Admiral Lord Nelson School is a mixed co-educational secondary school in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Hampshire, England. The school, located on the eastern side of Portsmouth on Dundas Lane, opposite Ocean

retail park A retail park is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom and other European countries. They form a key aspect of European retail geographies, alongside indoor shopping centres, standalo ...

and running parallel to the Eastern Road, is situated next to

Langstone Harbour Langstone Harbour is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Hampshire. It is an inlet of the English Channel in Hampshire, sandwiched between Portsea Island to the south and west, Hayling Island to the south and east, and Langs ...

, and was constructed on a green field site. Named after

Horatio Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

and hero of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, with which it has already built ties, it was established in 1995 and specialises in Business and Enterprise to provide education for 11- to 16-year-old students. On opening it had an initial attendance of 170-year 7 students, which has subsequently grown substantially to around 1000. During this time, it has forged partnerships with the local business community.

Facilities

Admiral Lord Nelson School Building at sunrise

Along with another Portsmouth

state school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary educational institution, schools that educate all students without charge. They are ...

Milton Cross Milton John Cross (April 16, 1897 – January 3, 1975) was an American radio announcer famous for his work on the NBC and American Broadcasting Company, ABC radio networks. He was best known as the voice of the Metropolitan Opera, hosting its Met ...

, Admiral Lord Nelson School is currently one of only two fully

accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...

schools in the city; providing numerous lifts for disabled students. The building also has several small two-wheeled trolleys for transporting disabled students up and down stairs during accidents and emergencies. Sporting facilities include an outdoor all weather full size

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has m ...

pitch and multi-use game area and an indoor fitness studio, these facilities along with a sports hall and a dance studio have become a useful asset to the wider community, as part of the Community Improvement Partnership in the city of Portsmouth.

Ofsted and governance

The 2017

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 ...

Inspection awarded the school a rating of 2 ("Good") in a scale of 1 to 4, excellent to inadequate respectively. The founding headteacher, Dianne Smith, was succeeded by the new headteacher Steven Labedz who was appointed by the governors at the beginning of 2006 having previously held the post of Associate Headteacher. Nys Hardingham is the current headteacher.

Academy status

In October 2013, the school announced it was proposing to change its Governance status from community school to

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 ...

. The school formally converted to academy status on 1 April 2014. As a converter academy, the school is independent from both the local authority and any form of sponsor or chain of other academies. The school is funded directly from Central Government.

References

External links

* {{authority control Secondary schools in Portsmouth Educational institutions established in 1995 1995 establishments in England Academies in Portsmouth