Outwood Grange Academy 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
Outwood, near
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
, England. It has a
mixed intake of both boys and girls ages 11–18, and has over 2,100 pupils on roll with a
comprehensive admissions policy.
The school is operated by
Outwood Grange Academies Trust
Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) is a multi-academy trust (MAT) that operates forty schools (twenty-eight secondary and twelve primary) across northern England and the East Midlands. It is an exempt charity, regulated by the Department for E ...
, and the current principal is Sheriden Hutchinson-Jones.
It publishes a newsletter, Outlook Magazine, on a termly basis.
History
''Outwood Grange School'' was established in 1972 through the merger of Outwood and Stanley secondary schools, with John L Snowdon as its first headteacher.
The Department for Education stated that when Michael Wilkins became headteacher of the school in 2001 it was performing in the bottom 10% of schools. In 2001 BBC secondary school league tables placed Outwood Grange School at 1581st of 3571 secondary schools in England for GCSE results, achieving a 54% pass rate compared to a 50% national average.
In 2002 it became ''Outwood Grange College'' after achieving
specialist technology college
In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 59 ...
status.
The school subsequently undertook major redevelopment work to improve its grounds, buildings and facilities in general. This included major renovation works to the majority of the Upper College Block, where new ICT suites, a recording studio and improved reception facilities were created. The Lower College Hall also received attention and was equipped with retractable seating and conferencing equipment.
In 2005 a gravel playing field, commonly known as "redgra" after its composition of red gravel, was replaced with an
astroturf
AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...
sports field after many years of fundraising. In the same year a new Business and Training Centre was opened, housing both the Business Department and additional training facilities for rental purposes. The college has used these advanced facilities to aid other schools in the region, and to participate in the launch of national initiatives such as "Make Your Mark Start Talking Ideas", which encourages children and young people to engage themselves with businesses.
In 2008 Outwood Grange College, Horbury School, and Wakefield City High School together formed ''Aspire Trust'',
and became
trust schools.
In spring 2009 the school was praised in a speech made by Prime Minister
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
after securing government approval to become England's first "Academy of Excellence". During the transition to
academy status the school left Aspire Trust.
Outwood Grange Academy
In September 2009, Outwood Grange College re-opened as Outwood Grange Academy, operated by the newly formed
Outwood Grange Academies Trust
Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) is a multi-academy trust (MAT) that operates forty schools (twenty-eight secondary and twelve primary) across northern England and the East Midlands. It is an exempt charity, regulated by the Department for E ...
. The school's headteacher, Michael Wilkins, became Chief Executive of the trust, which has since gone on to operate other schools across
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
using Outwood Grange as a model. Mr Wilkins received criticism for overseeing a dramatic increase in pupil exclusions and expulsions. In 2014 Michael Wilkins received a
knighthood
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
for services to Education.
The ''Sir Michael Wilkins Arts Centre'' opened to pupils in January 2016, after suffering from delays due to the original construction company entering into bankruptcy. The purpose built £6.5 million facility includes art studios, performance spaces, and recording studios.
Pastoral care
In early 2007, the college revealed plans to restructure how
tutor group
A tutor group is a term used in schools in the United Kingdom to denote a group of students whose pastoral and academic needs are looked after by one tutor. This will happen either through regular tutorials, or on a more casual basis. A group of s ...
s, the main provision of
pastoral care
Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional, social and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions.
The term is considered inclusive of distinctly non-religious forms of support, as well as support for people from rel ...
within the college, are organised, moving from the traditional horizontal structure to a
vertical one. Although controversial, the plan progressed through consultation and has been put into place from September 2008.
The former structure saw each pupil belonging to a
form group of around 30 pupils from their own year-group, which they remain in, together with a teacher acting as a
tutor
TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...
, for their entire school career. The new structure keeps a consistent teacher acting as a tutor to the group, but is mixed-age with pupils from all year groups being included in each mentoring group. This means that each group evolves every year, as older pupils leave and are replaced by younger pupils entering the school. Pupils entering the school are guaranteed, as in the past, to have at least one friend in their mentoring group.
Vertical structuring has been implemented in other secondary schools, the main advantages being seen as the mixing of ages leading to an increased sense of
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
, allowing for pupils to share experiences, foster understanding and reduce
bullying
Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
.
Initially this program included members of the 6th form of the academy as part of these vertical mentor groups, or VMGs. However as of 2015 these groups were rearranged. Members of the 6th Form were taken out of the vertical mentor groups and instead placed within mixed guidance groups of year 12s and 13s. This meant the vertical structure was still maintained however it was on a smaller scale of both sides of the academy. As well as separating the secondary school students and 6th form students they also changed the rooms of these groups. This was so that the vertical mentor groups of the same continents were able to be in the same buildings in order to increase coherency within the academy.
Due to
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and year group bubbles, the VMG program was changed back to the traditional horizontal structure.
Academic achievements
In 2003, the school was achieving a
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
pass rate with around 46%
of pupils achieving five A to C grades. By 2005 that result had risen to 83%.
It has been said that much of the increase in 'success' was brought about by using 'GCSE equivalent' qualifications such as GNVQs, which have been criticised as resulting in illusory increases in statistical performance rather than genuine academic improvement.
Outwood Grange Academies Trust
Notable former pupils
*
Luke Patel, cricketer
*
Matty Wildie, rugby league footballer
*
Adam Milner, rugby league footballer
*
Brad Martin
Bradley Curtis Martin (May 3, 1973 – March 11, 2022) was an American country music singer-songwriter. He made his debut on the American country music scene in 2002 with the release of his debut album '' Wings of a Honky-Tonk Angel'', which pr ...
, rugby league footballer
*
Yusuf Aydin, rugby league footballer
*
Max Jowitt, rugby league footballer
*
Cara Theobold
Cara Louise Theobold (born 8 January 1990) is an English actress who trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Her first acting role was Ivy Stuart in the third and fourth series of television period drama ''Downton Abbey'' and is also ...
, actress
*
Oliver Wood, cyclist
*
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Schools in Wakefield
Training schools in England
Academies in the City of Wakefield
Secondary schools in the City of Wakefield
Outwood Grange schools
Educational institutions established in 1972
1972 establishments in England