The oldest part of the school, built circa 1800, and the grounds were once the home of Rear-admiral John Peyton who commanded HMS Defence at the Battle of the Nile in 1798.[1]
Previously a community school and specialist arts college, in August 2011 the school converted to academy status.[3] A 2008 Ofsted inspection assessed the school as Grade 1 (Outstanding).[4] In 2012 it was judged Good.[5] As of 2022, the school's most recent inspection was a short inspection in 2016 which found that the school remains Good.[6]
World record attempt
In 2012 the school attempted to set the world record for most people standing on one leg for two minutes with 892 people.[7] However, a problem with the video resulted in insufficient evidence for the record to be officially recognised. This title is now held by Tesco[8].
Walled Garden and environment
A student group called "The Eco-Warriors" restored an 18th-century walled garden in the grounds with pigs, bees, and chickens in 2008.[9]
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(January 2022)
