Jump to content

Buile Hill Academy

Coordinates: 53°29′36″N 2°18′15″W / 53.4933°N 2.3043°W / 53.4933; -2.3043
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Buile Hill Academy
Address
Map
Chaseley Road


, ,
M6 8RD

England
Coordinates53°29′36″N 2°18′15″W / 53.4933°N 2.3043°W / 53.4933; -2.3043
Information
TypeAcademy
Motto"Personal Best and accept No Excuses"
Established1973
Local authoritySalford City Council
TrustNorthern Education Trust
Department for Education URN150868 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalMartin Knowles[1]
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 16
Number of pupils967
Capacity900
Colour(s)    red, grey, black
Websitehttps://bua.northerneducationtrust.org/

Buile Hill Academy (formerly Buile Hill High School then Buile Hill Visual Arts College) is a coeducational state-funded secondary school for 11-16 year olds in Pendleton, Salford, England.[2] It opened in 1973 on the site of Salford Grammar School, and is designated a specialist school for visual arts.[3] The school became an academy in 2016, and was taken over by the Northern Education Trust in 2024.

The school is located off Eccles Old Road, between Buile Hill Park and Pendleton Sixth Form College.

History

[edit]

The site was occupied by the former Salford Grammar School from 1956 until its closure in 1973. Buile Hill High School, a new 11 to 16 comprehensive school, was opened on part of the site in the same year. The grammar school's sixth form, along with that of Pendleton High School for Girls, was transferred to nearby Pendleton College.[4] The school continued to share a playing field with Pendleton College, across the field to the north. The school buildings are over 100 years old in some parts.[citation needed] The acting headteacher of the grammar school at the time of its closure, Robert Blackmore, became Buile Hill's first head, and remained in the position until 1982.[5]

In 1976, two boys aged 15 and 16 set fires in the school, causing damages costing £30,000 (equivalent to £228,371 in 2023)[6] and destroying rare books in the library.[7][8] A new art block was opened in 1989 by artist Harold Riley, a former Salford Grammar School pupil, to replace an ageing block at the school that had once been part of Pendleton High of Girls.[9] In 1995 the school received funding from the Foundation for Sport and the Arts to equip its new drama studio.[10]

In 2001, Windsor Community High School was closed and its pupils transferred to Buile Hill and Hope high schools, resulting in an expansion of the school.[11][12][13]

In 2002 staff at the school worked towards raising the £50,000 needed to apply to the Department for Education to become a specialist arts school. Buile Hill held a Valentine's day ball featuring Coronation Street actors, and considered selling a painting by L.S. Lowry owned by the school.[14] The school received an Artsmark Gold Award in May 2006 and was renamed Buile Hill Visual Arts College. It is one of the few schools in the Salford area with a fully working theatre and performance space.[citation needed]

In the summer of 2006, the headteacher Gena Merrett left and was replaced by a new 'super head', Phil Fitzpatrick.[15] Fitzpatrick was contracted for two years with an above-average annual salary of £100,000 to improve the school's results and prepare for the move into its new buildings in 2008. However, Fitzpatrick failed to achieve the results that the council had been looking for, and in 2007 he left by mutual agreement after just two terms.[16]

In 2007 the school's results on the standard measure (% of pupils reaching 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C) jumped from 26% to 52%.[17] The school underwent an Ofsted inspection in October 2007 which described it as satisfactory overall with elements of good.[18]

The school was rebuilt on the adjacent field and completed in 2008. The original buildings from 1956 were demolished in the process.[19] The new buildings were funded through a Private Finance Initiative.[20][21] In 2010 the school was issued with an ultimatum by the council to either improve standards or face closure or conversion to a privately-backed academy.[22]

Buile Hill Visual Arts College was previously a community school administered by Salford City Council.[23] In August 2016, it was converted to an academy school and renamed Buile Hill Academy. The school was run by Consilium Academies, a multi-academy trust, until it was taken over by the Northern Education Trust (NET) on 31 August 2024.[24]

Former headteachers and principals

[edit]

Buile Hill High School

[edit]
  • Robert Graham Blackmore (1973 school opening – July 1982)[5]
  • David Shapcott (period including 1986)[25]
  • John Baird (period including 1988 – 1999)[26][27][28]
  • Gena Merrett (2003 or earlier – summer 2006)[29][15]

Buile Hill Visual Arts College

[edit]
  • Phil Fitzpatrick (September 2006 – February 2007)[16]
  • Jane Bailey (acting head; February 2007 – summer 2007)[16]
  • Wyn O'Neill (September 2007 – 2010 or later)[30][31]
  • James Inman (period including 2012 – 2018)[32][33]

Buile Hill Academy

[edit]
  • James Inman
  • Jon Marsh (2020 or earlier – 2021)[34][35]
  • David Lancaster (2021 – February 2023)[36][37]
  • Richard Reeve (interim head; December 2023 – March 2024)[38][39]
  • Martin Knowles (since May 2024)[40]

Performance

[edit]

At its latest Ofsted inspection in June 2022, it received the rating 'requires improvement'.[36] In 2023 only 20% of students achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSEs, compared to the England average of 45%.[41] In 2018 is was also rated 'requires improvement'.[33]

Indecency case

[edit]

In March 2014, Edward Beetham, a former head of year and humanities teacher at the school, pleaded guilty to indecency with an 11-year-old pupil in the early 1990s. He was spared jail, but was subjected to a two-year community order, with a requirement to attend a sex offenders' programme. His defence barrister, Stuart Duke, told Manchester Crown Court: "He has lost his good character. He has gone from being a genteel, retired schoolteacher playing petanque to somebody who will be monitored by the authorities – it has been absolutely devastating for this to come back and haunt him."[42] When sentencing, Judge Patrick Field QC, told Beetham: "You developed and encouraged a relationship with (the victim) – this appears to me, at least in part, grooming behaviour, enabling you to lure him into your bedroom where you invited an undoubtedly bewildered child to beat you for your own sexual gratification."

Notable former pupils

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Welcome to Buile Hill Academy". bua.northerneducationtrust.org. Northern Education Trust. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Buile Hill Academy - Home".
  3. ^ "Buile Hill Extra Curricular Information". Archived from the original on 27 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Salford Grammar School", Jisc, accessed 18 October 2023
  5. ^ a b "Jesus College Annual Report 2019" (PDF). jesus.cam.ac.uk. Jesus College, Cambridge. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  6. ^ United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth "consistent series" supplied in Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2024). "What Was the U.K. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  7. ^ "The fight against the vandals". Manchester Evening News. 22 September 1977. p. 12. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  8. ^ "'Boast' boys started £30,000 blaze". Manchester Evening News. 22 October 1976. p. 7. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  9. ^ "Last chance to see old school". Salford Advertiser. 2 March 1989. p. 14. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Bonus of top drama studio for Buile Hill". Salford Advertiser. 28 September 1995. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Education and Leisure Directorate Service Plan 2001/02 Progress Report". Salford City Council. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  12. ^ "SECONDARY SCHOOL REVIEW – FUTURE USES OF WINDSOR HIGH SCHOOL AND LITTLE HULTON COMMUNITY SCHOOL SITES". Salford City Council. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  13. ^ "INSPECTION REPORT | BUILE HILL HIGH SCHOOL". ofsted.gov.uk. Ofsted. 20 May 2004. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  14. ^ Smithers, Rebecca (22 January 2002). "Special pleading". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Pupils miss out on cash prize". Manchester Evening News. 7 December 2007.
  16. ^ a b c "Super head gone super quick". Manchester Evening News. 15 February 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  17. ^ "GCSE and A-level results 2007: Salford | Schools special reports | EducationGuardian.co.uk".
  18. ^ "Buile Hill High School". Ofsted. Archived from the original on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2006.
  19. ^ Wilkinson, Damon (4 April 2020). "Greater Manchester's lost schools - and the stars who went to them". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  20. ^ "£150M school plan gets go-ahead". Manchester Evening News. 9 July 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Inspiring schools" (PDF). salford.gov.uk. Salford City Council. 5 September 2006. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  22. ^ "Schools face closure under new challenge". Manchester Evening News. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  23. ^ "Buile Hill Visual Arts College - GOV.UK". www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  24. ^ "Buile Hill Academy - GOV.UK". get-information-schools.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  25. ^ "New hope for school". Manchester Evening News. 10 January 1986. p. 11. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  26. ^ "School to close 15-year gap". Manchester Evening News. 30 September 1988. p. 28. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  27. ^ "Disciplinary school cares". Salford Advertiser. 9 February 1995. p. 12. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Best ever GCSEs for Salford Pupils". Salford Advertiser. 2 September 1999. p. 2. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  29. ^ "PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION REGULATORY PANEL". salford.gov.uk. Salford City Council. 16 October 2003. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  30. ^ "Pupils miss out on cash prize". Manchester Evening News. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  31. ^ "Buile Hill Visual Arts College | Inspection report". ofsted.gov.uk. Ofsted. 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  32. ^ "School report | Buile Hill Visual Arts College". ofsted.gov.uk. Ofsted. 20 November 2012.
  33. ^ a b "School report | Buile Hill Visual Arts College". ofsted.gov.uk. Ofsted. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  34. ^ Gill, Emma (11 November 2020). "Award for school which made weekly calls to families in lockdown". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  35. ^ Gill, Emma; Topping, Stephen; Abbit, Beth (8 March 2021). "Smiles and cautious optimism as school corridors are filled with laughter". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  36. ^ a b "School report | Inspection of Buile Hill Academy". reports.ofsted.gov.uk. Ofsted. 19 July 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  37. ^ "Governors | Lark Hill Primary School". www.larkhillprimary.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  38. ^ "Requires improvement monitoring inspection of Buile Hill Academy". ofsted.gov.uk. Ofsted. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  39. ^ "Movers and shakers: Reeve, Weston, Parry, Wilson, Yafai". schoolsweek.co.uk. 3 April 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  40. ^ "SchoolDash - Buile Hill Academy". www.schooldash.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 22 September 2024 suggested (help)
  41. ^ "Buile Hill Academy - Compare school and college performance data in England - GOV.UK". Compare school and college performance in England. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  42. ^ "Teacher coaxed boy into flogging him, court hears". 18 March 2014.
  43. ^ "How bullies bred Butters' success". Manchester Evening News. 9 August 2004. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
  44. ^ Barker, Neil (3 December 2012). "Michael Appleton: I learned so much from Sir Alex Ferguson". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
[edit]