Sir John Arthur Townsley is a British educator.
He began teaching in Leeds c. 1987 at John Smeaton High School. He spent ten years at The King's School in Pontefract, before becoming Deputy Headteacher at Prince Henry's Grammar School in Otley. He became headteacher at Morley High School in 2003. The school had been rated Satisfactory by Ofsted before his appointment, but after a 2009 inspection it was upgraded to Outstanding; it then became an Academy in 2011 under Townsley's leadership. The school then became an Academy sponsor and linked with Farnley Academy in Leeds and several primary schools to form part of The Gorse Academy Trust; Townsley had taken over leadership at Farnley in 2009, and saw it increase from an Inadequate Ofsted ranking in 2009 to Outstanding in 2013, and later being reduced back down to Requires Improvement after an impromptu Ofsted inspection following accusations of off-rolling. He also became Executive Headteacher of The Ruth Gorse Academy free school in Leeds. [1] [2] [3] Townsley was knighted in the 2015 New Year Honours "for service to education". [3]
Concerns have been raised by education unions and staff regarding his professional management style and culture established, describing it as bullying. [4] [5]
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training and childcare services in England do so to a high standard for children and students. Ofsted is responsible for inspecting a range of educational institutions, including state schools and some independent schools. It also inspects childcare, adoption and fostering agencies and initial teacher training, and regulates early years childcare facilities and children's social care services.
The Morley Academy is a mixed secondary school located in Morley, West Yorkshire, England.
Harris Academy St John's Wood is a secondary school in St John's Wood, North London, that was re-named in 2017. It is a 7 form-entry non-selective co-educational academy. Its predecessor Quintin Kynaston was founded in 1969 by the merger of Quintin Grammar School and Kynaston School. The earlier schools, which were built on the same site, opened in September 1956. It has been an academy school since November 2011. The school was rated as "Outstanding" in 2008 and 2011 by Ofsted, the English schools' inspectorate; however, in 2014 it was rated "Requires Improvement", and in April 2017 it was rated "Inadequate" and as a consequence was placed in special measures. It joined the Harris Federation Multi-Academy Trust in September 2017. In 2019, Ofsted ranked the Academy as 'good'.
Harrogate Grammar School is a co-educational academy school and sixth form in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. It has around 1,900 pupils in the main school. A 2022 Ofsted inspection rated the school as 'Outstanding' in all five areas of the Ofsted framework
The Burgate School and Sixth Form is an 11–18 academy school. The school is situated in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, and at the current time has approximately 1000 students. The school achieves results above the national average at all levels. GCSE results in 2018 were significantly improved on previous years with a Progress 8 score which ranked the school third in Hampshire.
Conyers School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, in Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees, England.
Sirius Academy West is a secondary school in Hull, England. It was renamed Sirius Academy in September 2009 under Building Schools for the Future, with Sports College specialist status.
Dame Maureen Brennan is an English educator from the West Midlands. She is the previous CEO of Matrix Academy Trust, a position she accepted after serving as headteacher at Barr Beacon School and as principal at Hillcrest School and Community College in Netherton, West Midlands.
The Willink School is a comprehensive community school in Burghfield Common, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Founded in 1957, the school is co-educational and has an enrolment of 1,218 students aged 11–18. The headteacher is Nicolle Browning.
Burnt Mill Academy is a secondary school academy and specialist performing arts college situated on First Avenue in Harlow, Essex, England. The school originally opened in May 1962 as Burnt Mill Comprehensive School, de jure keeping this name until academisation in 2011. In 2003, it became a specialist performing arts college, specialising in dance, drama and music. It joined the Confucius institute programme in 2007, partnering with Suzhou Lida Middle School in Jiangsu, China. This granted the school an International School Award. It gained academy status in 2011 and formed the Burnt Mill Academy Trust (BMAT) in 2013. BMAT has since become a multi-academy trust, with 12 member schools as of 2021.
Dixons City Academy is an academy in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded in 1990 as Dixons City Technology College which focused on a specialism of design and technology and product design. In 2005, the school converted into an academy and changed its name to Dixons City Academy. With the change of name was a change of focus as the school became a specialist performing arts school which allows it to select 10% of admissions purely based on ability in this field. In November 2018, the school was judged "outstanding", in an Ofsted inspection.
Reepham High School and College is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in Reepham, Norfolk. The majority of the students live in outlying villages. Prior to September 2009, when Reepham College opened, it was known as Reepham High School. Tim Gibbs is the current principal, taking over from Mark Farrar in 2017. The school created and leads the Synergy Multi-Academy Trust.
The Meridian School was a secondary school and sixth form located in Royston, Hertfordshire, England. It was an academy, and had approximately 474 registered students, including 80 in the sixth form before closure. The school featured an all-weather pitch which was used by the school, the community and the local football team. The Pavilion provided indoor changing facilities and access to the tennis courts.
The Farnley Academy is a secondary school serving the Farnley, New Farnley and Wortley wards of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
William Edwards School, commonly referred to by locals and students as Willy Eds, is a coeducational secondary comprehensive school with academy status, in Grays, Essex, England. It is a founding member of the South West Essex Community Education Trust (SWECET) and is its leading member. The current headteacher of the school is Simon Bell. The school first opened on 11 September 1962, gained specialist sports college status in 2002 and in 2004 also became a training school. The school achieved outstanding in its Ofsted inspection of December 2010 after which it closed to make way for the current academy status school, reopening on 1 August 2011. In March 2017 the school was inspected and retained outstanding status. As of 2019 it requires improvement.
Harton Academy, formerly Harton Technology College or Harton Comprehensive School, is a mixed secondary and sixth form academy located in South Shields, South Tyneside, England.
Outwood Academy Acklam is a comprehensive secondary school with academy status, located in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough, England. It has a mixed intake of both boy and girls, ages 11–16, with over 1000 pupils on roll as of 2018.
Winton Community Academy is a mixed secondary school located in Andover in the English county of Hampshire.
Elliott Hudson College is a sixth form located in the Beeston area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The college offers A-Level courses for up to 1000 students from the Leeds City Region.
The Ruth Gorse Academy is a mixed secondary school located in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.