Larkmead 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 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 ...

situated on Faringdon Road, in

Abingdon-on-Thames Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historic counties of England, Historically the ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, England. It collaborates with Abingdon's two other state secondary schools and the Further Education College to provide a wider range of sixth form options.

History

At the close of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1945, and the introduction of primary and secondary education under R.A. Butler's

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historians ...

, Abingdon borough decided that a larger school was needed. The names Larkhill and Willowside were originally suggested for the school, but in the end the name 'Larkmead' was settled upon. The school's buildings were completed by Easter 1956, and on 8 June the school was officially opened by

Sir John Douglas Cockcroft Sir John Douglas Cockcroft, (27 May 1897 – 18 September 1967) was a British physicist who shared with Ernest Walton the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1951 for splitting the atomic nucleus, and was instrumental in the development of nuclea ...

. Several additions were made to the school over the coming years, including a kitchen in 1958, a caretaker's bungalow and swimming pool in 1960, and a new Design Technology building in 1969. In 1972, with the school preparing for comprehensive status, it was deemed necessary to update and extend the school's buildings. A new collection of buildings were built away from the main teaching areas to house the administrative centre of the school, where the office and

Learning Resource Centre Learning Resource Centre (LRC) is a term which is used in the United Kingdom to describe a type of library that exists within an educational setting such as secondary schools, further education colleges and universities. LRC can also stand for ...

were situated. Since its inception the school has made several new additions to its buildings, including a music centre with a performance room and several practice and technology rooms, which is now shared by th
Abingdon Music Centre.
Larkmead School was rated by

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 ...

as 'Good' in February 2015. Previously a community school administered by

Oxfordshire County Council Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...

, in January 2017 Larkmead School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the Vale Academy Trust. Following an electrical storm and consequent lightning strike in the summer of 2017, the school's infrastructure sustained notable damage, and there are a number of parallel initiatives ongoing to both repair and improve the facilities at the school.

References

External links

Larkmead School official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Oxfordshire Educational institutions established in 1956 1956 establishments in England The Abingdon Consortium Academies in Oxfordshire