Woodkirk Academy

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Woodkirk Academy
Woodkirk High Logo.jpg
Address
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Rein Road, Tingley

Wakefield
,
West Yorkshire
,
WF3 1JQ

England
Coordinates53°43′47″N 1°35′08″W / 53.72962°N 1.58563°W / 53.72962; -1.58563Coordinates: 53°43′47″N 1°35′08″W / 53.72962°N 1.58563°W / 53.72962; -1.58563
Information
TypeAcademy
Established1948
Local authorityCity of Leeds
TrustLeodis Academies Trust
Department for Education URN137383 Tables
OfstedReports
Head teacherJo Barton (Principal)
Staff250+
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 19
Enrolment1,894
Colour(s)Royal Blue & Yellow
PublicationInspire Magazine
Websitehttp://www.woodkirkacademy.co.uk
Woodkirk High School viewed from Tingley Common

Woodkirk Academy (formerly Woodkirk High School) is an academy located in Tingley, West Yorkshire, England. Established in 1948, the school now has over 1,800 pupils on roll, over 300 sixth form students, and over 250 members of staff. Following Woodkirk gaining ‘Specialist Science Status', the school was briefly renamed Woodkirk High Specialist Science School from 2003 to 2011.

The current Principal is Mrs Jo Barton, who replaced Jonathan White in 2015. White had succeeded Bill Bailey in 2005. Assistant Head position was held by Joyce Ford for over 15 years until her passing in 2019.

History[]

Woodkirk opened to students as Woodkirk Secondary School in September 1948.

It consisted of a main hall, admin quarters, small classrooms, a gymnasium, the central ‘Tower Block’ which housed the Science and Humanities departments and later English and Mathematics.

1972 saw the addition of the ‘ROSLA’ Block which would accommodate the new 5th year students, in line with the raising of school leaving age (the meaning of ROSLA). Home Economics, Textiles and Woodwork were also situated here.

In the early 1980s, the Yellow Block was completed to house the new English and Science departments on the lower two floors. Labs were separated to teach Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy. The upper two floors housed the new Maths and Modern Languages departments.

In the 1990s a new sports hall was built to accommodate the growing number of students. This was followed by an ‘All-Weather’ pitch for outdoor sports and later a 3G synthetic-grass football pitch complete with goalposts and flood lighting.

In early 2003 the school gained ‘Specialist Science status’. Following this the school was renamed Woodkirk High Specialist Science School and the school logo was adapted to include an atom and the Pi (π) symbol.

In mid 2003, Woodkirk completed the Green Block, housing increased English and Religious Studies departments, a social area for Years 10 and 11, a new Learning Resource Centre and Library, and the new Woollin Hall, named after previous school chair of governors, Jeff Woollin. In November 2006 the main hall was refurbished and tiered seating was installed to be used for annual shows and assemblies.

In March 2007 the schools original administration building was demolished and a new data and administration suite was built to included separate entrances for pupils and visitors and extra space for office staff. In July 2008 an external shelter was built for dining outside. Early 2010 saw the conversion of the school minibus garages into a space used by Sixth Formers; it was used for meetings with the Labour Party representative of Morley and Outwood, Ed Balls, during the 2010 General and Local Elections. New areas were also constructed for Year 10 and 11 BTEC students.

In 2010 the school banned memory sticks and USB devices by preventing the school's networked computers from recognising such devices that could infect the network with viruses.

In September 2011 the school officially became an Academy, joining and with a name change to Woodkirk Academy. Shortly after the school acquired their status eight flat-screen televisions were positioned on various walls throughout the school, most of these showing a slideshow of photographs of students or graphs of the school's examination results, while the televisions in the common rooms showed news channels.

In the 2010s the new academy saw the replacement of its original tower-chimney. This had long been a landmark for the school but no longer fit with regulations, so was replaced with a more energy and fuel-efficient system.

Throughout the 2010s the original and older school buildings were refurbished and fitted with a new grey facade replacing the schools former blue and yellow panelling. Part of the former ‘ROSLA’ block was converted into the Dennis Fisher Sixth Form centre and is divided into three rooms, the Canteen, the Common Room, and the Computer Room. Downstairs are the refurbished Design Technology classrooms.

In September 2018, Woodkirk celebrated 70-years since its opening.

School Shows[]

Each year since the early 1960s the school has staged a public production. Past shows include: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Back to the 80s, Les Miserables, Fame, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors and The Sound of Music. In 1999, following the March production, the cast of Grease travelled to the London Palladium to represent the North-East as part of an afternoon performance celebrating the 100th anniversary of N.O.D.A. The cast performed a 10-minute excerpt of Myth!, written by a pupil and a school teacher.[citation needed]

In 2007 the school sixth form produced a show called "Summer Nights", written by students, which included songs from Wicked, Phantom Of The Opera, Grease, Side Show and The Last Five Years.[citation needed]

The 2008 school show was Chess, performed solely by students. Unlike previous years a 'Gala Night' was organised by the Business and Enterprise group for specially invited guests and staff. In March 2009 the school put on Seussical as the annual school show. This show celebrated the works of Dr. Seuss, famous for his creation of the "Grinch" and "Green Eggs and Ham". The 2010 production was Hairspray. Woodkirk was the first school to perform the musical, the amateur license having just been released. The 2011 production was the musical We Will Rock You, a tribute to Queen, and in March 2012, Beauty and the Beast. More recent performances have included The Phantom of the Opera (2013), Starlight Express (2014), The Addams Family (2015) and Ghost (2016) with three of them being officially reviewed by the Organisation NODA with great praise.[1]

The music department also organises performances at venues such as Woodkirk Church and Morley Town Hall.[citation needed]

Sixth Form at Woodkirk[]

Woodkirk Academy has a large sixth form with courses for study at AS and A2 level, including some subjects unavailable at GCSE level, such as Psychology. The sixth form has limited space for study and shares many classrooms with the rest of the school. Exclusive sixth form areas include work rooms and two common rooms and the conversion of the former ROSLA block into the Dennis Fisher Sixth Form Centre.[citation needed]

The Sixth Form at Woodkirk Academy has a separate, dedicated website, at http://woodkirksixthform.co.uk/.

School Uniform[]

Currently the school uniform includes a royal blue jumper with a yellow banded collar, with a different coloured collar, depending on the year group. The current lower school colours are: light blue, green, red, black and white (from years 7 to 11). Sixth form years 12 and 13 wear black, white or grey clothing. Sixth form dress code states that students must wear clothes that are gray and/or black and/or white. No large images or text are allowed on sixth form students' clothing, and they must wear an identity badge at all times.[citation needed]

Notable alumni[]

References[]

  1. ^ "NODA reviews for Woodkirk Academy". Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Stevie Ward returns to Woodkirk Academy". Woodkirk Academy. Retrieved 19 June 2020.

External links[]

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