Workington Academy 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) ...

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Loca ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

that was formed in September 2015 as a result of the merger of ''Southfield Technology College'' and ''Stainburn School and Science College''.

History

The former school, Stainburn School and Science College, was an average sized secondary school with shared sixth form located to the north of Workington in Cumbria. The students come from both the town and several of the surrounding villages. The school had specialist status for science from 2003. The proportion of students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities(LDD) was well above average; though the proportion of students with SEN statements was is broadly average. Demographically the majority of students are White British. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright It was closed requiring improvement in 2015, and the student transferred into the new academy. The school was helped through the transition period by seconded staff from William Howard Trust, and subsequently they joined that trust. The trust was renamed Cumbria Education Trust.

New building

The academy was first situated in the same Stainburn School and Science College building. It relocated to the new building, located at the same site, in March 2017. Workington Academy's new building was officially opened on Tuesday 26 September 2017 by Her Royal Highness

The Duchess of Gloucester Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curren ...

. As of 2018, both the Southfield Technology College building and the Stainburn School and Science College building have been demolished. Workington is small isolated community where change happens slowly, from Lancaster, from

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

and from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Cumbria Education Trust

The academy is part of the Cumbria Education Trust multi-academy trust. The trust's Chief Executive Officer is Mrs Lorrayne Hughes. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright

Academics

The 2018 Ofsted Report identified that the current headteacher is showing leadership, and is supported by the parents and children. It identifies that the school was not meeting government floor standards previously, and the principal problem for most pupils is raising their literacy and numeracy standards to an age appropriate level. It acknowledges that some children level cannot control their behaviour in the corridors and social areas and in some cases the classroom. Ofsted calls them 'a small disruptive minority', some teachers are targeted leading to variable quality of learning. The head has put strategies in place, and year on year the results are improving. The Cumbria Education Trust has broadly the same curriculum in its three secondary schools, based on the principle that each child is entitled to receive the education described in the UK governments

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with Federated stat ...

- the trusts plans to exceed it.

2020 Sixth form

In September 2020 a new level of co-operation starts with the initiation of the West Coast Sixth Form. Students from

Whitehaven Academy The Whitehaven Academy (formerly Whitehaven School) is a comprehensive co-educational secondary school with academy status, located in Whitehaven, in west Cumbria, England. The school was established in 1984. History The Whitehaven School ope ...

and Workington wanting to enter one of the three pathways of sixth-form education (Academic, Vocational and Other), will study in a combined sixthform. There will be a free bus service between the two sites

Workington Academy Radio

Workington Academy Radio is the student radio station of Workington Academy. They were nominated for secondary school station of the year at the Young Audio Awards in 2019 and 2020 respectively. In 2020 the students interviewed

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...

Negative publicity

In July 2017, the school received negative publicity after parents and pupils reported of poor teaching on a local Facebook page, with people claiming that there were a large amount of supply teachers and pupils being allowed to play on mobile phones. The interim headteacher, Colette Macklin, promptly hit back at the claims in an interview with local newspaper News and Star.

Headteachers

* Mr Jonathan Logan (2015–2016) * Mrs Colette Macklin (Interim, 2016–2017) * Mr Des Bird (2018–present)

Notable former pupils

Workington Grammar School

* Prof

Cliff Addison Cyril Clifford Addison, FRS (28 November 1913 – 1 April 1994) was a British inorganic chemist. Career Addison was a member of the Chemical Inspection Department, Ministry of Supply from 1939 to 1945. He was Lecturer, Reader and Professor of In ...

FRS FRSC FInstP, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry from 1960-78 at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

Mike Bewick Dr Mike Bewick is deputy medical director of NHS England. He is deputy to Sir Bruce Keogh. He was formerly a general practitioner in Egremont, Cumbria. He was formerly medical director for NHS Cumbria, at the time of the Cumbrian floods in 2009. ...

FRCGP FRCP, deputy director from 2013-15 of NHS England * Sir

Tony Cunningham Sir Thomas Anthony Cunningham (born 16 September 1952) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington from 2001 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Cumbr ...

, Labour MP from 2001-15 for

* Sir Brian Donnelly, Ambassador to Zimbabwe from 2001–04, and Ambassador to Yugoslavia from 1994–97 * Sir

William Stubbs William Stubbs (21 June 182522 April 1901) was an English historian and Anglican bishop. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford between 1866 and 1884. He was Bishop of Chester from 1884 to 1889 and Bishop of O ...

, Director of Education from 1979-88 of ILEA, Chief Executive from 1988-93 of the

Polytechnic and Colleges Funding Council Polytechnic is most commonly used to refer to schools, colleges, or universities that qualify as an institute of technology or vocational university also sometimes called universities of applied sciences. Polytechnic may also refer to: Educatio ...

(PCFC) and from 1992-96 of the

Further Education Funding Council for England The Further Education Funding Council for England (FEFC) was a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education and Skills which distributed funding to Further Education and Sixth Form Colleges in England between 1992 and 2001. It was ...

(FEFC) * Prof Paul Workman FRS, biochemist, Chief Executive since 2014 of the

Institute of Cancer Research The Institute of Cancer Research (the ICR) is a public research institute and a member institution of the University of London in London, United Kingdom, specialising in oncology. It was founded in 1909 as a research department of the Royal Mar ...

Stainburn School

Jamie Blamire Jamie Blamire (born 22 December 1997) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for Newcastle Falcons in Premiership Rugby. Early life Blamire was born in Seaton, Cumbria to parents Graeme, a conservatory builder and ...

, hooker for Newcastle Falcons rugby union team * Paul Dale, Chief technology officer of ITV * Ven

Catherine Pickford Catherine Ruth Pickford ( Packer; born 5 July 1976) is an English Anglican priest. Since September 2020, she has served as Archdeacon of Northolt in the Diocese of London, Church of England. She had previously been in parish ministry in the Di ...

, Archdeacon of Northolt *

Lee Peacock Lee Anthony Peacock (born 9 October 1976) is a Scottish former professional footballer and head of youth coaching at Swindon Town. As a player, he was a forward and midfielder from 1995 to 2015. Having started his professional career with Carl ...

professional footballer. Manchester City, Bristol City, Carlisle United and more

References

External links

Workington Academy official website

Cumbria Education Trust website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Cumbria Academies in Cumbria Workington Educational institutions established in 2015 2015 establishments in England