Woodkirk Academy

History

The school opened in September 1956.

In 2003 the school gained specialist science status. To mark this a new data logging suite was built. The school logo was changed to include an atom and the Pi (π) symbol. Following this the school was renamed Woodkirk High Specialist Science School.

In 2003, Woodkirk completed the Green Block, a new Learning Resource Centre and teaching building. In November 2006 folding tiered seating was installed in the main hall to be used for annual shows and assemblies. In March 2007 a new administration block was completed which included separate entrances for pupils and visitors and extra space for office staff. In July 2008 an external shelter was built for eating lunch. In early 2010 a conversion of minibus garages was completed, intended to be used by Sixth Formers—it was used for meetings with the Labour Party representative of Morley and Outwood, Ed Balls, during the 2010 General and Local Elections. New areas were also constructed for Year 10 and 11 BTEC students.

In 2010 the school banned memory sticks and USB devices by preventing the school's networked computers from recognising such devices which could infect the network with viruses.

Since 2010-11 a room addition in the school's Learning Resource Centre (LRC) has been used for activities such as presentations by visitors. The computers in the LRC were also upgraded to Windows 7 with Microsoft Office 2010 software, and as of 2016 all computers in the school use Microsoft Office 2013.

In September 2011 the school officially became an academy, with a name change to Woodkirk Academy. Shortly after the school acquired Academy status, eight flat-screen televisions were bracketed to various walls throughout the school, including one in the library, two in the main hall, and one in the sixth form common room. Most of these televisions show a slideshow of photographs of students or graphs of the school's examination results, with the televisions in the common rooms sometimes showing news channels.

School productions

Each year since the early 1960s the school has staged a public production. Past shows include: Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat, Back to the 80s , Les Miserables, Fame, Grease and The Sound of Music. In 1999, following the March production, the cast of Grease travelled to the London Palladium to represent the North-East as part of an afternoon performance celebrating the 100th anniversary of N.O.D.A. The cast performed a 10-minute excerpt of Myth!, written by a pupils and a school teacher.

In 2007 the school sixth form produced a show called "Summer Nights", written by students, which included songs from Wicked, Phantom Of The Opera, Grease, Side Show and The Last Five Years.

The 2008 school show was Chess, performed solely by students. Unlike previous years a 'Gala Night' was organised by the Business and Enterprise group for specially invited guests and staff. In March 2009 the school put on Seussical as the annual school show. This show celebrated the works of Dr. Seuss, famous for his creation of the "Grinch" and "Green Eggs and Ham". The 2010 production was Hairspray. Woodkirk was the first school to perform the musical, the amateur license having just been released. The 2011 production was the musical We Will Rock You, a tribute to Queen, and in March 2012, Beauty and the Beast. More recent performances have included The Phantom of the Opera (2013), Starlight Express (2014), The Addams Family (2015) and Ghost (2016) with three of them being officially reviewed by the Organisation NODA with great praise.

The music department organises performances at venues such as Woodkirk Church and Morley Town Hall.

Sixth Form

Woodkirk Academy has a large sixth form with courses for study at AS and A2 level, including some subjects unavailable at GCSE level, such as Psychology. The sixth form has limited space for study and shares many classrooms with the rest of the school. Exclusive sixth form areas include work rooms and two common rooms.

Uniform

Currently the school uniform includes a royal blue jumper with a coloured collar. Each pupil year has its own colour. The current lower school colours are: light blue, green, red, black and white (from years 7 to 11). Sixth form years 12 and 13 wear black, white and grey clothing. Sixth form dress code states that students must wear clothes that are gray and/or black and/or white. No large images or text are allowed on sixth form students' clothing, and they must wear an identity badge at all times.