All Saints Academy (England)
Encyclopedia
All Saints Academy is an academy located in Dunstable
, Bedfordshire
, England
.
All Saints educates 13 - 16 year olds, mainly from the town of Dunstable and some surrounding villages. In addition, the academy offers further education
for 16 - 18 year olds through its sixth form
department.
, Northfields then became a secondary modern school
.
Following the 1967 Plowden Report
, Bedfordshire LEA
decided to implement the three-tier education
system of lower, middle and upper schools in the county. By the end of the 1970s, Northfields was redesignated as a comprehensive
upper school
.
The school was among the first to operate a farm on site, with children looking after the animals, under Mr Jones (Science teacher) advice. There were pigs, cows & chickens, eggs were collected & either hatched or sold, the pigs & cows went through a full life cycle before entering the food chain. A part of the farm was given over to crops and farming methods. The farm lost importance in the mid-1970s and part of the land was taken for the new sports hall, as a result the farm lost its viability. Head Master at the time was Mr David Fone, Deputy Head Mrs Baines.
In the early 1980s under David Fone, the school took part in an experiment to promote the use of computers in schools and as a result received special funding which paid for BBC Model B computers in almost every classroom and every subject. The computers were linked by an early form of network. Some homework was done on computer and saved on network directories. There was also an attempt to fully computerise the school records. As a result of this David Fone received an OBE in 1989.
The school went through a period of decline, and was put into special measures
in the early 2000s. However the school improved, and was renamed The Northfields Technology College after the school gained specialist status as a technology college
.
All Saints is sponsored by the St Albans Diocese of the Church of England
and the University of Bedfordshire
. Manshead Upper School
in Dunstable is also sponsored by the Church of England, and objections have been made about possible religious influences on education in Dunstable as a whole (Queensbury Upper School
is the only secondary school not be linked to the Church in Dunstable).
Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
All Saints educates 13 - 16 year olds, mainly from the town of Dunstable and some surrounding villages. In addition, the academy offers further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
for 16 - 18 year olds through its sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
department.
History
The school was launched under the direction of Frank Underwood on January 14, 1936, with 336 students. It was then known as Northfields Senior Elementary School. As a consequence of the Education Act 1944Education Act 1944
The Education Act 1944 changed the education system for secondary schools in England and Wales. This Act, commonly named after the Conservative politician R.A...
, Northfields then became a secondary modern school
Secondary modern school
A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed in most of the United Kingdom from 1944 until the early 1970s, under the Tripartite System, and was designed for the majority of pupils - those who do not achieve scores in the top 25% of the eleven plus examination...
.
Following the 1967 Plowden Report
Plowden Report
The Plowden Report is the unofficial name for the 1967 report of the Central Advisory Council For Education into Primary education in England. The report, entitled Children and their Primary Schools reviewed Primary education in a wholesale fashion. The collation of the report took around 3 years...
, Bedfordshire LEA
Local Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
decided to implement the three-tier education
Three-tier education
Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types. A similar experiment was also trialled in Scotland....
system of lower, middle and upper schools in the county. By the end of the 1970s, Northfields was redesignated as a comprehensive
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
upper school
Upper school
Upper Schools tend to be schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. There is some variation in the use of the term in England.-State Maintained Schools:...
.
The school was among the first to operate a farm on site, with children looking after the animals, under Mr Jones (Science teacher) advice. There were pigs, cows & chickens, eggs were collected & either hatched or sold, the pigs & cows went through a full life cycle before entering the food chain. A part of the farm was given over to crops and farming methods. The farm lost importance in the mid-1970s and part of the land was taken for the new sports hall, as a result the farm lost its viability. Head Master at the time was Mr David Fone, Deputy Head Mrs Baines.
In the early 1980s under David Fone, the school took part in an experiment to promote the use of computers in schools and as a result received special funding which paid for BBC Model B computers in almost every classroom and every subject. The computers were linked by an early form of network. Some homework was done on computer and saved on network directories. There was also an attempt to fully computerise the school records. As a result of this David Fone received an OBE in 1989.
The school went through a period of decline, and was put into special measures
Special measures
Special measures is a status applied by Ofsted and Estyn, the schools inspection agencies, to schools in England and Wales, respectively, when it considers that they fail to supply an acceptable level of education and appear to lack the leadership capacity necessary to secure improvements...
in the early 2000s. However the school improved, and was renamed The Northfields Technology College after the school gained specialist status as a technology college
Technology College
Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...
.
Academy
The Northfields Technology College closed on 31 August 2009. It reopened the next day as the new All Saints Academy. The academy specialises in Science and Business, and will relocate to a new multi-million pound purpose-built school on the same site by 2012.All Saints is sponsored by the St Albans Diocese of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and the University of Bedfordshire
University of Bedfordshire
The University of Bedfordshire is based in Luton and Bedford, the two largest towns in the English county of Bedfordshire. The university was created by the merger of the University of Luton and the Bedford campus of De Montfort University on 1 August 2006 following approval by the Privy Council...
. Manshead Upper School
Manshead Upper School
Manshead Upper School is a Church of England upper school located on the outskirts of both Caddington and Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. The school is administered by the Dunstable Ashton Foundation....
in Dunstable is also sponsored by the Church of England, and objections have been made about possible religious influences on education in Dunstable as a whole (Queensbury Upper School
Queensbury Upper School
Queensbury Upper School is a mixed, 13-18 upper school and sixth form in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. The school has been awarded Specialist Technology College status.- History:...
is the only secondary school not be linked to the Church in Dunstable).
Notable alumni
- Faye TozerFaye TozerFaye Louise Tozer is an English singer, songwriter and actress; famous for being a member of pop group Steps.-Music:Steps were a pop group that achieved a series of charted singles between 1997 and 2001...
, a theatre actress and singer who first gained fame as a member of the pop group Steps