Welland Park Academy 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

Market Harborough Market Harborough is a market town in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, in the far southeast of the county, forming part of the border with Northamptonshire. Market Harborough's population was 25,143 in 2020. It is the admi ...

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

for 11-16-year-olds. It is located on ''Welland Park Road'' and like the road, is named after the

River Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market ...

by which it was built and the leafy park adjacent. The catchment area for the academy covers Market Harborough and surrounding villages, including

Kibworth Kibworth is an area of the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes in England, civil parishes: the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt . At the 2011 census, Kibwor ...

, Foxton, The Langtons,

Gumley Gumley is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district, in the county of Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom. The closest town is Market Harborough. The population of the civil parish (including Laughton, Leics) at the 2011 census wa ...

, Laughton, and

Lubenham Lubenham is a small rural village and civil parish west of the market town of Market Harborough, in the Harborough district, in the south of Leicestershire, England. The first National Hunt Chase Challenge Cup was held in Lubenham, in the grou ...

, with many families from

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

villages also applying for a place. New students attend a thriving summer school.

History

The school was originally known as Welland Park High School, and later Welland Park Community College. Previously a community school administered by

Leicestershire County Council Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a to ...

, in August 2011 Welland Park Community College converted to academy status and was renamed Welland Park Academy. It was formerly a

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

educating pupils aged 11 to 14 but extended its age range to 16 in 2016 becoming a secondary school. The academy has maintained its autonomy and ability to respond to the needs of its own students by remaining a stand-alone academy, having decided not to join a larger Multi Academy Trust at the time of writing.

Facilities

Facilities are hired by local groups including Market Harborough Youth Theatre, Parnips Theatre Group, Market Harborough Hockey Club, and others. The school built a new sports hall in May 2023, worth £1.2m,https://harboroughfm.co.uk/harborough-schools-new-1-2m-sports-hall-officially-opened/#:~:text=A%20new%20state%2Dof%2Dthe,made%20available%20to%20the%20community. and is used by the community and students regularly.

Alumni

* Martin Johnson - Rugby Player * Andy Peake - Footballer

References

External links

Welland Park Academy official website

Latest Ofsted Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welland Park Academy Academies in Leicestershire Market Harborough Secondary schools in Leicestershire