Alban Church of England Academy
Alban Church of England Academy | |
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Address | |
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Silver Street , , MK44 3HZ | |
Coordinates | 52°09′18″N 0°21′04″W / 52.15498°N 0.35123°W |
Information | |
Type | Academy |
Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
Established | 1977 (2011 as an academy) |
Closed | 2018 |
Department for Education URN | 136550 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports |
Head teacher | Mr C. Chipperton |
Gender | Mixed |
Age | 9 to 13 |
Enrolment | 490 |
Capacity | 480 |
Website | http://www.albanacademy.co.uk/ |
Alban Church of England Academy (formerly Alban Church of England Middle School) was a mixed middle school located in Great Barford, Bedfordshire, England.
Pupils began attending Alban Middle School in the September 1976 after Bedfordshire County Council decided to implement the three-tier education system of lower, middle and upper schools across the county (as recommended in the 1967 Plowden Report). The school was officially opened in June 1977 by the then Bishop of St Albans, the Right Reverend Robert Runcie. The school was the first purpose built voluntary aided middle school opened in Bedfordshire by the Church of England Diocese of St Albans. The name of the school was subsequently changed by the school governors to Alban Church of England Middle School to reflect this link.[1]
On 1 April 2011 the school was converted to academy status and was renamed Alban Church of England Academy, becoming independent of local authority control.[2] The Diocese of St Albans is the sponsor of the academy.
In July 2018 Alban Church of England Academy shut its doors for the last time, after the decision was made to close the school due to the county reverting to the two-tier education system. The school essentially merged with next-door Great Barford Lower School to become Great Barford Primary Academy, spanning across both sites.
Controversies
Legoland protest
Traditionally, year six pupils, having completed their SATS, were granted a school trip to the theme park Legoland. However, following minor complaints claiming the school was putting too much pressure on parents to pay for trips, the trip was cancelled for 2014's year 6s. In the following days, and largely orchestrated by year 8 pupils, a protest began in which angry pupils refused to go back to lessons after lunch. Remaining sat outside, cries of "we want trips!" turned into "we want chips!" much to the bemusement of the lunchtime staff. The protest was broken up by infuriated geography teacher Mike Nicholson, but went down in Alban history as an example of the class of 2016's solidarity and general epicness. The protest was described by then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as "the greatest strike action since Scargill."
Bread and butter policy
In January 2016, the school attracted attention from news media after warning that pupils without a packed lunch or £2.10 payment, would not be given a hot meal, but bread and butter only. This was if the pupil's guardian couldn't be reached, and if the pupil had no other provision in place. The decision came after the school reported having to reimburse catering company Caterlink for 100 unpaid meals in a single month. The policy was not implemented after backlash from parents led to then head teacher Sue Lourensz apologising for 'any offence' caused.[3]
Notable former pupils
- Toby Meehan, the web developer[4] who, in conjunction with poet Thomas Warriner, ran the Chess club in his final year at the school.
- Saint Alban, the Christian Martyr after whom the school is named.
References
- ^ "Alban Church of England Academy". Albanacademy.co.uk. 13 June 1977. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ Tuesday (5 April 2011). "Goldington school officially opens as academy - Local". Bedford Today. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ From BBC news: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-35381990. Retrieved 2016-01-22
- ^ Website of Toby Meehan. Retrieved on 2020-07-21 from https://tobymeehan.com/