Hurlingham and Chelsea Secondary School

The Hurlingham Academy is located in the south of the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It is a fully comprehensive community school able to cater for 500-700 students between ages 11 and 16. The school does not currently have a sixth form although approval was given for one in 2009. In 2011 the school entered into a hard federation with a local primary school, Langford. The schools are independent of each other, but share a governing body, and Dr. Phil Cross is the Executive Head of both schools. In January 2015 Hurlingham and Chelsea School converted to academy status and changed its name to The Hurlingham Academy.

In 2011 the school was judged by Ofsted to be Outstanding.

In February 2013 Ofsted conducted an inspection as part of their subject survey inspection programme in the Science department. This inspection judged Science as "Requiring Improvement."

Langford Primary School was also inspected in March 2013, and the governing body that is responsible for both schools was highly criticised. In June 2013 Langford was visited again with a monitoring inspection, where the criticism of the governing body remained an issue.

In October 2013, the school was once again inspected by Ofsted receiving an overall "inadequate" rating by Ofsted.

On 1 January 2015 the school changed from a council-run school to an academy. It is now in association with United Learning.

The school’s original buildings were constructed in 1956 by Sheppard Robson & Partners for the London County Council. It opened in 1956 and originally housed the 500 girls of Hurlingham School from Hugon Road in Fulham. The school became a mixed school in 1982 when it merged with a boys’ school called Chelsea School. The school is now one of nine schools in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham serving secondary aged children, of which there are three academies, three foundation schools, one voluntary-aided school, one free school, with Hurlingham and Chelsea being the sole community school.

The school has had a turbulent history. It was described as a "failing school" in the pilot Ofsted inspections in 1994, which prompted discussions of closure. Provision, however, was judged ‘good’ by Ofsted in 1997 and the school was highlighted for its improvement in HMCI’s 1999 Annual Report. Because results were consistently below government floor targets, however, the school was designated as a "school facing challenging circumstances" in 2003. In March 2004 the school was placed under special measures. In November 2005 the school emerged from special measures. A proposal to close the school made in September 2006 was withdrawn in April 2007.

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Wikipedia