Neale-Wade Academy (formerly Neale-Wade Community College) is a

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 ...

with academy status in the market town of

March, Cambridgeshire March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. It was the county town of the Isle of Ely which was a separate administrative county from 1889 to 1965. The administrative centre of Fenland ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. As with many state schools, the current school was the product of a merger of a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

and a comprehensive school. The merged school has since grown to become, Fenland's largest secondary school. It was designated Mathematics & Computing specialist status in 2005, and gained academy status in 2013. The current head teacher is Graham Horn who started his role there in 2020.

History

March Grammar School

The college can trace its history back to 1696 when William Neale left an estate, the income of which was to help educate 8 poor boys. In 1717, Henry Wade left £20 per annum to pay for a schoolmaster to teach 20 poor children of the Parish. These two bequests were the origin of what eventually became March Grammar School. School premises were built on Station Road in 1876 and the school stayed there until a new site was opened on Wimblington Road in 1964. The Old Boys and Masters of the school who gave their lives during the two World Wars are commemorated on plaques which are displayed in the current college's main hall.

Other schools

Hereward School was founded in 1934 due to the need for another senior school in the town. It turned fully comprehensive in 1969. March High School for Girls was the local girls' grammar school. It was founded in 1907 to complement the boys-only March Grammar. The schools merged in 1969.

Neale-Wade

The existing College site was established in the 1964 for the Grammar School. Around this time, the

tripartite system The Tripartite System was the arrangement of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and the ...

was being phased out and many grammar or selective state schools were being merged with secondary modern schools. March Grammar and March High merged in 1969 to form Neale-Wade School. In 1983, after a great deal of debate and considerable building, the Neale-Wade merged with Hereward School to form a new comprehensive on the Neale-Wade site. It was agreed to keep the Neale-Wade name while designating the School a "Community College". After the March 2012 inspection, the college was placed into special measures 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 ...

but has since made progress under new principal

Jason Wing Jason Wing (born 12 October 1965) is a British bobsledder who competed in the mid-1990s. Sporting career Wing's first sporting success was as a junior long jumper and sprinter and he featured in the national rankings from 1980 to 1989. His best ...

, for which he was commended by inspectors in a follow-up report. In early November 2012, the school held meetings with parents and the community to discuss the possibility of converting into an

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

. The College became Neale-Wade Academy, an Active Learning Trust school on 1 April 2013.

Description

This is an academy with sixth-form. It operates a two-week timetable which runs for 50 hours. Students are taught in mixed ability groups for all subjects except English and Maths in Year 7 and English, Maths and Science in Year 8. There is a two year Key Stage 3 where students follow the National Curriculum, and a three year Key Stage 4 where students study four Level 2 qualifications. All students take a sport based qualification during PE. The separate sciences are also available for the more able students, double language French, Spanish is possible. In the sixth form students are offered a combination of Level 3 Academic, Applied General and Tech Level Qualifications over the two years. There is an enrichment programme which includes both qualifications and non-qualification activities. GCSE Mathematics and GCSE English are available for those students who do not hold a Grade 4 or above. All Year 12 students follow a planned careers education programme which includes a work placement. The programme consists of a minimum of three A levels or Applied General or Tech Level qualifications of 10 hours per fortnight teaching time plus one hour timetabled independent learning each. These are chosen the from four option blocks.

Former pupils

The March Grammar School Old Boys Association was founded in 1919 as its alumni association. In 2007 it changed its name to March Grammar and Neale-Wade Former Students Association to include former pupils of the current Neale-Wade Community College.

March Grammar School

* Stewart Adams OBE (born 1923), chemist who developed Ibuprofen *Brian Corby, child protection expert and author * Richard Davis OBE, FRAS (1949 – 2016) radio astronomer * Timothy W. Potter, archaeologist

Neale-Wade

Louise Hazel Louise Victoria Hazel (born 6 October 1985) is an English track and field athlete from March, Cambridgeshire, who specialises in the multi-event heptathlon. She has competed in four major international championships. The first was in 2006 when ...

heptathlete A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

Dominic Mohan Dominic Mohan (born 26 May 1969) is a British journalist, broadcaster, businessman/ entrepreneur, author and former editor of '' The Sun'' newspaper in London. He is now Founder/CEO of his own media consultancy Dominic Mohan Media, specialising ...

, editor of '' The Sun'' *

, former Olympic

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

der and current principal

Former staff

Grammar School

*Stephen Crook, photographer

References

External links

*
Building Schools for the future blogMarch Grammar School and Neale Wade Former Students Association
{{authority control Secondary schools in Cambridgeshire Academies in Cambridgeshire March, Cambridgeshire