Drapers' Academy

Drapers' Academy is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Harold Hill near Romford, Greater London, England. It was the first academy to be established in the London Borough of Havering.

It was established in September 2010 under the joint sponsorship of the Drapers' Company and Queen Mary, University of London.^[1] It is located on the site of the former King's Wood School.^[2] Its future was thrown into doubt on 7 July 2010 by the government's announcement of cuts to the national school building programme, but after reconsideration was given approval on 6 August.^[3]

For two years the Academy occupied one of the original King's Wood buildings while the new buildings were being constructed and the extensive 23 acre grounds re-landscaped. This work is now completed and the new buildings opened on 3 September 2012. Queen Elizabeth II (a Freeman of the Drapers' Company) officially opened the buildings on 26 October 2012. ^[4]

The Academy is designed to be a 'Harold Hill School for Harold Hill Families' and provides every pupil with the best opportunities to meet their potential. The Academy specialisms are science and mathematics but a broad syllabus is taught. A sixth form has now opened.

The Academy's intention to raise academic standards reached a major milestone in 2012 when the GCSE results for 5 GCSEs A*-C including English and Maths was 63%, a major leap from the 36% a year earlier. This increase of 27% probably made it the fastest improving school in England that year. Previously the secondary school on Harold Hill had been at the bottom of the London Borough of Havering league table. It is now ranked eighth and second in value-added.

The Academy has also set out to tackle learning support and to manage exclusion in ways that maintain a steady pace of learning for the majority and give pupils who need support every opportunity to achieve best results. Learning support and exclusion management has been brought together in the 'Zone.' This new style of management has been successful. There have now been no permanent exclusions for over two years (as at May 2013) and GCSE pass rates for pupils in this category have significantly improved.

References

External links

• Drapers' Academy

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