Furness Academy
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| Motto | At the heart of the Barrow Community |
|---|---|
| Established | 2009 |
| Type | Academy |
| Headteacher | Simon Laheney |
| Location |
Park Drive Barrow-in-Furness Cumbria LA13 9BB England 54°07′05″N 3°12′49″W / 54.118117°N 3.213487°WCoordinates: 54°07′05″N 3°12′49″W / 54.118117°N 3.213487°W |
| Local authority | Cumbria County Council |
| Students | 780 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Ages | 11–16 |
| Colours | |
| Website | Furness Academy Website |
Furness Academy is a secondary school in Barrow-in-Furness, England. It is the fourth and last academy to have been formed in the county of Cumbria after the closure of Alfred Barrow School, Parkview Community College of Technology and Thorncliffe School in 2009. Having utilised numerous buildings of the former Parkview and Thorncliffe Schools since 2009, a single £22 million building opened in the Parkside area of the town in September 2013.
Since opening, Furness Academy has gained a somewhat tarnished reputation from having the highest exclusion rate in England (between 2009 and 2010), and a number of Ofsted reports that judged it as inadequate. The 2012 report led to the academy unsuccessfully challenging Ofsted in the High Court, and the 2013 report led to the school's being placed in 'special measures' and the suspension of the academy's principal.
The school was successfully moved out of special measures in 2015. It also celebrated its best ever GCSE results in summer 2015.
Furness Academy was formed after a public consultation by Cumbria County Council following concerns over the falling number of pupils, educational standards and performance and out-of-date school facilities in the town. The decision was then made to establish an Academy to replace Alfred Barrow School, Parkview Community College of Technology and Thorncliffe School. The academy's sponsor is BAE Systems.
Despite numerous protests by students and concerned parents alike and a 6,000 signature petition presented to Cumbria County Council, the academy was given the go-ahead in 2009 and hundreds of Alfred Barrow students were uprooted and moved to the Furness Academy North Site (Formerly Thorncliffe) or South Site (Formerly Parkview) Furness Academy's eight departments include: English and Literacy, Maths and Numeracy, Physical Education and Sport Science, Technology, Personal and Social Development, Modern Foreign Languages, Humanities and Religious and Moral Education.
Barrow Higher Grade School and both the segregated and coeducational Alfred Barrow Schools were located within a Grade II listed building on Duke Street, a large wing of which became St.George's Church of England Primary School in September 2011. The building which Barrow-in-Furness Technical School formerly occupied was renamed the Nan Tait Centre in the early 2000s and now serves as a media and arts centre as well as general office complex. One predecessor of Parkview Community College of Technology; Risedale School has been completely demolished and an Aldi supermarket now stands on the site.
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