Walney School is 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) ...

Walney Island Walney Island, also known as the Isle of Walney, is an island off the west coast of England, at the western end of Morecambe Bay in the Irish Sea. It is part of Barrow-in-Furness, separated from the mainland by Walney Channel, which is spanned b ...

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

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 ...

. As a result of the

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historians ...

, Walney Island needed to have its own secondary school. Today (2020) it is an 11 – 16

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

with approximately 585 students currently on roll.

History

Vickerstown Vickerstown is an area of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England, covered by the wards of Walney North and Walney South. It is an example of a model village built for workers by a company needing to expand, having been constructed in the early 20th ...

is an area of

, is an example of a planned estate built for workers by a company needing to expand. It was constructed in the early 20th century by

Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, Ltd (VSEL) was a shipbuilding company based at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in northwest England that built warships, civilian ships, submarines and armaments. The company was historically the Naval Constructi ...

, on Walney Island; an island connected to the British mainland via

Barrow Island Barrow Island may refer to: * Barrow Island (Western Australia), Australia * Barrow Island (Queensland), Australia * Barrow Island, Barrow-in-Furness Barrow Island is an area and electoral ward of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. Originall ...

, by a swing bridge. The school is on the edge of Vickerstown. As a result of the

, Walney Island needed to have its own secondary school. The present Sandy Gap site was agreed in 1951 and the school built. Lord Cavendish opened a new Sensory Garden in 2003. Walney School achieved Specialist Engineering Status in 2009, in Winter 2010 began to expand, by building a £6m redevelopment and extension. It will has 10 new classrooms, two music rooms, two art rooms and an additional science block. The single storey classrooms also have a Sedam turf roof, with plants growing on top to have an environmental and visual appeal. The work was meant to be undertaken in five phases, taking 65 weeks, for completion in August, the next year but due to bad weather was finally completed in summer 2012. Although to go along with the Specialist Engineering Status the £300,000 engineering innovation centre was built and completed in September 2011. In September 2014 the school converted to academy status as part of the Queen Katherine School Multi-Academy Trust. Since June 2022 George Hastwell School have been occupying four of the classrooms in Walney School during Thursdays and will be moving in fully as of September 2022.

Context

Walney School is an 11 – 16 Academy with approximately 585 students currently on roll. It converted to an academy in September 2014, when the predecessor school was condemned by Ofsted and placed in special measures. A new headteacher was appointed other staff transferred. It is sponsored by Queen Katherine School multi-academy trust, who has strengthened the governing body and given significant support to the school leaders including support for financial management and human resources issues, and training for senior and middle leaders. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright Ofsted however said that the school did not meet the government’s floor standard in 2015. The floor standard being the minimum expectation for pupils’ progress across a number of subjects including English and mathematics. Outcomes have remained stubbornly low for too long. Pupils leaving the school in 2015 and 2016 were not well prepared for the next stages of education, because too few made the expected progress in English and mathematics. Performance across a range of subjects was low. The school performed inadequately when compared to the national picture in terms of the proportions of pupils attaining the top grades at General Certificate of Secondary Educationin many subjects.In 2016 the Progress 8 score was well below the national average. The school's most able pupils achieved poorly overall, especially in mathematics and science. There large differences between the achievement of the school’s disadvantaged pupils and that of other pupils nationally. The most able disadvantaged pupils achieved on average more than one General Certificate of Secondary Education grade less than did their peers.

Achievements

General Certificate of Secondary Education 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 ...

and

General National Vocational Qualification A General National Vocational Qualification, or GNVQ, was a certificate of vocational education in the United Kingdom. The last GNVQs were awarded in 2007. The qualifications related to occupational areas in general, rather than any specific ...

, the school is ranked 33rd out of the forty-seven secondary schools in Cumbria. It has no

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 ...

, so does not teach at 'A'-level.Walney School
at BBC secondary school tables online (accessed 11 April 2008)

References

External links

Walney School
at dcsf.gov.uk (including location map)
School closed in April 2008 after petrol bomb

EduBase
Academies in Westmorland and Furness School buildings in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson Schools in Barrow-in-Furness Secondary schools in Westmorland and Furness {{Cumbria-school-stub