Hastings A School was completed in 1953, where it opened as a girls secondary school. At around this time the school campus was made up of B-Block and the sports fields. With the closure of the boys school in Priory Road in the late seventies,, Hillcrest accepted both male and female students. In 2007 the school closed its 6th Form. On 21 November 2008 The Hastings Observer reported that "The worst school in Hastings has been dealt a further blow after being told it will be put into special measures by Ofsted". In 2011 the school was closed down by Ofsted and knocked down by East Sussex County Council. September 2013 saw the closing of Hillcrest School and the opening of The Hastings Academy.
The Old Hillcrest Campus
The school campus was divided into four blocks: L block, the Sports Centre, A Block and B Block. In addition to the Sports Centre, there is a gymnasium in B Block. There were three tennis courtson site and four playgrounds. There were two fields east of the Language Block. The school owned part of the woodland behind A Block's playground. A multi use games area was opened in 2006.
The main entrance was there and leads to Kenway Hall.
C Block (also, L Block)
The language college was where French, German and Spanish was taught to the students; Japanese. Other languages were taught during after school classes. There was an ICT suite, primarily for the use by Language classes.
Hastings Federation
In 2008, a proposal to create a federation between Filsham Valley, Hillcrest and The Grovesecondary schools to improve major aspects of the school was approved by East Sussex County Council. Under the federation, led by Sir Dexter Hutt, the school has improved in all areas including attitude towards learning, behaviour both in and out of the classroom, OFSTED inspections and GCSE results with 76% of students achieving 5 A* – C, and at least 93% 5A* – G grades. The federation continues today in the form of the University of Brighton Academies Trust which includes Hastings Academy and The St Leonards Academy. The Hastings Academy opened on 1 September 2011 and an extensive building programme saw the old buildings occupied during the development and construction of the new buildings. The old school was demolished and the current buildings have been used since February 2013.
Toilet pass controversy
Hastings Academy has a policy of issuing toilet passes to avoid the abuse of toilet breaks during lesson time. In September 2018 an 11-year-old girl, who was experiencing her first menstrual bleed was not allowed to use the toilet and sent home with bloody knickers, tights and shorts. The school wanted a doctor's certificate, at a cost of £15, before they would issue a toilet pass. In the year 2019, various groups of students 'swarmed' aspects of the school with desperate attempts at gaining their freedom back. These swarms continued across 2 days, and it was reported that weapons, including rods and knives, were brought in by students. The police were within the school building on both days. The school denied any and all of these accusations, although children told parents anyway. Across the two days, the hill of east was vandalized by students, as well as powder bombs being dropped into the canteens, temporarily blinding numerous students. Results of these activities saw that all WIFI was now removed from student use. Frequently, the school experiences 'black-outs' were the lights, and all power, was lost for minutes at a time. These events continued into a year 11 business GCSE exam, where the select students had already received grief from the examiners phones going off.
