The Burgess Hill Academy (formerly Oakmeeds Community College) is a

co-educational 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) ...

located in central

Burgess Hill Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, England.

History

Oakmeeds was created as a County Secondary School in 1958 and became a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

in 1971. Oakmeeds took its name from the oak trees in the school grounds, running along the path of a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, and from Meeds Pottery, which stood there before Oakmeeds was built. It mainly serves Burgess Hill; but also has students from nearby villages, including

Hassocks Hassocks is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. Its name is believed to derive from the tufts of grass found in the surrounding fields. Located approximately north of Brighton, with a populatio ...

and

Hurstpierpoint Hurstpierpoint is a village in West Sussex, England, southwest of Burgess Hill, and west of Hassocks railway station. It sits in the civil parish of Hurstpierpoint and Sayers Common which has an area of 2029.88 ha and a population of ...

, as well as the

City of Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...

area, and

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...

, to the north. Oakmeeds celebrated its

semicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saint ...

in 2005. According to

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 ...

, in 2010 there were 1059 students at Oakmeeds, between age 11 and 16. The

report in 2004 classed Oakmeeds as a "Good School" and in 2008 classed Oakmeeds as a "Borderline to Good School". It was recognised as a

Business and Enterprise College Business and Enterprise Colleges (BECs) were introduced in 2002 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in England. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields. Schools that successfully applied to the Specialist Schoo ...

and also has Eco School status and the

Sportsmark Sportsmark is Sport England's accreditation scheme for secondary schools. The scheme recognises a school's out of hours sports provision.

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 ...

results were generally below average. In 2014 it was rated as inadequate by Ofsted and put in Special Measures. At the end of 2008, T block suffered substantial damage to one side as a result of an arson attack. The arsonist, a former pupil at the school who was convicted in March 2011, destroyed art and RE coursework and put half of T block out of action until September 2010. Previously a community school administered by

West Sussex County Council West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is the authority that governs the non-metropolitan county of West Sussex. The county also contains seven district and borough councils, and 158 town, parish and neighbourhood councils. The county council has 7 ...

, in September 2016 Oakmeeds Community College converted to academy status and renamed The Burgess Hill Academy. The school is now sponsored by the

University of Brighton Academies Trust The University of Brighton Academies Trust is an Academy Trust operated by the University of Brighton. The trust runs 15 academy schools in Crawley, Mid Sussex, Shoreham-by-Sea, Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea. 12 are primary schools. The seconda ...

Notable former pupils

* Will Wood, footballer

References

External links

The Burgess Hill Academy official websiteThe West Sussex County Council information siteThe Oakmeeds Website (some information is out of date)Ofsted inspeection report, 2007: Oakmeeds School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess Hill Academy, The Educational institutions established in 1958 1958 establishments in England Secondary schools in West Sussex Burgess Hill Academies in West Sussex