Marlowe Academy
 | |
| Type | Academy |
|---|---|
| Principal | Cassie Ellins[1] |
| Location |
Stirling Way Ramsgate Kent CT12 6NB United Kingdom Coordinates: 51°21′00″N 1°23′31″E / 51.350°N 1.392°E |
| Local authority | Kent |
| DfE URN | 128340 Tables |
| Students | 822[2] |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–19 |
| Website | www.marloweacademy.co.uk |
Marlowe Academy is a state-funded academy school close to Ramsgate in England, on the Isle of Thanet, in a custom-built set of buildings intended to replace the previous Ramsgate School.
History and organisation
The school was founded in 2005 as an academy, with thirty million pounds spent on the new school buildings. It was intended to replace the existing Ramsgate School, which had been marked as "failing" after inspections by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).[3]
Academic performance
In January 2011, the school leadership said they were disappointed in its standings in the performance tables, showing it third from last, but said that "this academy was set up to solve the problems in a particular area and we are doing that", with the 67% proportion of pupils achieving five A-to-C grades at GCSE being better than previous years.[4] A particular problem faced by the school is described as the "low academic standards of pupils coming into the Academy from local primary schools".[5]
The school was considered amongst "the worst schools in England" following an Ofsted inspection later in 2011, which found that "many Year 10 and 11 pupils had a reading age that was at least two years below their actual age", and placed the school in special measures. However, a subsequent inspection in March 2012 found that the school had made satisfactory progress in all areas inspected.[6] "The number of children gaining five good GCSEs had improved", but was still below expected standards, at only twenty per cent.[7]
Some credit for the improvements was given to temporary principal Carl Wakefield, who was described as having "changed the Marlowe Academy in just nine months".[8] As well as continued improvements in exam results, with an expectation of 84% of students achieving grades between A and C at GCSE in 2012, as against 64% in 2011 and only 4% in 2005,[9] in May 2012 it was claimed that a greater proportion of students were planning to stay on at the Marlowe Academy for their A-levels, instead of moving to other colleges in the area.[10]
Curriculum
As well as teaching the subjects of the National Curriculum, the school uses the facilities of the community radio station and registered charity[11] Academy FM, based on the same site, to teach pupils about local radio and the technology involved in running it. Marlowe Academy pupils as young as thirteen have "taken control" of running a show on the radio station.[12] Although the radio station is based at the Academy, it is still "open to all pupils in Thanet", as it has been for its first two years of operation.[11]
In September 2012, it was announced that the academy's new principal, Cassie Ellins, would co-host Academy FM's breakfast show on Friday mornings.[1]
The school also runs educational events such as, in 2012, a two-week event focusing on "science, technology and mathematics".[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Principal FM", Isle of Thanet Gazette (KRNmedia), September 28, 2012: 10
- ↑ The Marlowe Academy, United Kingdom Department of Education, retrieved 8 April 2012
- ↑ Thanet school's cash reward for attendance, BBC News, 14 October 2010, retrieved 8 April 2012
- ↑ Marlowe Academy league table result 'disappointing', BBC News, 12 January 2011, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ ITV Meridian 8 May 2012, 0:45
- ↑ Marlowe Academy progress 'satisfactory' after special measures, BBC News, 3 April 2012, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ Cox, Marijke (1 April 2012), Academy system in Kent and Medway comes under fire, KOS Media, retrieved 9 April 2012
- ↑ ITV Meridian 8 May 2012, 0:04
- ↑ ITV Meridian 8 May 2012, 1:19
- ↑ ITV Meridian 8 May 2012, 2:15
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Woodman, Andrew (10 April 2012), "Station marks milestone by looking to the future", Thanet Times (Kent Regional News and Media): 4
- ↑ Evans, Max (31 January 2012), "By jingles! Jack's so nicey as a DJ", Thanet Times (Kent Regional News and Media): 6
- ↑ "Tech fair", Thanet Times (Kent Regional News and Media), 6 March 2012: 4
Sources
- Presenter: Ian McBride (8 May 2012). "A failing school fights back". Meridian Tonight. ITV Meridian. http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2012-05-08/exclusive-failing-school-fights-back/.
