Abraham Darby Academy

Abraham Darby Academy for the Performing Arts and Business Enterprise in Telford, Shropshire, UK, is the current name for the comprehensive school on Hill Top Lane, Ironbridge Road in Madeley which was first founded in 1937. It is named after Abraham Darby III and is situated approximately one mile from the world famous Iron Bridge which he built in 1779. In September 2008 the School was changed into an Academy by linking it to Adams' Grammar School and was accepted by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The current headteacher is Stephen Hawke.

History

The school, now 84 years old (2011), was originally founded as Madeley Senior Council School, Hill Top, opened in 1927 with 400 mixed places. This original building still stands today as part of the school, now classed as E-block (due to it looking similar to the shape of an E from an aerial view). It later became known as Madeley Modern School from 1944, it was enlarged in 1958-9 and had 619 pupils by the end of 1959. It amalgamated with Coalbrookdale High School in 1965 to form the Abraham Darby Comprehensive School. There were 1,244 pupils in 1980. The school has had 44 years of musical tradition and success, particularly with the wind band and the famous Abraham Darby Showband, which has played in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and at the Carnegie Hall in New York. In recognician of this success, the school achieved Arts College status and again re-named itself, this time to the Abraham Darby School for the Performing Arts in 2003.

Development into an Academy

Between 2006 and 2008 there were significant improvements at Abraham Darby and the upgrade from a school into an Academy gave the opportunity to increase the pace of improvement still further and ensure excellent results for students.

Links between Abraham Darby and Adams' Grammar will be developed at every level and will benefit both sets of students by allowing multiple opportunities for the sharing of resources, student and teacher exchanges and leadership training through a student prefect and mentoring system. Students in both schools will be part of a new house system and will be linked across the schools by colours. Through this system, students will be brought together for sporting, musical, drama and other events.

Both schools will be underpinned by a curriculum including the provision of cutting edge ICT, but will each have a different specialism; Abraham Darby School in performing arts and possibly business and enterprise, while Adams’ Grammar School will specialise in technology and modern languages.

Abraham Darby students received new uniform comprising a tie and blazer bearing the Haberdashers’ crest.

This unique project, which involves Abraham Darby School, Adams’ Grammar School, Telford and Wrekin Council, the Haberdashers' Company, and the DCSF, aims to bring the two schools together under a shared ethos and set of values. The Haberdashers' Company, as sponsors, brings 300 years of experience and expertise in education and the proposals will see Abraham Darby and Adams’ Grammar linked through governors, but continuing to act as separate schools. There will also be, as part of this project, substantial capital investment in both schools and Abraham Darby will have a ‘state of the art’ new school building by 2011.

Notable alumni

Some of Shropshire's most famous sportsmen attended the various forms of Abraham Darby. Billy Wright, the former captain of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. and the England football team, attended Madeley Senior School and former English super-middleweight professional boxer Richie Woodhall attended during the 1980s.

External links

• Abraham Darby Homepage
• Abraham Darby Academy Bands
• History