Hertswood Academy (formerly Hertswood School) 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 in

Borehamwood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

, Hertfordshire which gained academy status in January 2013. The headteacher is Peter Gillett, who joined Hertswood Academy in January 2013. It was established in September 2000 by an amalgamation of five former local schools, which was reflected by the two different sites of the academy previously . The academy has since moved to a single site as part of a project to build new "World Class Facilities". school that started work in 2015, which was funded by selling one of the sites for housing. After two years of construction, the new academy buildings opened in September 2019. 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 2017 stated Hertswood Academy was "inadequate" due to issues with "personal development, behaviour and welfare". A monitoring visit in May 2018 stated that "leaders and managers are taking effective actions". Ofsted conducted a further inspection in September 2019, with the report yet to be published.

History

The two sites of the academy were previously two of five schools which were closed to be combined into the then named Hertswood School.

Beginnings

Hertswood School was established to replace Borehamwood's old three-tier system of lower, middle and upper schools with a two-tier system. As such, Lyndhurst, Furzehill and Holmshill middle schools were closed, along with Hawksmoor and Hillside upper schools. The new, larger school was established on the sites of Nicholas Hawksmoor School (previously Borehamwood Grammar School) and Holmshill Secondary Modern, the two schools having been approximately 400 metres apart. The reorganisation was paid for through the sale of the three other sites for housing development. The school opened in September 2000 under Headteacher Ian Lucas.

Arts college and theatre

Hertswood School gained specialist

arts college An Arts College, in the United Kingdom, is a type of specialist school that specialises in the subject fields of the performing, visual, digital and/or media arts. They were announced in 1996 and introduced alongside Sports Colleges to England i ...

status in 2005 and in 2009 The Ark Theatre Borehamwood was established on its upper site. The majority of the two million pound facility was funded by

Hertsmere Borough Council Hertsmere is a local government district and borough in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Borehamwood. Other settlements in the borough include Bushey, Elstree, Radlett and Potters Bar. The borough borders the three north London ...

, which remains a funding partner to the theatre, as does the academy itself. In addition to the theatre, facilities include a bar and meeting room.

Academy status

In September 2012, Hertswood became an academy under the Academies Act (2010).

Single site development

In November 2013, the academy announced plans to move the entire school to new buildings on the Cowley Hill site, funded by the sale of the Thrift Farm Lane site which would be demolished for housing. In March 2014 plans were pushed back to extend the consultation period. A planning application was submitted in December 2014 for the new academy, temporary classrooms and the residential development on the Thrift Farm Lane site. This was part of a schedule to move all students to the Cowley Hill site in December 2015 and open the new academy in September 2019. The academy stated that the new build would include "a first class community theatre and community sports facilities" as well as "cutting-edge ICT in every classroom, expansive open learning spaces and a superb new restaurant." The new building opened to students as planned in September 2019 for the start of the 2019-20 academic year.

Academy structure

Students and staff

The academy has approximately 1,300 students, including boys and girls from the age of 11 to 18. This includes approximately 200 students in the academy's

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 ...

. There are approximately 100 teaching staff, with approximately 40 support staff.

House system

In 2013 the academy introduced a new

house system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth countries and the United States. The school is divided into subunits called "houses" and each student is allocated to o ...

with four houses, each named after a college at Oxford or Cambridge:

Cavendish Cavendish may refer to: People * The House of Cavendish, a British aristocratic family * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), British poet, philosopher, and scientist * Cavendish (author) (1831–1899), pen name of Henry Jones, English auth ...

(blue), Darwin (green), Nuffield (yellow) and

Somerville Somerville may refer to: *Somerville College, Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford Places *Somerville, Victoria, Australia * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia * Somerville, New Zealand, a subur ...

(red).Hertswood New House System
/ref> The assigned colour of the house that a student belongs to is displayed on a badge on the student's blazer. Each house has a staff member assigned as its head, a House Captain from the Upper Sixth Form, and a Vice House Captain selected from the Lower Sixth Form. The academy arranges inter-house competitions through the school year and tracks the total House Points each house has earned, towards winning the House Cup at the end of each year.

Alumni

Famous alumni include: *

Sophie Pender Sophie Pender (born 1997) is a British social mobility campaigner and activist. She founded the UK-based non-profit the 93% Club, which looks to support university students who had attended state school in finding employment. Early life and ...

, founder of the 93% Club * Phineas "A1" Waweru, rapper and part of duo "

A1 x J1 A1 x J1 (real names Phineas Waweru and Joshua Somerkun) are a British British hip hop, hip hop duo. They released their debut single "Latest Trends" in February 2021, which charted at number 2 in the UK and was remixed by Aitch (rapper), Aitc ...

" * Jyrelle (

Loski Jyrelle Justin O'Connor (born May 6, 1999), known professionally as Loski (formerly Lil' Nizzy), is a British rapper and singer from Kennington, London. He is part of the Kennington-based UK drill group Harlem Spartans. Beginning his career in ...

) O'Connor-Greenland, drill artist and member of

Harlem Spartans Harlem Spartans, often abbreviated to HS, also known as Harlem O or simply Harlem, is a British hip hop collective based in Kennington, London. Members of Harlem Spartans have acquired over 100 million streams through their music. The name, "Ha ...

References

{{authority control Schools in Hertsmere Secondary schools in Hertfordshire Academies in Hertfordshire Educational institutions established in 2000 Borehamwood 2000 establishments in England Shenley