Outwood Academy Adwick is a mixed

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 located in

Woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England. It has a comprehensive admissions policy, with 1,070 pupils on roll . 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 Andrew Scruby. It publishes a newsletter, Outlook Magazine, on a termly basis.

History

By its Resolution 39 of 28 April 1931, for the purpose of building the new school the Education Committee of the West Riding County Council decided to purchase 21 acres of land in Windmill Balk Lane,

Adwick-le-Street Adwick le Street is a village in the City of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The Adwick ward of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council had a population of 15,911 at the 2011 Census. It is situated north-west of Doncaster. Under the 2011 ce ...

from the owner of

Brodsworth Hall Brodsworth Hall, near Brodsworth, north-west of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, is one of the most complete surviving examples of a Victorian country house in England. It is virtually unchanged since the 1860s. It was designed in the Italianat ...

. The school was founded by J W 'Jimmy' Lane JP (1877–1969), alderman of the West Riding and a check weighman at

Brodsworth Colliery Brodsworth Colliery was a coal mine north west of Doncaster and west of the Great North Road. in South Yorkshire, England. Two shafts were sunk between October 1905 and 1907 in a joint venture by the Hickleton Main Colliery Company and the Sta ...

. It was named after alderman Sir Percy Jackson, an active proponent of education on the West Riding County Council in the 1920s and 1930s. Designed as a co-educational state

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 ...

, the Percy Jackson Grammar School was housed in modern

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style premises. The two-storey building was designed to accommodate 540 pupils and was constructed of steel framing, bearing concrete floors and flat roofs. The total cost of the site, buildings and equipment was approximately £62,000. Elizabeth_Hall_IMG_pjgs_0001b_c_1944

The school opened for instruction on 9 October 1939, just weeks after the outbreak of

World War II 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 ...

. The first year's intake of pupils was 86, many being transferred from other schools in the area. Of these, 62 joined the first form and the others the second and third forms. Whilst the school was recruiting pupils, there was space for wartime evacuees and these came from the London area as well as from Hull. The Riley High School in Hull evacuated 100 boys and six teachers and operated as a parallel school within the premises. Two boys from mainland Europe arrived via the Kindertransport one of whom was Siegfried Franz Spira later known as

Fred Spira Fred Spira (1924–2007) was an inventor and innovator in photography as well as a collector of photographic equipment, images, books, and ephemera. He is credited as one of three individuals who opened up the U.S. market to quality Japanese photo ...

. Several teachers saw service in

, notably Capt W R F Cockroft,

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

, and Fl Lt L F Belton, Distinguished Flying Cross. The school was not formally opened until 23 October 1943 (see image of Opening Plaque). Not until five years later was the planned capacity reached and then in 1948 four prefab classrooms were added. In 1954 the new science block was opened with additional laboratories, domestic science rooms and four extra classrooms. The final school population levelled out at around 900 – almost double the original plan. Known as the Percy Jackson

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 ...

from 1939, the school became comprehensive in 1968 when it merged with Adwick High School, a Secondary Modern School which was located next door. The new school was renamed Adwick School. The school was later granted specialist status as a

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 ...

and was renamed North Doncaster Technology College. The original Art Deco school premises were demolished in 2013. The school converted to academy status in September 2009 and was renamed Outwood Academy Adwick. In October 2011, work began on a £16 million rebuild. The new school site opened to pupils in February 2013.

Academics

The school is subjected to the same National Curriculum restriction found in all UK state-schools, it aims to give all

Key Stage 3 Key Stage 3 (commonly abbreviated as KS3) is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14. In Northern Ireland the ...

students a broad introduction to academic life while catering for their individual interests. In 2016 this was classified by Ofsted as an outstanding school, In 2017-18 the

Key Stage 4 Key Stage 4 (KS4) is the legal term for the two years of school education which incorporate GCSEs, and other examinations, in maintained schools in England normally known as Year 10 and Year 11, when pupils are aged between 14 and 16 by August 31. ...

results dipped, but the sixth form results held steady. Ofsted was complimentary of the general standard of teaching but found a couple of subjects that were not using the available internal results to correctly target the work set to the more able students. Ofsted was convinced that the trust and local management were addressing the problem.

Notable former members

Former Teachers

Brian O'Malley Brian Kevin O'Malley (22 January 1930 – 6 April 1976) was a British Labour Party politician. O'Malley was educated at Mexborough Grammar School and Manchester University. He was a teacher and lecturer and a trade union official. From 19 ...

(History), Became a Labour MP and Minister of State for Health & Social Security, introduced SERPS:

State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme The State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS), originally known as the State Earnings Related Pension Supplement, was a UK Government pension arrangement, to which employees and employers contributed between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2002, when i ...

Former Pupils

(1939 entrant), businessman. *

Raymond Hide Raymond Hide CBE FRS (17 May 1929 – 6 September 2016) was a British physicist, who was a professor of physics at the University of Oxford and, since 2000, senior research investigator at Imperial College, London. Life Hide was educated at Per ...

CBE FRS (1940 entrant), Professor of Physics. *

Richard Lumb Richard Graham Lumb (born 27 February 1950, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England) is an English first-class cricketer, who started playing cricket for Brodsworth Main C.C. in Doncaster and then played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1969 to 1984 ...

(1961 entrant), Cricketer (batsman) for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Roy Cromack Roy Cromack (18 February 1940 – 10 November 2017) was a racing cyclist who represented Britain in track races and in international road races such as the Peace Race. He was the first British cyclist to ride more than 500 miles in a 24-hour ti ...

(1950 entrant), Road Cyclist *

Derrick Downing Derrick Graham Downing (born 3 November 1945) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender or a winger in the Football League for Middlesbrough, Orient, York City and Hartlepool United and in non-League football for F ...

(1957 entrant), Professional Footballer. * Ros Jones (Ros Cavnor, 1961 entrant), Mayor of Doncaster. *

Stan Brookes Stan Brookes (born 2 February 1953) was an English former footballer who played for Doncaster Rovers and KV Mechelen as a defender. He attended the Percy Jackson Grammar School, Doncaster, 1964 entrant.Admissions Registers. Percy Jackson GS Co ...

(1964 entrant), Professional Footballer. * Ricky Ravenhill (1993 entrant), Professional Footballer.

References

External links

* * Percy Jackson Alumni , http://www.percyjacksons.co.uk {{authority control Secondary schools in Doncaster Academies in Doncaster Adwick Adwick le Street