King Alfred's Academy
| Type | Academy |
|---|---|
| Headteacher | Simon Spiers |
| Chair | Daniel Craig |
| Specialism | Sports |
| Location |
Wantage Oxfordshire OX12 9BY England Coordinates: 51°35′12″N 1°25′46″W / 51.5866°N 1.4294°W |
| Local authority | Oxfordshire |
| DfE URN | 123263 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1755 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Ridgeway, Vale, White Horse |
| Colours | Sky blue, navy blue and black (Ridgeway=Red, White Horse=Yellow, Vale=Blue) |
| Website | King Alfred’s Academy |
King Alfred's Academy is a secondary comprehensive school in Wantage, Oxfordshire, recognised as a Specialist Sports College.[1] It is named after King Alfred The Great, who ruled Wessex from 871 to 899 and was born in Wantage some time between 847 and 849AD. The school has approximately 140 teachers and 2000 students spread across three sites.
History
The general history of King Alfred's is vague and often debated over by local historians. The school amalgamated with Icknield (now East Site) and Segsbury (now West Site) during the 1980s.
The three schools (Segsbury Secondary Modern, Icknield Comprehensive and King Alfred's Grammar School) were broadly independent from each other, with some links from 1972. They merged to become Wantage School (Segsbury, Icknield, and King Alfred's Halls) for the 1984/5 academic term. For the 1987/8 term and beyond, the whole entity was renamed King Alfred's School to retain the former's history.
The Sixth Form was built in the late 1970s next door to Centre Site.
The School became a Specialist Sports College in the late 1990s.
In September 2011 King Alfred's was given Academy status
Alumni include: spy novelist John Gardner; actor/author Stephen North; and jockey Lester Piggot.
Sites
The school is distributed over four sites, corresponding to the age groups catered for.
East Site, formerly Icknield School, caters for year 7 and year 8 students. In 2012 £661,000 was spent on improvements to the facilities including new classrooms, a new science lab, new music rooms and a new fitness suite. In all, East Site has more than 25 classrooms, including four science labs, four ICT rooms and five rooms devoted to design and technology.
West Site, formerly Segsbury School, is the site attended by year 9 and Year 10 students. It has more than 20 classrooms including 5 science labs, 8 ICT rooms and a sports dome. It does not have a library.
Centre Site, formerly King Alfred's School, is the site attended by year 11 students, those in the last year of Compulsory education in the UK. It has more than 30 classrooms, 16 of which are situated in a four storey block, which includes science labs and ICT rooms. It has no onsite sports facilities, but is able to make use of the local leisure centre.
The Sixth Form site, used by students aged between 16 and 18, and located across the road from Centre Site, was opened in the 1970s. It also makes use both of the Centre Site facilities and those of the local leisure centre, the latter offering students access to sports activities and a dance studio. The sixth form is Oxfordshire's second largest, after Thame).[citation needed]
Academy status
In February 2011 an OFSTED inspection identified King Alfred's as 'outstanding'; subsequently the school was granted academy status. (The application for this status is said to have been made in the hope that it would bring in additional funding: both to counteract the impact of anticipated cuts, and to enable new building works to be undertaken.)
References
- ↑ Ofsted profile, as of August 2013.