Knutsford Academy

Buildings

There are two main sites to the school, lower and upper school. The Upper Site also has the new Studio School building. Between the two sites there is a public walkway known as the link path. Students in years 7 to 8 are taught in the lower school building. At year 9 the students begin at upper school. Lower school was once known as middle school as it was considered the middle stage of education back when students were expected to find work after their final year at the school - upper school being the last stage of education. The upper school building is joined to the Knutsford Leisure Centre providing sporting facilities for the P.E department. Outside both buildings are fields with multiple football pitches and multiple tennis courts and a three-pitch astroturf pitch. As of 2014, the Upper Site features a "Studio School" , headed by Nicola Hall, who was brought in especially for the job. George Osborne, member of Parliament for Tatton, was there to officially start the construction of the new site. The site was opened officially on 22 January 2015 by George Osborne.

History

The upper school on Bexton Rd was opened as a secondary modern school for boys and girls on 13 November 1953. The lower school on Westfield Ave.was built as a separate school for girls and opened on 26 April 1966. In 1973 the two schools combined to form one comprehensive co-educational establishment known as Knutsford County High School. Over 2011-12, work was being performed on the lower site to remove asbestos that was built into the walls.

Technology

Knutsford Academy offers technology available for CAD (Computer Aided Design), Computer Graphics and physical construction design, with hardware including over 100 individual Apple macs. Those available to all upper students and most teachers have white mac books (most running OSX Tiger or Windows XP) or Notebooks. These were replaced 2013-14 with Toshiba Laptops. For students, there are over two hundred general use ICT computers across both sites. Most computers are able to use industry-standard software, such as Adobe Creative Suite 6, or CS6. In 2014, Microsoft Office 365 was in the process of starting to replace the existing Office 2013 software. The school also has laser cutters for cutting out CAD work and numerous other wood working devices.

Notable Staff

Michael Cladingbowl - New head as of 2015, successor to Kevin Hollins. Coming from an Ofsted background (National Director), the Academy has become more modern and official. Cladingbowl, upon his introduction, has spoken to a majority of the students about the school and what they think of it. He is often seen checking up on and entering lessons, to see how they are progressing.

Notable students

Academy Status

Knutsford High School became Knutsford Academy on 1 April 2012 after gaining Academy status. This brought with it a complete uniform change. Instead of the previous Blue polo shirt and jumper, the current uniform is a plain and simple black business-style suit for years 9,10 and 11. Students are free to choose their own tie design. For years 7 and 8, a Blue Blazer is worn with a stripey blue clip-on tie.

Sixth Form

The school has a full traditional sixth-form facility, running alongside or as an alternative to the Studio.