangefield Media Centre, providing state of the art ICT facilities, which is located on the school site.
The academy had had a "schools within school" ethos since its conversion to academy status in January 2014 and has divided the five year groups into schools. Year 7 is Discovery, Year 8 is Ignite, Year 9 is Innovation, Year 10 is Pioneer and Year 11 is Revolution. But now every corridor is subject specific. Each has its own colour scheme with coloured accent walls in each year group area and a coloured 'G' on school ties; for example, Year 7’s is Orange. Year 8’s is pink. Year 9’s is purple. Year 10’s is darker pink. Finally, Year 11’s is Blue.
Academic performance
The school fell to be in the lowest quintile amongst similar schools nationally, with, in 2012, only 40% of pupils attaining at least five GCSEs grade A* to C including English and mathematics. This was a decrease of 10 percentage points since 2011. Work to improve the grades and reputation of the school began, and by 2018,
GCSE results were the best ever.
Following an
Ofsted inspection in December 2012, the school was placed in "Special Measures" under the Education Act 2005 because it was failing to provide an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing and governing the school were not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvements in the inadequate achievements of pupils, quality of teaching, standards of behaviour, and managerial leadership. Subsequently the school had visits from Her Majesty's Inspectorate, some of which have deemed that the school was making reasonable progress, but the final inspection in 2013 determined that the school was not making enough progress towards the removal of special measures.
[Ofsted Inspection Reports http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/111753]
After conversion to Academy status, the school continued to improve and, with "Special Measures" removed, in 2018 Grangefield Academy achieved "Good" status under all five major assessment headings.
Notable former pupils
Stockton Secondary School
* Alderman Sir Charles William Allison CBE, JP, Honorary Freeman of the Borough 1956
*
William Arthur Bone
William Arthur Bone, FRS (19 March 1871 – 11 June 1938) was a British fuel technologist and chemist.
Biography
Bone was born in Stockton-on-Tees, the son of Christopher Bone, a tea merchant, and his wife Mary Elizabeth. He was educated at ...
, combustion engineer, and Professor of Chemical Technology at
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
from 1912–36
*
Air Vice-Marshal
Air vice-marshal (AVM) is a two-star air officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...
John Embling CBE DSO
*
Horace Maybray King, Baron Maybray-King
Horace Maybray King, Baron Maybray-King, PC (25 May 1901 – 3 September 1986) was a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1950 until 1971 before becoming a life peer. For most of his time in Parliament, he sat as ...
, Labour MP for
Southampton Test
Southampton Test is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Alan Whitehead, a member of the Labour Party.
History
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the previous two ...
from 1950-5 and
Southampton Itchen
Southampton, Itchen is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Royston Smith, a Conservative member of parliament. Discounting the Speaker (of the House of Commons) returned in the early 1970s in two ...
from 1955–71 and
Speaker of the House of Commons from 1965–71
*
Peter Smithson, architect
* Prof
Keith Stewartson
Keith Stewartson (20 September 1925 – 7 May 1983) was an English mathematician and fellow of the Royal Society.
Early life
The youngest of three children, Stewartson was born to an English baker in 1925. He was raised in Billingham, County Dur ...
, Goldsmid Professor of Mathematics at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
from 1964–83
*
Barry Unsworth
Barry Unsworth FRSL (10 August 19304 June 2012) was an English writer known for his historical fiction. He published 17 novels, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times, winning once for the 1992 novel '' Sacred Hunger''.
Biograph ...
, novelist
Grangefield Grammar School
*
Pat Barker
Patricia Mary W. Barker, (née Drake; born 8 May 1943) is an English writer and novelist. She has won many awards for her fiction, which centres on themes of memory, trauma, survival and recovery. Her work is described as direct, blunt and pl ...
CBE, author who wrote the historical novel ''
Regeneration
Regeneration may refer to:
Science and technology
* Regeneration (biology), the ability to recreate lost or damaged cells, tissues, organs and limbs
* Regeneration (ecology), the ability of ecosystems to regenerate biomass, using photosynthesis
...
''
*
Hugh Cameron, cyclist
*
James Gaddas
James Gaddas (born 17 June 1960) is an English actor best known for his roles in ''Coronation Street'', '' Bad Girls'', '' Doctors'', ''Emmerdale'' and ''Hollyoaks''.
Career
Gaddas played Eddie Ainsworth in the tenth episode of the seventh seri ...
, actor
*
Charlie Gillett
Charles Thomas Gillett (; 20 February 1942 – 17 March 2010) was a British radio presenter, musicologist, and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music. He was particularly noted for his influential book ''The Sound of t ...
, musicologist, radio presenter and writer
* David Ingman CBE, Chairman of the
British Waterways Board
British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland a ...
from 1987–93
*
Kate Pyne, Chief Technical Historian at the
Atomic Weapons Establishment
The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence research facility responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the UK's nuclear weapons. It is the successor to the Atomic Weapons Research ...
, Aldermaston, Berks
* Sir
Ridley Scott, film director
*
Tony Scott
Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...
, film director
*
Bruce Thomas
Bruce Thomas (born 14 August 1948 in Stockton-on-Tees, England) is an English rock bass guitarist, best known as bassist for the Attractions; the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record.
In addition to his work ...
, bassist in ''
The Attractions
The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello between 1977 and 1986, and again from 1994 to 1996. They consisted of Steve Nieve (keyboards and ukulele), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Tho ...
''
References
External links
Grangefield Academy websiteEduBaseThe Old Stocktonians Association with school transition history
Northern Education Trust schools
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grangefield Academy
Secondary schools in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees
Academies in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees
Educational institutions established in 1894
1894 establishments in England