The Halifax Academy (formerly Halifax High) is a mixed

all-through school All-through schools educate young people throughout multiple stages of their education, generally throughout childhood and adolescence. Definition The term "all-through" can be legitimately applied to establishments in many different circumstan ...

located in Halifax,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. The school is predominantly made up of children from a South Asian background.

History

The school's name derives from the original The Halifax High School, a school in a town centre Victorian building off Huddersfield Road. The school was relocated to The former

Wellesley Barracks Wellesley Barracks is a military installation in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. History The barracks was built in the Fortress Gothic Revival Style as a depot for the 33rd and 76th Regiment's. On 1 April 1873 the depot was established, wit ...

in 2005. The Duke of Wellington's regiment regimental depot was based at the barracks until 1958. Halifax High was formed in 1992 following the amalgamation of the Clare Hall and Haugh Shaw Schools. By 2003 the school was the tenth most improved in England according to government performance tables, and in 2007 was judged as 'outstanding' 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 ...

. It received a visit from the Queen in May 2004. The school was converted to academy status on 1 November 2013 and was renamed The Halifax Academy. Previously 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) ...

for pupils aged 11 to 16, in September 2014 the school opened a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

phase and became an all-through school for pupils aged 4 to 16. The March 2013

(Office for Standards in Education) inspection rated the school as Grade 2 (Good) for overall effectiveness. It judged that the school had improved in mathematics and English. Pupil behaviour was considered 'good' because of the effectiveness of the school’s house system, and attendance was above average.

Subjects

Mathematics, Science, English Language and English Literature is compulsory for all students to study until they leave the Academy. When students enter Year 9 they will be given the choice to choose 2 or 3 subjects from the following: Art, Computer Science, Design, Geography, Graphic Communications, Health & Social Care, History, ICT, Spanish, German, Photography, PE, Religious Studies and Sport. They will sit GCSE examinations for these subjects in the second half of Year 11.

House system

Pupils belong to one of three houses: Auriga, Orion and Pegasus – house names were chosen by pupils when the school moved from the previous location to Wellesley Park. There are competitions between houses each year, including a sports day and inter-house games. Houses and tutor groups raise money for charities such as Comic Relief and Children in Need. A pupil's house is identified by tie colour: sky blue for Auriga; dark maroon for Orion; and royal blue for Pegasus.

Incidents

Violent protests involving hundreds of students led to disruption and vandalism occurring in 2009 and 2020. In both instances, projectiles such as eggs were thrown and police were called to the school grounds to break up the pupils. On 8th October 2021, the school was evacuated after a hoax bomb threat.

References

External links

School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halifax Academy Secondary schools in Calderdale Schools in Halifax, West Yorkshire Academies in Calderdale Primary schools in Calderdale