City Academy Bristol

The City Academy Bristol
Address
Map
Russell Town Avenue

Bristol
,
BS5 9JH

England
Coordinates51°27′37″N 2°33′45″W / 51.4602°N 2.5624°W / 51.4602; -2.5624
Information
TypeSecondary Academy
Established2003
TrustCabot Learning Federation
Department for Education URN144509 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalBen Tucker
GenderMixed
Age11 to 18
Enrollment717 (Data from January 2016)
Capacity1236 (Data from January 2016)
Websitewww.cityacademy.bristol.sch.uk
Main building
Sixth form centre

The City Academy Bristol is a mixed gender secondary school with Academy status, located in the Easton area of Bristol, England.

History

The school opened in September 2003.[1] It formed part of the Labour government's scheme for schools in deprived areas, and was the first Academy in South West England.[2][3]

Built on the site of St George Community College which closed in 2003,[4][5] it is housed in buildings within a new £25 million complex designed by architects Fielden Clegg Bradley.[1][3] The school also provides adult education to about 1,200 people.[6]

Both the University of the West of England and Bristol City Football Club are partners with the school[3] and helped fund the school's buildings and equipment.

The school operates a house system for pupils, with four houses: Leopards, Lions, Panthers and Tigers.[7] The school is designated as a specialist Sports College, and runs a Performance Sport programme for netball, basketball, football, boxing and cricket.[8][9]

In October 2013 One World Learning Trust, the academy's operator, was issued with a "pre-warning notice letter" by the Department for Education because the academic performance of the academy was unacceptably low.[10][11]

In 2014 the school lost a racial discrimination employment tribunal case for repeatedly overlooking a black employee for promotion. Investigation showed that other black staff had been overlooked when appointing three white managers. The academy said "We are deeply sorry and extending our sense of sorrow to those involved".[12][13]

During 2014 the school had two incidents of losing or failing to submit coursework required for external exams, causing pupils to have to retake a year of their education.[14][15] In March 2015 the school announced a partnership with the Cabot Learning Federation, a major operator of Academies in Bristol, after Ofsted had issued an inadequate rating in an inspection report in January 2015, and the school was placed into special measures status.[2][16][17]

In 2016 the Cabot Learning Federation, a multi-academy trust, took over as the operator of the school. The school remained in special measures.[18][19]

Following an inspection in April 2019, the school is now rated as 'Good' in all areas, with Ofsted noting that "strong leadership" had "led to rapid improvement over the past three years".[20]

In April 2024, staff started part-time strike action over the handling of bullying and harassment allegations by Special Education Needs and Disabilities staff.[21] This later expanded to 11 issues, four relating to teachers and seven to support staff, including back pay, staff grading levels and pay for monitoring pupil's break periods. In July the National Education Union announced that 10 of the 11 issues had been resolved with the Cabot Learning Federation.[22][23]

Academic achievement

The table below shows the percentage of students hitting the key measure of 5+ A*-C GCSEs including English and Mathematics.[24][25]

Year 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
City Academy 24% 34% 36% 34% 40% 35% 29% 42% 40%
Bristol average 36% 40.2% 46.2% 50.2% 51.6% 52.3% 55.2% 54.0% n/a

References

  1. ^ a b "New city academy opens its doors". Bristol Evening Post. 8 September 2003. BRISTOL's new City Academy was today opening its doors for the first time - paving the way for a new era of schooling. Pupils were arriving at the GBP25 million academy ... Many of the academy's 1,200 students will transfer from St George Community College - and there will be 17 sports scholarships offered each year. The school will also house Bristol City's own football academy.
  2. ^ a b Laura Churchill (20 March 2015). "The City Academy Bristol - previously hailed as remarkable - placed into special measures". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Rosamund Sutherland (16 February 2012). "Professor Ray Priest". University of Bristol. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Cash awards for exam success". BBC. 14 August 2003. Archived from the original on 14 June 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Establishment: St George Community College". Edubase. Department for Education. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Academies". National Union of Teachers. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Academy Life - House System". City Academy Bristol. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  8. ^ "Performance Sport". City Academy Bristol. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Sixth - Join a Performance Tea". City Academy Bristol. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  10. ^ Marc Rath (17 June 2014). "Bristol's City Academy principal to stand down at end of year". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  11. ^ Lord Nash (17 October 2013). "Pre- Warning Notice Letter to the Directors of One World Learning Trust in relation to The City Academy, Bristol" (PDF). Department for Education. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  12. ^ "Bristol academy worker wins race discrimination damages". BBC. 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 4 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  13. ^ Marc Rath (3 May 2014). "Bristol school must pay £14,000 compensation for race discrimination". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  14. ^ "Row after GCSE coursework at Bristol's City Academy 'lost'". BBC. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  15. ^ Marc Rath (22 July 2014). "City Academy teacher vanishes with students' coursework - so they have to retake the year". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  16. ^ Freddie Whittaker (26 March 2015). "Struggling City Academy Bristol calls in RSC David Carter's old chain after Ofsted 'inadequate' rating". Schools Week. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  17. ^ "Support for struggling Bristol school 'not going away' but worries aired over lack of long-term plan". Bristol Post. 8 June 2015. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  18. ^ Michael Yong (7 January 2016). "City Academy in Bristol still in special measures after latest inspection". Bristol Post. Retrieved 22 October 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  19. ^ Geoff Bennett (25 August 2016). "City Academy Bristol says 'fabulous' GCSE results is testimony to hard work of students and staff". Bristol Post. Retrieved 22 October 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  20. ^ "School's improvement praised by Ofsted". 1 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  21. ^ "Teachers strike over 'bullying and harassment' claims". BBC News. 25 April 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  22. ^ Tapping, Jake (9 May 2024). "Top union boss joins picket line at Bristol school". B24/7. Bristol24/7. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  23. ^ Quarshie, Adam (18 July 2024). "'Collective power is where it's at': City Academy workers celebrate strike action successes". The Bristol Cable. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  24. ^ "School performance tables: The City Academy Bristol". DfE. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  25. ^ "School performance tables: The City Academy Bristol". DfE. 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.