John Smeaton Academy is a

co-educational 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) ...

located in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. The school educates children aged 11–18 from across Leeds and its surrounding villages including Scholes,

Cross Gates Cross Gates (often spelled Crossgates) is a suburb in east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The area sits between Seacroft and Swarcliffe to the north, Whitkirk and Colton to the south, Killingbeck to the west and Austhorpe to the south east ...

Barwick-in-Elmet Barwick-in-Elmet (pronounced ''Barrick-in-Elmet'') is a village in West Yorkshire, east of Leeds city centre. It is one of only three places in the area to be explicitly associated with the ancient Romano-British kingdom of Elmet, the others ...

Pendas Fields Pendas Fields is a private, suburban housing estate in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is considered part of Cross Gates, as is Manston. Swarcliffe is close, and Cock Beck runs nearby. The area falls within the Cross Gates and Whinmoor ward ...

and

Swarcliffe Swarcliffe, originally the Swarcliffe Estate, is a district of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is east of Leeds city centre, and within the LS14 and LS15 Leeds postcode area. The district falls within the Cross Gates and Whinmoor ward of ...

. The school is part of the Gorse Academies Trust.

History

The school was previously called John Smeaton Community High School, named after 18th-century civil engineer

John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fir ...

Austhorpe Austhorpe is a civil parish and residential suburb of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is to the east of city centre and close to the A6120 dual carriageway (Leeds Outer Ring Road) and the M1 motorway. Location The area is situated ...

, and its buildings occupied the site of the current school playing fields. Until August 1992, a middle school occupied one of the buildings on the school site. The original school buildings were demolished in 2007 to make way for a new school, built by Carillion, at cost of £100 million. The school was called John Smeaton Community College in 2009. At that time, a report to the Chief Executive of Education Leeds said that schools like "John Smeaton Community College and the David Young Community Academy have transformed standards and outcomes in areas of Leeds where in the past poor standards and poor outcomes were simply accepted as the norm". The school became an academy in 2014 and joined multi-academy trust

United Learning United Learning is a group of state-funded schools and fee-paying independent schools operating in England. United Learning is the trading name for United Church Schools Trust (UCST) and United Learning Trust (ULT). It is one of the largest 10 ch ...

. In 2021 the school became part of the Gorse Academies Trust. In October 2021, the school introduced the '100% club' as an incentive to promote good student attendance.

Academic performance

Prior to joining United Learning and converting to an academy, the school was rated 'Inadequate' by Ofsted and placed in Special Measures. In December 2016, Ofsted inspectors concluded that the school 'Requires Improvement', praising the capacity of leaders to improve further. In August 2017, 46% of students achieved five or more A*-C grades including 4 or above in English and maths – an increase from the previous year. There were also improvements in the number of students achieving at least a grade 4 – equivalent to the old 'C' grade – in English and maths respectively.

Notable former pupils and staff

* Phil, Lord Willis - Head Teacher at the school from 1983-1997 and then

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

politician. *

Josh Warrington Josh Warrington (born 14 November 1990) is an English professional boxer. He is a two-time world featherweight champion, having held the IBF title between 2018 and 2022. At regional level, he held the British, Commonwealth, European and WBC I ...

- English professional

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

boxer.

References

External links

School Website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Leeds Academies in Leeds United Learning schools