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Woodham Academy

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Woodham Academy
Address
Map
Washington Crescent

Woodham, Newton Aycliffe
,
County Durham
,
DL5 4AX

England England
Information
TypeAcademy School
MottoAchievement for all[1]
Established1970[2]
Local authorityCounty Durham
Department for Education URN114304 Tables
OfstedReports
HeadteacherMrs Christine Forsyth [3]
Age11 to 18
Enrollment759
HousesBrancepeth, Lambton, Raby
Colour(s) black and  green[4]
Websitehttp://www.woodham.org.uk

Woodham Academy is a school and former sixth form college[5] in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, England. The school was previously known as Woodham Community Technology College (from 2000 to 20) and was initially opened as Woodham Comprehensive School in 1970.[6]

Current Position

Admissions

The school gained technology college status in 1999.[7] It is one of two secondary schools within Newton Aycliffe, the other being Greenfield School Community and Arts College.[8]

Woodham CTC had 897 students as of January 2012.

It is situated just south of Woodham Burn, not far (west) from the northern junction of the A167 and the B6443 Central Avenue. Aycliffe School is nearby to the east. Access over Woodham Burn is via the Great Aycliffe Bridge.

Academic performance

It gets GCSE results slightly below the England average and average for North East England. A recent Ofsted report [1] states the school "is a good school that is improving strongly". It also goes on to say that the school's behavioural standards are improving, which is having a large effect on the school's achievement. The school also thrives on a highly positive view from students: one student when asked in an Ofsted interview replied with ‘The people here make this school what it is – friendly relationships, but teachers are strict when necessary.’ Each inspection reviews the school as rapidly improving. See the difference in reports by viewing them here [2]

Historical Results

Summary of Key Stage 4 results[9] 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Number of students in the Year Group 226 203 219 181 TBC
Number of boys in the Year Group 118 106 126 102 TBC
Number of girls in the Year Group 108 94 93 79 TBC
Percentage of students achieving 5 A*-C 59% 63% 68% 80% TBC
Percentage of students achieving 5 A*-C including GCSE English and Maths 41% 54% 49% 52% 57%
Percentage of students achieving 5 A*-G 96% 98% 97% 98% TBC
Percentage of students achieving English Baccalaureate n/a n/a 14% 25% TBC
Percentage of students expected progress in English n/a n/a n/a 76% TBC
Percentage of students expected progress in Mathematics n/a n/a n/a 50% TBC
Percentage of students achieving 1 A*-G 98% 98% 97% 100% TBC
Average Points Score 372 377 434 501 TBC

Local School Comparison

Percentage achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs including English and maths [10] 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Woodham 41% 54% 49% 52% 57% 58%
Greenfield 34% 44% 44% 50% 55% 70%

Facilities

Within the school there are a wide variety of facilities including several science laboratories, a swimming pool, a music suite, technology workshops and over 370 networked computers. Also there are a number of Apple products for students to use in lessons.[11]

In June 2012, the school announced that in the new school year it will introduce an Apple Mac computer suite. This will be an independent room with around 20 Apple Mac computers which will be used for media creation.

Also new to the school is the Learning Centre. This room is situated where the old library was, it is a large room where students can go during free lessons, lunch and after school to catch up on work and revision as well as one-to-one tuition with teachers.

Sports Academy

In September 2012 Woodham opened its Sports Academy which aims to offer "high quality coaching opportunities to elite athletes in a range of sports" [12]

House System

In September 2011 the Woodham house system was re-introduced for year seven to ten. The houses are named after local castles. The houses are Brancepeth, Lambton and Raby. Students collect points for their house by working hard and taking part in extracurricular activities. Each house had a staff head of house (organising the rewards, competitions and assemblies) and a student house captain (responsible for ensuring as many students turn up, promoting competitions and being a role-model for younger students .

Year Winning House Student house captain Staff Head of house
2012 Lambton Owen Dickinson Stacey Reay
2013 Lambton Owen Dickinson Stacey Reay
2014 Lambton Owen Dickinson Stacey Reay
2015 Brancpeth no captain no head

In 2015 there was no house captains or head of house due to the departure of two of the head of houses and all the house captains. Stacey Reay was a temporary head of house for all three and oversaw the whole house system.

History

There was a third secondary school in Newton Aycliffe called "The Avenue Comprehensive" - which was demolished in 1992, itself merged from two former secondary schools - "Marlowe Hall Secondary Modern School" and "Milton Hall".[13] It was amalgamated with Woodham.

Woodham Comprehensive School was built under the CLASP program (Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme). It was officially opened on 29 June 1970 by Alice Bacon, Baroness Bacon, a former Labour MP.

Academy Conversion

In March 2012 the school's head teacher Christine Forsyth announced that she will be submitting a request to turn the school into an academy. The school introduced a new uniform in September 2012 for the new Academy. The old Woodham CTC uniform was a black polo shirt with the logo on the left side of the chest and the Technology College logo on the right arm. The new Woodham Academy uniform is a grey suit jacket over a white shirt with a tie. The tie is a combination of green, gold and black. For years 7-9 the tie is a clip on and years 10 & 11 have a traditional tie with the new school logo sewn into it. Boys are required to wear straight cut trousers and girls either straight cut trousers or a school skirt that is no shorter than knee length.

The school insists that, while the school may undergo dramatic physical changes, its moral standards of Achievement For All will remain.[citation needed]

Woodham CTC

Arson

On 4 July 1990 the school was set alight by arsonists. Around a third of the school's teaching area was destroyed and an estimated £1 million of damage was caused. The damaged section of the school was rebuilt and reopened on 12 December 1992.[2]

Loss of sixth form

When the sixth form closed there were 22 students pursuing A-level courses. Well established colleges such as Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form and New College Durham are popular choices for Woodham's students now. Many students go on to study further and higher education.[14]

Changes to tutor system

Students sometimes keep one form tutor through Years 7 to 10, but more commonly they experience 2-3 different tutors in their school life. In Year 11 students are supported by a specialist Year 11 tutor.

Head teachers

Years Head teacherb[2]
1970–1980 John Pearson (OBE)
1980–1990 Katherine Carr
1990–1994 Andrew Bennett
1994–2010 Steven Harness
2010–Present Christine Forsyth [15]

Notable alumni

  • Fire damage in The Auckland Sector of the school
    Fire damage in The Auckland Sector of the school
  • Before and after the fire
    Before and after the fire

Notes

  1. ^ As of April 2009.[14]
  2. ^ Position name changed to "Principal" in 2010.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Woodham Academy - About Woodham". Woodham Academy. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-08-17.
  2. ^ a b c "The History of Woodham Academy". Woodham Academy. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  3. ^ "The Governing Body". Woodham Academy. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  4. ^ "Uniform Information". Woodham Academy. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  5. ^ as nobody wants to attend the school%2F&date=2010-11-14 "School cuts back sixth form (From The Advertiser Series)". The Advertiser. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-08-17. {{cite web}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help)
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference History of Woodham-a very violent school was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Technology College Status". Woodham Community Technology College. Archived from the original on 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  8. ^ "Schools in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham". school-search.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  9. ^ "Woodham KS4 Performance Table". Department For Education. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  10. ^ "Greenfield KS4 Performance Table". Department For Education. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  11. ^ "Facilities at the College". Woodham Community Technology College. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  12. ^ "Woodham Opens Sports Academy". Newton News.
  13. ^ "History of Newton Aycliffe". Great Town Council. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
  14. ^ a b "2009 Ofsted Report". Ofsted. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  15. ^ a b "Christine Forsyth - New Head Teacher". Woodham Community Technology College. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  16. ^ "Mark's in league of his own". Sunday Sun. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
  17. ^ "Paul Magrs". Fantasticfiction.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  18. ^ a b "Small town is in safe hands". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  19. ^ a b "Woodham Community Technology College - Parents' Mailing (March 2010)". Woodham Community Technology College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
  20. ^ "Ross Turnbull". The Northern Echo. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
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