The Hundred of Hoo Academy is a secondary school with academy status located on the Hoo Peninsula, in the village of Hoo in Kent, England. In 2015 it expanded to include a one form entry primary section. It is part of Leigh Academies Trust. The school provides standard secondary education as well as one form entry primary school. The complex also includes a nursery, a conference centre and sports centre. The school holds specialist Arts College status. It has over 1,600 students.
Location
The school is named after the Saxon Hundred and the parish of Hoo. The current school has over 1,700 boys and girls aged 11–19. Hoo sits on the Hoo Peninsula, which incorporates the Isle of Grain and is situated between the riverThames and river Medway. It is also close to Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham, which have a combined population of over 250,000; this is due to increase as part of the Thames Gateway project. Medway Council is a Unitary Authority with 17 secondary schools. The school draws its students mainly from the Hoo Peninsula, which is semi-rural, and the Medway Towns, particularly Strood. Medway Council operates, in the main, a selective system with 23% of pupils attending grammar schools. Creamed comprehensive education is only available in the rural areas and in the faith sectors. Despite this, it is claimed that intake of Hundred of Hoo is broadly comprehensive.
History of the school
The Hundred of Hoo Secondary School was established in 1948 in the buildings now occupied by the Wainscott Primary School. It had 200 children and 8 members of staff. The school moved to the existing buildings in 1956–57. In 1977, the schools on the Hoo Peninsula were re-organised by Kent County Council in response to the government Circulars 11/66 and 10/68. It became part of a three tier education structure. The Hundred of Hoo site housed the upper school, Hundred of Hoo Upper School, and one of the three middle schools, the Hoo Middle School. The other two middle schools were at Cliffe Woods and Allhallows. These middle schools were Middle schools deemed secondary for funding purposes, taking children from 9 –14 years old.. There were eight feeder primary schools known as first schools. In 1994 the schools were reorganised again, with the Hundred of Hoo upper school and Hoo Middle School, merging to become an 11–18 mixed comprehensive. Since then there has been much additional building work, providing the school with specialist facilities and social areas for each year group, including a large Sixth Form common room. An examination hall/exhibition/meeting venue, called the Morris Poole Examination Suite is able to accommodate up to 350 examinees or an audience of 600+. Each learning area has an ICT Suite. A media centre, built from the Specialist Schools funding for Media Arts, was completed during 2005–2006. The school has also used the Lottery Funding to provide artificial pitches opened in January 2007.
2009–2014
Over a significant period, the school's external examination results have been below national norms and in 2009 only 25% of the school's Year 11 cohort had left with five GCSEs which also included English and Maths. These results were lower than the statutory target of 30% and as a result of its inability to achieve this standard the school was identified as being in danger of closure and in need of a government intervention it was therefore designated as a National Challenge School. The school was inspected in April 2009 and as a result was judged to be "Inadequate" and in need of "Special Measures". The inspector report stating that the school's standards were "exceptionally low". The Governing Body was stepped down and in its place an Interim Executive Board led by Dr Peter Clough of the DCSF was appointed to oversee the transition to Trust status. In June 2009, in anticipation of an application to then named Department for Children, Schools and Families for Trust status the school become partnered with the Sir Joseph Williamson Mathematical School a grammar school in Rochester. The substantive head of the Math School, Dr Gary Holden, became The Hundred of Hoo's Executive Principal and in October 2009 following a period of time as Acting Headteacher, Kevin Mahon was appointed substantive Head of School. By June 2010 the school had been confirmed as a National Challenge Trust School and a new Governing Body was in the process of being formed. In September 2011, The Hundred of Hoo school converted to academy status as part of the now defunct Williamson Trust. In September 2015, the school expanded opening a one-form entry primary school to the west of the site. The new buildings were completed for the 2017 intake. The school is thus a 4–18 academy embracing ISCED 1 primary education, and ISCED 2–3 lower and upper secondary education.
Governance
In January 2019 the Williamson Trust was merged with Leigh Academies Trust and all Williamson Trust academies, including The Hundred of Hoo Academy, joined Leigh Academies Trust as part of its Medway Cluster.
Curriculum
The Academy runs a two-year Key Stage 3 with no discrete IT, followed by a three-year Key Stage 4. Key Stage 5 offers A level courses in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Sociology. On the arts side they have, English Literature, Film Studies, Media Studies, Geography and History, Art and Design and. This is supported by diploma courses in Public Services, Fitness Services, Health and Social Care, Travel and Tourism and certificates in Business, Performing Arts, Health and Social Care, and Sport.
Extra-curricular activities
Shows and Productions
The school puts on productions each year, usually the genre being a musical. The school presents many productions including Oliver, Legally Blonde and A Midsummer Mights Dream. Also "Hoo's Got Talent", a show usually shown at The Central Theatre/The Brook Theatre, Chatham, Kent.
