Vickerstown is an area of Barrow-in-Furness, is an example of a planned estate built for workers by a company needing to expand. It was constructed in the early 20th century by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, on Walney Island; an island connected to the British mainland via Barrow Island, by a swing bridge. The school is on the edge of Vickerstown.
As a result of the Education Act 1944, Walney Island needed to have its own secondary school. The present Sandy Gap site was agreed in 1951 and the school built.[1]
Walney School achieved Specialist Engineering Status in 2009, in Winter 2010 began to expand, by building a £6m redevelopment and extension. It will has 10 new classrooms, two music rooms, two art rooms and an additional science block. The single storey classrooms also have a Sedam turf roof, with plants growing on top to have an environmental and visual appeal. The work was meant to be undertaken in five phases, taking 65 weeks, for completion in August, the next year but due to bad weather was finally completed in summer 2012.[3] Although to go along with the Specialist Engineering Status the £300,000 engineering innovation centre was built and completed in September 2011.[4]
Since June 2022 George Hastwell School have been occupying four of the classrooms in Walney School during Thursdays and will be moving in fully as of September 2022.[citation needed]
Context
Walney School is an 11–16 academy with approximately 585 students on roll. It converted to an academy in September 2014, when the predecessor school was condemned by Ofsted and placed in special measures. It is sponsored by Queen Katherine School multi-academy trust.[5] In 2016 the school was inspected by Ofsted and judged Inadequate.[5] As of 2024[update], the school's most recent inspection was in 2022, with an outcome of Requires Improvement.[6]
