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Colchester Academy

Coordinates: 51°53′26″N 0°56′46″E / 51.8906°N 0.946°E / 51.8906; 0.946
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Colchester Academy
Address
Map
Hawthorn Avenue

Colchester
,
Essex
,
CO4 3JL

Coordinates51°53′26″N 0°56′46″E / 51.8906°N 0.946°E / 51.8906; 0.946
Information
TypeAcademy
Local authorityEssex
TrustPenrose Learning Trust UID:16707
SpecialistEnglish and Health Sciences.
Department for Education URN136195 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalJenny Betts
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 16
Enrolment758 As of March 2020
Capacity1200
Websitewww.colchesteracademy.org.uk

Colchester Academy, formerly Sir Charles Lucas Arts College, is a secondary school in Colchester, Essex specialising in English and Health Sciences. It opened on 6 September 2010.[1]

Description

Colchester Academy opened in September 2010 in the existing buildings of its predecessor school and moved into new, purpose-built academy buildings in February 2014. The academy is sponsored by Colchester Institute and the University of Essex. Colchester Academy is smaller than the average-sized secondary school, with a capacity for 1200 but as of March 2020 only having 758.[2]

The school received a good ofsted report in 2017 where the inspectors said that the trust was giving the school leaders good support, and through the efforts of the head and senior staff structures were in place. There were good relationships between adults and students. The behaviour of the pupils had improved and consequently their results had improved too.[3]

Academics

There is a two year Key Stage 3, where subjects are taught that comply with the National Curriculum. The language taught is Spanish.[4] At the end of year, students select the options. They are advised to follow one of three pathways: a totally academic one, suitable for students who are aiming for a Russell Group university, a four by four one- with four academic GCSE courses and four vocational BTEC courses and a mainly vocational pathway. Within these pathways there are six or seven combinations of subjects. Each student studies four optional subjects and a core of 4 subjects, with a few statutory non-exam activities.[5]

Controversy

A BBC Panorama investigation broadcast in September 2018 suggested that some work, funded from public money, was not completed in the Academy's Sports Centre. The Conservative government, which had approved the academy initiative, had been warned about problems in 2015, but no action had been taken. Michael Dwan, who set up Bright Tribe, said "I am not in control of the trusts and never have been."[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sir Charles Lucas Arts College becomes Colchester Academy". Daily Gazette. 6 September 2010. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  2. ^ "Ofsted Report 2015". ofsted.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2020. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright
  3. ^ "Ofsted Report 2017". ofsted.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Colchester Academy- Curriculum Information". www.colchesteracademy.org.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Option Form" (PDF). www.colchesteracademy.org.uk/. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  6. ^ Munro, Bronagh (10 September 2018). "Academy chain accused of misusing government funds". BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.