The Spires College 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 ...

located in the

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

town of

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

, England. It is a

bilateral school In England, a partially selective school is one of a few dozen state-funded secondary schools that select a proportion of their intake by ability or aptitude, permitted as a continuation of arrangements that existed prior to 1997. Though treated ...

, with places for children who reach the required standard in the 11+ test and for those who do not take the test or do not reach the required standard. There is also specialist unit for students with hearing Impairment. The school is located in the Plainmoor district of Torquay.

History

In 1973 Westhill Secondary School and Homelands Technical High School, the latter being an all-boys school, joined to form Westlands School. It was split over two separate sites about half a mile from each other. The site on Westhill Road was known as the Lower School, whilst the other site, shared with Homelands Primary School in Westlands Lane, was known as the Upper School. The buildings on Westhill Road were originally built to be an army hospital during the

Second World War 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 ...

and each classroom had walls made of multiple double doors where beds would have been brought in and out. Throughout the 1970s, the school became increasingly run down with little or no investment in buildings. In 1978, a major fire, which broke out in the upper school's chemistry department storeroom, exacerbated the situation by seriously damaging many classrooms. Both sites relied heavily on outside cabins to provide extra teaching facilities which, by the late 1990s, were old and became increasingly unfit for purpose. In 1999, Homelands Primary School relocated to the Westhill Road site to allow work to commence on the Upper School Site for a brand new school building. This was financed through the government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme, whereby

Torbay Council Torbay Council is the local authority of Torbay in Devon, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Ta ...

owns the land whilst a private company built and owns the building, and manages the on site facilities, for a period of twenty-five years. The new school was built in sections, allowing the school to remain open during the works. The new building was opened to house the whole school in September 2001. Work then commenced on the Westhill Road site for a new building for Homelands Primary School. This was completed in Summer 2002. In September 2015 Westlands School became The Spires College.

Notable Students

References

External links

* , the institution's official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Spires College, The 1973 establishments in England Bilateral schools in England Educational institutions established in 1973 Foundation schools in Torbay Secondary schools in Torbay Schools in Torquay