Outwood Grange Academy

History

Outwood Grange School was established in 1972 through the merger of Outwood and Stanley secondary schools, with John L Snowdon as its first headteacher.

When Michael Wilkins became headteacher of the school in 2001 it was performing in the bottom 10% of schools.

In 2002 it became Outwood Grange College after achieving specialist technology college status.

The school subsequently undertook major redevelopment work to improve its grounds, buildings and facilities in general. This included major renovation works to the majority of the Upper College Block, where new ICT suites, a recording studio and improved reception facilities were created. The Lower College Hall also received attention and was equipped with retractable seating and conferencing equipment.

In 2005 a gravel playing field, commonly known as "redgra" after its composition of red gravel, was replaced with an astroturf sports field after many years of fundraising. In the same year a new Business and Training Centre was opened, housing both the Business Department and additional training facilities for rental purposes. The college has used these advanced facilities to aid other schools in the region, and to participate in the launch of national initiatives such as "Make Your Mark Start Talking Ideas", which encourages children and young people to engage themselves with businesses.

In 2008 Outwood Grange College, Horbury School, and Wakefield City High School together formed Aspire Trust, and became trust schools.

In spring 2009 the school was praised in a speech made by Prime Minister Gordon Brown after securing government approval to become England's first "Academy of Excellence". During the transition to academy status the school left Aspire Trust.

Outwood Grange Academy

In September 2009, Outwood Grange College re-opened as Outwood Grange Academy, operated by the newly formed Outwood Grange Academies Trust. The school's headteacher, Michael Wilkins, became Chief Executive of the trust, which has since gone on to operate other schools across northern England using Outwood Grange as a model. Mr Wilkins received criticism for spending public funds excessively and for overseeing a dramatic increase in pupil exclusions and expulsions. In 2014 Michael Wilkins received a knighthood for services to Education.

The Sir Michael Wilkins Arts Centre opened to students in January 2016, after suffering from delays due to the original construction company entering into bankruptcy. The purpose built £6.5m facility includes art studios, performance spaces, and recording studios.

Tracking student progress

The college uses a series of effort grades known as "Praising Stars." The system uses grades prefixed with the letter "E", standing for "Effort", which range from E1 (Brilliant) to E3 (Reasonable) to E6 (Exclusion).

Praising Stars, or 'E Grades' as they are commonly called, are given to students six times a year as a form of report to parents. It is commonplace for individual year groups to have assemblies which recognize and commend students who have performed well throughout the term achieving E1s, E2s and E3s.

In many cases individual teachers also use Praising Stars as a way of marking pieces of classwork.

Disciplinary measures

The school uses a system of escalating "consequences" as a framework for discipline, beginning with C1 and ranging through to C6 (exclusion).

Upon reaching a C4, a student is removed from the classroom and given a detention, during which they are provided a list of the expectations for behaviour in the classroom. If, however, the student then chooses to not attend the detention they are given a C5, which results in isolation for one school day. A C6 is given if the situation escalates further, resulting in a fixed term of exclusion from the school. However, if this exclusion is extended for any reason it upgrades to expulsion, the pupil will receive a letter home. There was a dramatic increase in pupil expulsion following the appointment of Mr Wilkins and the move to Academy status.

Pastoral care

In early 2007, the college revealed plans to restructure how tutor groups, the main provision of pastoral care within the college, are organised, moving from the traditional horizontal structure to a vertical one. Although controversial, the plan progressed through consultation and has been put into place from September 2008.

The former structure saw each pupil belonging to a form group of around 30 pupils from their own year-group, which they remain in, together with a teacher acting as a tutor, for their entire school career. The new structure keeps a consistent teacher acting as a tutor to the group, but is mixed-age with pupils from all year groups being included in each mentoring group. This means that each group evolves every year, as older pupils leave and are replaced by younger pupils entering the school. Pupils entering the school are guaranteed, as in the past, to have at least one friend in their mentoring group.

Vertical structuring has been implemented in other secondary schools, the main advantages being seen as the mixing of ages leading to an increased sense of community, allowing for pupils to share experiences, foster understanding and reduce bullying.

Academic achievements

In 2003, the school was achieving a GCSE pass rate with around 46% of pupils achieving five A to C grades. By 2005 that result had risen to 83%, an increase underpinned by the quality of an updated curriculum and new intervention schemes used to aid underperforming students. Additionally, it has been said that much of the increase in 'success' was brought about by using 'GCSE equivalent' qualifications such as GNVQs, which have been criticised as resulting in illusory increases in statistical performance rather than genuine academic improvement.

Notable former pupils