Greensward Academy

Background

Opened in 1960 as the Hockley County Secondary School, with pupils from both Hockley and Ashingdon primary schools who were selected for the first year and a second year of Hockley pupils who previously went to Rayleigh Secondary. The name was changed to the Greensward College in the late 90's and kept this name until 2008 when it achieved Academy status. Greensward Academy is run by Mrs Katie Scarnell MA (Cantab). Greensward Academy is the lead academy of the Academies Enterprise Trust, a multi-academy sponsor, which aims to provide the opportunity for all young learners to "fulfil their real potential, broaden their horizons and become active, prosperous and successful citizens in the world around them". In its most recent Ofsted (2008) it was described as:

‘An outstanding school that gets its best out of its students… with exceptional leadership and an ethos of sustained achievement and high standards’.

At the beginning of March 2011, Greensward Academy was inspected by Ofsted in a Section 5 Inspection. The inspection revealed Greensward Academy, was once again an "Outstanding comprehensive school and academy, for 11- to 19-year-olds": the following snipet is from Ofsteds report: "Thank you all for the warm and respectful welcome you gave us when we inspected your academy ... We agree that the academy is outstanding. We were most impressed by the excellent contribution you make to the communities within and beyond the academy itself. You told us how much you appreciate the wide and varied courses on offer"

Sixth Form

Greensward Academy also runs a Sixth Form. The Academy offers a purpose-built Sixth Form block. The building has two classrooms, a computer suite, café, toilets and a number of smaller rooms for storage and one-to-one teaching. The director of Sixth form in 2014 is Mr J Benson.

Grants

In 2011, £15 million was awarded to the Academy by the Government of Approval in order to perform major construction work, including 2 new blocks, and refurbishment of several other blocks.

Admissions

Greensward has approximately 200 staff and 1550 students, more than 200 of which are in the sixth form. Its main feeder schools are Plumberow Primary School, Hockley Primary School, Westerings Primary School and Ashingdon Primary Academy, and also takes students from various other schools in the area.

Specialisms

The academy has specialisms in science and applied learning and also has Leading Edge and Training School Status.

Buildings

Greensward Academy is sorted into 9 blocks as follows: