West Walsall E-ACT Academy

West Walsall E-ACT Academy is a secondary school and sixth form located in the Alumwell/Pleck area of Walsall, about a mile west of the town centre. It also takes pupils from Birchills and further afield.

The school, previously known as Alumwell Business and Enterprise College, converted to academy status in September 2012, becoming West Walsall E-ACT Academy. The school is sponsored by E-ACT.

The Principal until February 2014 was A. E. Hubble, B.Ed., NPQH.

History

The original school on the site was opened, on land owned by the Earl of Bradford, in September 1971 as Wilfred Clark Comprehensive, an 11-18 school formed by the amalgamation of four secondary modern schools. It was the first school in Walsall to be designed with out-of-hours community users in mind: a vision of the then Director of Education, R. D. Nixon, which, for a time, brought visits from education officers from all over England. Since September 1974, and prior to its last appellation, it has been known as the Alumwell Comprehensive School,^[1] (briefly) Alumwell Community School, and the Alumwell School. The annexe in Scarborough Road (used for years 7 and 8, and some year 9 subjects) was closed in July 1991 due to a decline in pupil numbers, and taken over by Walsall College (WALCAT).

Its first headteacher, until 1974, was Leslie Cox. His successor was Mr. Eugene M. Hughes, who served the school for 18 years until 1992, when he was succeeded by Miss Susan M. Bradford, who served the school for a similarly long period before leaving in December 2009 having gained a number of quality marks for the school, in particular, Investors in People. Andy Hubble became Headteacher in 2010, and was appointed Principal of the newly formed academy in 2012, until his resignation in February 2014 following an Ofsted inspection that ruled that the school's overall effectiveness was 'inadequate'.^[2] In the interim, Patrick Ottley-O’Connor, former Principal of Oasis Academy MediaCityUK in Salford has assumed the role of Interim Principal.^[3] Mr Ottley O'Connor left Oasis Academy MediaCityUK in mysterious circumstances after Christmas 2014.^[4]

Alumwell Business and Enterprise College converted to Academy status in September 2012, reopening as West Walsall E-ACT Academy.

Campus

The school has extensive sports facilities including a football/athletics field, eight tennis courts, a heated swimming pool, a gym and squash court, a large Astroturf and, a significantly large sports hall. It also has a theatre.

There was to have been substantial rebuilding as a result of the school's participation in Building Schools for the Future,^[5] but this fell through following the general election of 2010.

However, a new building opened on the site in 2012 called the Innovation Centre. The building was initially used by the Academy for some Post-16 lessons, such as Psychology and Law, while also serving as a local business venue with its meeting rooms and other facilities. However in September 2013, the building became solely dedicated to Post-16 provision and is now the Post-16 Centre.^[6]

References

External links

• West Walsall E-ACT Academy homepage