Dearne Advanced Learning Centre

Dearne Advanced Learning Centre (Dearne High School until 2011) is a non-denominational, mixed-sex, specialist Humanities College in the Dearne Valley, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England.

Dearne Advanced Learning Centre
Address
Goldthorpe Road

Goldthorpe
,
South Yorkshire
,
S63 9EW

England
Coordinates53.52890°N 1.30526°W / 53.52890; -1.30526
Information
TypeCommunity school
MottoAspiration, Ambition, Achievement[1]
Local authorityBarnsley
Department for Education URN106656 Tables
OfstedReports
Head teacherMrs J Wilson
Gendermixed
Age11 to 16
Enrolment1500
HousesSphinx, Titans, Pegasus, Phoenix, Griffin
Colour(s)blue and white
Websitehttps://www.astreadearne.org/

The secondary school was previously known as Dearneside Secondary Modern and then Dearneside Comprehensive School until its merger with Thurnscoe Comprehensive School to create The Dearne High School. It received specialist humanities status in 2008[2] making it The Dearne High – a Specialist Humanities College. A new school building was constructed during 2010 next to the existing school for £29 million as part of Barnsley Council's "Building Schools for the Future" project, and the new site opened in January 2011 as "The Dearne ALC".[1][3][4]

It caters mainly for pupils from the Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe and Bolton-on-Dearne areas of Barnsley. It currently has around 1,300 pupils aged 11–16 years.

In 2007 the percentage of pupils gaining five A* to C grades rose 18% to 54%,[5] but in 2008 the school was one of eight schools in Barnsley to be told by the government that they were not meeting national targets on the number of pupils gaining five A*–C GCSEs.[6] In 2008 the school published a book of short stories, Out of the Shadows: An Anthology of Fantasy Stories, which sold in high street stores and was among the top three fantasy books on Amazon, and in 2009 pupils at the school produced a graphic novel called Fools Gold.[7][8] In 2011 the school was one of two in the country to send pupils to a remembrance event in Ypres, Belgium, as part of the Royal British Legion's Poppy Travel scheme.[9] The school was awarded £50,000 in 2011 by the Heritage Lottery Fund. In 2016 the house system was introduced with 5 houses: Titan, Griffin, Sphinx, Phoenix and Pegasus.[10]

References
  1. Vessey, Alex (20 January 2011). "Happy New Year... happy new school!". South Yorkshire Times. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  2. "Pupils get a taste of life in the war years". South Yorkshire Times. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  3. "Building Schools for the Future". Barnsley Council. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  4. "School reaches new neights[sic]". South Yorkshire Times. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  5. "Soaring to GCSE high". The Star. Yorkshire. 24 August 2007. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  6. "Eight schools must do better". Sheffield Telegraph. 1 July 2008. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  7. Ritchie, Meabh (11 December 2009). "Comic belief". TES. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  8. "Young authors launch their latest graphic novel". South Yorkshire Times. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  9. "A date in Belgium". The Epworth Bells. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  10. "School's cash grant celebration". South Yorkshire Times. 12 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
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