Bath Community Academy

Bath Community Academy
Bath Community Academy
Address
	Rush Hill; Bath, Bath and North East Somerset, BA2 2QL; England
Coordinates	51°21′50″N 2°23′32″W / 51.3640°N 2.3921°W
Information
Former name	Culverhay School
Type	Secondary academy
Established	1956 (as Westhill Boys' School)
Closed	2018
Local authority	Bath and North East Somerset Council
Trust	Cabot Learning Federation
Department for Education URN	138394 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Interim Principal	Chris Hall
Gender	Mixed
Age	11 to 19
Enrollment	241
Capacity	720

Bath Community Academy (2012–2018), formerly Culverhay School (1956–2012), was a secondary school in the Odd Down area of Bath, England. Built as a boys' school, it became mixed-sex in 2012.

History

In 1956, the original buildings were completed when West Twerton School at The Hollow^[1] moved to Rush Hill as a secondary modern school, and changed its name to Westhill Boys' School, administered by Bath Education Authority.^[2]

In 1966, sufficient funding was raised by the efforts of staff, pupils and the local community to enable an open-air swimming pool to be built within the school grounds. After 1969, the pool was covered. The pool measures 22 m × 7.5 m (72 ft × 25 ft) and is from 1 to 3 m (3.3 to 9.8 ft) deep. It has been equipped with facilities for disabled users, and is open to the public in the evenings and at weekends.^[3]

In 1971, Culverhay School was formed when the City of Bath reorganised secondary education by merging grammar schools and secondary modern schools to form comprehensive schools. Westhill Boys' Secondary Modern School and City of Bath Technical School were merged. The first headmaster was Colin Bayne-Jardine, a noted author of both history and educational management books. The school was one of the largest comprehensive schools in south west England at this time, with a nine form entry of around 250 boys and a total roll in excess of 1,200.

The school won the Schools National Angling Championship in 1977. Having previously achieved fourth place in 1976 the school was fourth in 1978 and second in 1979 from an initial national entry of over 160 and a final of 40 teams. Angling Times named the school's Angling Club its school club of the year in 1977. The club was unusual in being organised by pupils and not staff, but it had the support of the local club, Bath AA, and fishing tackle shop, Fishcraft.

In 2004, Culverhay was awarded specialist status in mathematics and computing.

In 2006, the school received one of four prizes in the national Sport Relief programme's competition for schools, for a plan devised by the pupils to raise money for the programme by travelling 1,355 miles (2,181 km) by running, swimming, cycling and kayaking. The swimmer Sharron Davies visited the school to award the prize.^[4]

Culverhay received the International School Award in recognition of its links with schools abroad, providing opportunities for students to visit other countries and to learn about their cultures. It achieved the Healthy Schools Award for its work in pupil health education. Extra curricular activities encouraged children to extend their academic interests into the local community. It was awarded the Gold Sportsmark in 2008 for its commitment to sport training.^[5]^[6]

In 2006, Ofsted judged the school to be satisfactory on a four-point scale of outstanding, good, satisfactory and poor. Some aspects of the school were rated as good, but the sixth form was given an overall rating of poor.^[7]

In 2009, Ofsted inspected the school again and upgraded its rating to good. The sixth form also received the same good rating. The report, which praised the school's improvement since the previous inspection, did note that Culverhay has a higher than average number of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities, and that the number of pupils with a statement of special educational needs was almost double that of other schools.^[6]

In 2009, Culverhay was the worst performing school in Bath and North East Somerset, with 38% of pupils achieving five or more GCSE passes at grade C or higher including mathematics and English.^[8] In 2010, the pass rate dropped to 31%, again the lowest in the area.^[9]

In 2010, the school was identified for closure by Bath and North East Somerset council because of the large reduction in pupil numbers,^[10] from 476 at the time of the Ofsted inspection in May 2006^[7] to 401 in May 2009.^[6] In January 2011, there were 348 pupils.^[11]

A consultation on the school's closure took place in September and October 2010.^[12] Despite 74% of respondents saying they were against,^[13] the council backed the closure, so no new pupils were to be admitted from September 2012.^[14] However, in September 2011, the decision to close the school was revoked after an independent assessment deemed that the school was sustainable as a co-educational establishment. £700,000 in funding was to be provided by the council for the necessary alterations. The school would remain financially viable as it was proposed to make a reduction in pupil intake levels as well.^[15]

In October 2011, government approval was received for Culverhay to become a sponsored academy run by Cabot Learning Federation.^[16]

Bath Community Academy

Bath Community Academy opened in the same buildings in 2012 as an 11–19 co-educational secondary school, part of the Cabot Learning Federation based in Bristol. Subjects taught at the academy included art, child development, computing, dance, design technology, drama, English and literacy, geography, history, iMedia, mathematics, modern foreign languages, music, physical education, religious education and science. The academy had its own radio station called Phoenix Radio which won two Sony Schools Radio Academy awards, in 2009 and 2012.

In 2014, there were 274 students,^[17] including boys in years 7 to 11 and a co-educational sixth form.

On 18 July 2016 the Cabot Learning Foundation announced that the school would close, stating that the school was not "sustainable or viable" due to low pupil numbers.^[18] The school closed on 24 July 2018.^[19]^[20]^[21]

Later use of the buildings

Part of the former school was used by Bath Spa University, primarily for teacher training.^[22]

Notable alumni

Roland Orzabal, musician (Tears for Fears) – left year 13 in 1979

References

^ "West Twerton Council Schools". Bath Central Library. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
^ "Westhill Boys School". Bath Central Library. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
^ "Culverhay Leisure Centre". Better. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
^ "School receives Sport Relief prize from Sharron Davies". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
^ "Message from the Headmaster". Culverhay School. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Inspection Report". Ofsted. 14 May 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Inspection Report". Ofsted. 18 May 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
^ "Secondary schools in Bath and NE Somerset (2009)". BBC News. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
^ "Secondary schools in Bath and NE Somerset (2010)". BBC News. 12 January 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
^ "Revised Bath schools proposals recommended". BBC News. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
^ "Culverhay School". Ofsted. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
^ "Bath school closure decision is upheld". BBC News. 18 August 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
^ "Closure of Culverhay School in Bath recommended". BBC News Bristol. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
^ "Closure of Culverhay School in Bath to go ahead". BBC News. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
^ "Page 5" (PDF). Connect Magazine. Bath & N.E. Somerset Council. September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 December 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
^ "Sponsored Academy agreed for Culverhay". Bath and North East Somerset. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
^ "School Census Data. Establishment: Culverhay School". EduBase. Department for Education. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
^ "Bath Community Academy: Low pupil numbers force closure". BBC News. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
^ "Date for closure of Bath Community Academy announced". BBC News. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
^ Nancy Connolly, Jonathan Coles (5 July 2018). "Bath community gets ready to say goodbye to much-loved school". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
^ Cameron, Amanda (24 July 2018). "Academy trust closing Bath Community Academy justifies high executive pay". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
^ "Campuses". Bath Spa University. Retrieved 4 March 2020.