Darrick Wood School


Darrick Wood School is a mixed secondary school in Orpington, London Borough of Bromley, United Kingdom with a current roll of 1785 pupils. It was first opened in 1975.

Facilities

Darrick Wood consists of five separate buildings, each of which have a general academic specialty. This includes the sixth from building located on the west of the compound, 2 general teaching buildings located at the central and east side of the compound which focus on social sciences, maths, physical education and arts/crafts, a sciences faculty building on the south and an assembly hall on the north side of the compound.
Sports facilities are made of 2 sports halls, 2 fields, a small gym and a football pitch.

History

The school opened in 1975. For the first two terms the students were accommodated at Charles Darwin School, Biggin Hill.
It converted to being an academy in 2012.

Structure

Each year group comprises ten forms. The main school is effectively split into two halves, the 'X' half and the 'Y' half. Until completion of Key Stage 3, pupils only share classes with other pupils from the same half.
In Key Stage 4, most classes contain pupils from both halves.
Form groups are named after historical figures from the local area. The 'X' half comprises 'Boswell', 'Fry', 'Lubbock', 'Saunders' and 'Willett'. The 'Y' half comprises 'Crompton', 'Darwin', 'Hill', 'March' and 'Pitt'.
This system does not apply to the Sixth Form, where instead form groups are identified more conventionally by the initials of their tutors.

Head teachers

Sexual harassment allegations

In October 2007, a Darrick Wood member of staff was made redundant due to claims of stalking and sexual harassment of another teacher. The victim was forced to seek police assistance after being subject to a number of sexual advances by the stalker.
In April 2009, an employment tribunal confirmed these allegations.

Negative reviews

Since 2014, Darrick Wood has been subject to a significant number of anonymised negative reviews. These reviews, allegedly from parents and former students, have complained of unprofessionalism, underfunding, and grade manipulation by the selective expelling of students.