Thistley Hough Academy

Thistley Hough Academy is a mixed community secondary school located in the village of Penkhull in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The school was built in 1938 as a girls' grammar school, housed in a classical Art Deco building.[1] The old building has since been demolished and a new £15,000,000 school has been constructed. In September 2011, the new building's opening ceremony took place.[2] The new building was opened in May 2013 by the Chairman of Stoke City Football Club, Peter Coates.[3]

Thistley Hough Academy
Address
Thistley Hough

Stoke-on-Trent
,
Staffordshire
,
ST4 5JJ

England
Coordinates53°00′00″N 2°12′08″W
Information
TypeCommunity School
MottoMy open eyes desire the truth.
Established1938
Local authorityStoke-on-Trent
SpecialistMedia Arts college
Department for Education URN124441 Tables
OfstedReports
PrincipalJayne Schofield
GenderBoth
Age11 to 16
Enrolment875
Websitehttp://www.thistleyhoughacademy.org.uk

Admissions

Admissions are non-selective. Students can be of any religion or none, and the school does not provide religious instruction. Though the school was initially a girls' school, the school now admits male pupils[4].

History

The school was first opened in 1938. The current academy colours, green and purple, date from the school's inception as a grammar school for girls. The first headmistress, Miss Bamber, was a member of the suffragette movement[5]. Local pottery companies donated pieces of pottery for the school's reception area. The pottery is still displayed in the school library today.[6]

Site

In the 1970s, the school was expanded. The new section cost £2 million[7].

In 1994, the school was refurbished[8].

In 2013, the new buildings were constructed as part of the government's Schools for the Future Sceme. The site of the demolished old school was converted into parking space and sports facilities[9]. The school was reopened under head teacher Holly Hartley.[10]

Robert Haines

In 2014, the ex-head heacher Robert Haines jailed for 16 months for 8 child sex offences. He had been suspended in 2012 as allegations came to light, and admitted his offences in the Stoke-on-Trent crown court.[11]

Zainab Fadhil

Zainab Fadhil is a former pupil and Iraqi refugee who in 2017 achieved nine GCSEs, having arrived in England only three years before knowing little English. She fled her home in Baghdad after it was destroyed in a bombing raid.[12]

Local Community

Abnormally high amounts of students are excluded from schools in the school's county. Despite the high cost at £5000 per pupil, in the 2018/2019 academic year 185 pupils were excluded from Staffordshire schools. Pupils are most often excluded from secondary schools, and were transferred from their last school with unaddressed "complex learning and behavioural needs".[13]

There has often been complaints about pupils' "anti-social" behaviour in the local area. In 2019, increased numbers of local police were sent to patrol the school and its immediate surrounding area.[14]

Sponsors

Thistley Hough Academy was established in September 2013 in partnership with the Creative Education Trust (CET). CET is a charity and social enterprise set up in 2011.[15]

Thistley Hough has adopted the ‘Admissions Criteria for Community Schools’ as determined by Stoke-on-Trent Education Service[16].

  1. Children who are in the care of a local authority
  2. Children who have older brothers or sisters at the school at the time that they will start.
  3. Children who live nearest to the school as determined by a straight line measurement from the front door of the child’s home address to the main entrance of the school.

Uniform

Pupils are made to wear a plain grey jumper. Headphones are not allowed on school premises.[17]

Notable alumni

Thistley Hough Girls' School

References
  1. Art deco - Thistley Hough High School exterior, Penkhull
  2. Aedas’ Thistley Hough High School Groundbreaking Ceremony took place today | Aedas | News & Events | 8/9/2011
  3. Coates urges pupils to reach their goals | This is Staffordshire
  4. https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/Establishments/Establishment/Details/139068
  5. https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/history/thistley-hough-girls-school-1788791
  6. Thistley Hough High School
  7. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-22164717
  8. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-22164717
  9. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-22164717
  10. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-22164717
  11. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-26652765
  12. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-41036985/girl-who-fled-iraq-never-imagined-getting-nine-gcses
  13. https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/local-news/185-pupils-expelled-staffordshire-just-3554024
  14. https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/police-patrols-continue-stoke-trent-3569510
  15. http://www.creativeeducationtrust.org.uk/
  16. STOKE-ON-TRENT CITY COUNCIL ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS FOR COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARY CONTROLLED NURSERY SETTINGS AND PRIMARY SCHOOLS FOR 2020/21
  17. https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/youve-three-minutes-your-next-2879043

News items
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