Waterhead Academy 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) ...

with academy status located in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The academy was taken out of special measures in June 2016 and was one of the most improved academies in the country in 2016. The Academy is rated as good by Ofsted (leadership) and is sponsored by South Pennines Academies Trust. The academy first opened in September 2010, following the formal closure of Counthill School in Moorside and Breeze Hill School in

. The academy was initially located at the two campuses of the former schools, however it relocated to a new main campus in November 2012. The main campus is located on the site of the former Orb Mill. The academy also operates a sports campus which is located at the site of the former Counthill School.

History

Waterhead Academy began with the merging of two

secondary schools: the predominantly Asian Breeze Hill School in

and the predominantly

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population wa ...

Counthill School in Moorside, using a strategy of 'forced integration' in an attempt to quell racial tension between Oldham children.

References

External links

Waterhead Academy official websiteThe integrated school that could teach a divided town to live together
Dave Edmonds, Guardian article on forced integration study, 5 November 2015. Secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham Educational institutions established in 2010 Academies in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham 2010 establishments in England Schools in Oldham {{GreaterManchester-school-stub