Almondbury Community School


Almondbury Community School is a 3–16 mixed all-through community school in Almondbury, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.

History

In April 2014, the Kirklees Council Cabinet approved the merger of the Almondbury High School and Language College, the Almondbury Junior School, and Greenside Infant and Nursery School, "as an all-through school for children aged between 3 and 16 years". The three schools were combined following extensive consultation with parents and other community members.
Following a 2006 Ofsted report that rated the Almondbury High School and Language College as Grade 3 "Satisfactory" overall, the 2009 and 2012 reports gave a rating of Grade 2 "Good".
The reports of 2015 and 2017 rated the combined Almondbury Community School as Grade 3 "Requires Improvement" overall. A monitoring visit by Ofsted after the 2015 inspection noted "significant" positive changes in leadership, systems, teaching quality and governorship under a school improvement plan. In 2018, The school faced an emergency inspection by Ofsted when Government inspectors made an unannounced visit.
In 2018, Chair of the school Governors was Gill Goodswen, a former president of the National Union of Teachers.

School site

The school site on Fernside Avenue, Almondbury, includes a "disability-friendly sports centre" and gym, with facilities for badminton, five-a-side football, netball, cricket, basketball, table-tennis and squash; an attached mirrored-wall dance studio is used for fitness classes.

Controversy

On 25 October 2018 an assault took place on a 15-year-old youth at Almondbury Community School; this was widely reported after a video recording of the assault was posted on social media.
Prime Minister Theresa May commented, "most people were sickened and angered" by the video clip; she went on to praise the public for the response, and for setting up a crowdfunding appeal for the youngster's family.

Publications

*