| Ryde Academy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
Pell Lane , , PO33 3LN England | |
| Information | |
| Type | Academy |
| Motto | Find your remarkable |
| Established | 2011 |
| Trust | Academies Enterprise Trust |
| Department for Education URN | 136753 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Head teacher | Joy Ballard |
| Gender | Male/Female |
| Age | 11to 18 |
| Website | http://www.rydeacademy.org |
Ryde Academy is an academy status secondary school, including sixth form, located in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, England.
Education on the school site began with Ryde High School which was a 13–18 school built and opened in 1964 to accommodate the expanding population of Ryde, the largest town on the Isle of Wight. The school was successful in achieving a Specialist Languages Status and a Media and Arts Specialism. In 2008 the Isle of Wight education authority decided to abolish the tripartite education system (of First schools, Middle Schools and High Schools) and instead adopt the two stage, Primary School and Secondary school model used by the majority of authorities in England. [1] According to the new two stage model Ryde High School would be extended from the 712 pupils of 13–18 age range, [2] and it would become an Academy for 1200 pupils aged 11–18.
Academy chains were invited to bid for the contract to run the new Ryde Academy 11–18 school. The contract was won by Academies Enterprise Trust which took over Ryde Academy (and also two other schools on the Isle of Wight: Sandown Bay Academy and Weston Academy) in 2012.
In 2014, Ryde Academy was successful in acquiring the site of a local primary school which was closing, and this became the new Haylands Sixth Form Centre. [3]
The last headteacher of Ryde High School was Linda McGowan. [4] The first Principal of Ryde Academy was Rob Hoddle [5] who resigned in 2013. He was replaced by the Vice Principal, Debbie Price, who became acting Principal in Nov 2013 until a new principal could be appointed. Dr Rory Fox was appointed as Executive Principal to provide external support to Mrs Price. [6] Eric Jackson took over leadership of the Academy in January 2015, [7] and Joy Ballard was appointed as Principal for September 2015. [8]
In 2024, Joy Ballard took a step back from the school. A spokesperson for Academy Enterprise Trust said: "Mrs Ballard has been away from work for personal reasons." AET has not commented if she will return to the school, leaving Vice Principal Will Doyle to lead the school with assistance from AET. [9]
In 2007, Ryde High School was commended by the Department for Education (called DfES at the time) for its achievements with disadvantaged pupils. [10] In 2010, before Ryde High School became Ryde Academy, it was judged by OFSTED to be providing a "Satisfactory" quality of education. [11] In its first inspection as an Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) school, OFSTED judged that standards were "inadequate".
GCSE results since 2004 have improved as follows:
| Date | 5GCSE (including Eng & Mat) | Progress 8 results |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 32% [12] | n/a |
| 2007 | 39% [13] | n/a |
| 2010 | 41% [14] | n/a |
| 2013 | 51% | n/a [15] |
| 2016 | 54% | -0.41 [16] |
In the summer of 2014, Ryde Academy reported its biggest ever improvement in results, with a 200% improvement in the proportion of pupils gaining A/A* grades [17] In the Summer of 2015, when AET asked Eric Jackson (from AET's "troubled" [18] Sandown Bay Academy) to lead Ryde Academy, the GCSE results plummeted to 36% (compared to Carisbrooke College 53% and Priory School 54%). [19]
A level results have gone from 3% of pupils gaining A/A* results in 2010, to 50% of pupils gaining A/A* in 2016. [20]
In terms of its OFSTED grades, the academy has improved steadily from "inadequate" in 2013 to "requires improvement" in 2014, [21] to "good" in Nov 2016. [22] The leader of the Isle of Wight Council, Jonathan Bacon, said: "This is great news...I have no doubt that the school will continue to build upon this achievement..." [23] Principal, Joy Ballard, said: "I'm fed up reading about what a bad deal the island's education system seems to be giving to its kids." [24]
In 2014, there was a crackdown on school uniform which led to an estimated 250 to 300 pupils being removed from lessons and sent home or placed in isolation, due to uniform infringements [30] which included issues with skirt length, [31] shoes and socks, [32] and trousers. [33] Some pupils were sent home, and some were placed in isolation. The incident received widespread coverage from BBC South Today, The Times , The Telegraph and the Loose Women television show. [34] As a result of the Academy's actions, some parents removed their children from the school and Academies Enterprise Trust said that they fully supported Ryde Academy. [35]
In the same year, a controversy erupted when teaching unions at Ryde academy were challenged for defending poorly performing teachers who were accused of letting down the education of the children within the academy. [36] Matters came to a head in February 2015 when under-performing union members were due to be dismissed, but Ian Comfort, the CEO of Academies Enterprise Trust intervened to prevent that from taking place.[ citation needed ]
In January 2015, OFSTED criticized the Academies Enterprise Trust for failing to provide enough support to Ryde Academy in order to help the academy to improve standards at a faster rate. [37] When academic standards at neighbouring Sandown Bay Academy collapsed and Academies Enterprise Trust were unable to improve the school, they announced in 2017 a plan to close Sandown Bay Academy and the transfer of all the pupils to Ryde Academy. [38] The principal and governors of Ryde announced that they had not even been consulted about the plan and that they had discovered it from AET's press statements. [39] There were widespread protests across the Isle of Wight about the poor performance of AET and the way that AET were behaving with the Island's schools, leading to a demand that AET should be removed from managing all schools on the Isle of Wight, including Ryde Academy. [40]
Education on the Isle of Wight is provided by local education authority-maintained schools on the Isle of Wight, and independent schools. As a rural community, many of these schools are small, with average numbers of pupils lower than in many urban areas. It was decided on 19 March 2008, in a Whole Council Meeting, that the three-tier system would change into a two tier system. A report into the report on the re-organisation with proposals as to which schools would close was published in May 2008. There is also a college on the Isle of Wight and other less formal educational venues.
Unity City Academy is a city academy in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, sponsored by the Academies Enterprise Trust.
Henley Bank High School is an 11 to 18 academy in Gloucester, England. It is sponsored by the Greenshaw Learning Trust. In January 2018, the school was taken over by Greenshaw Learning Trust, in order to assist in improving aspects of the school - this resulted in a name change from Millbrook Academy to Henley Bank High School. The Headteacher is Stephen Derry supported by Executive Head and Director of School Improvement at the Greenshaw Learning Trust, Izzy Ambrose.
Medina College is a foundation secondary school in Newport on the Isle of Wight, formerly Medina High School.
Ryde School with Upper Chine is a co-educational independent day and boarding school in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight. The school, founded in 1921, is a member of the HMC.
Dixons Unity Academy, formerly Swallow Hill Community College is an educational secondary school Academy located in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is sponsored by Dixons Academies Trust, having formerly been sponsored by Academies Enterprise Trust (AET).
Cowes Enterprise College, previously known as Cowes High School, is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status located on the outskirts of Cowes at Crossfield Avenue on the Isle of Wight, England.
Sandown Bay Academy, formerly Sandown High School, was an academy status secondary school located in Sandown on the Isle of Wight, England. From 2012 to 31 August 2018 it was sponsored by the Academies Enterprise Trust. On 31 August 2018, the academy was closed.
Mark Hall Academy, formerly Mark Hall Specialist Sport College, is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Harlow, Essex, England.
Priory School is a co-educational independent school in Whippingham, Isle of Wight.
East Point Academy is an academy sponsored by the Inspiration Trust, located in the Kirkley district of Lowestoft, in the English county of Suffolk. It educates children from ages 11 to 16. In its latest Ofsted inspection in October 2016, the academy overall was rated as "Good". The school is also home to both the Lowestoft Railway and Lowestoft Ladies Hockey Clubs and the KITE Media Centre
Sir Herbert Leon Academy is a coeducational comprehensive secondary academy school and sixth form located in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, England. It is currently sponsored by the Academies Enterprise Trust, having become an academy under this sponsorship. Originally founded as two separate boys and girls schools on Bletchley Road (Queensway), the schools unified as a coeducational senior school in 1937. In the 1960s it was renamed to Leon Secondary School, in honour of Sir Herbert Leon, and relocated to Fern Grove in 1971, becoming a comprehensive. The school specialised and became the Leon School and Sports College sometime between 1996 and 2001, and academized as Sir Herbert Leon Academy in 2012. Between 2011 and 2014, the school hosted one of two campuses for the Milton Keynes South Sixth Form, in collaboration with nearby Lord Grey School.
Winton Community Academy is a mixed secondary school located in Andover in the English county of Hampshire.
Outwood Academy Normanby is a secondary school with academy status, located in the Teesville suburb of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. It has a mixed intake of boys and girls ages 11–16, with 600 pupils on roll as of 2019.
Atlantic Academy Portland, formerly known as the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy, is a coeducational all-through school and sixth form for children aged 3 to 19. The school is located on two sites on the Isle of Portland in the English county of Dorset.
Lift Schools, formerly Academies Enterprise Trust, is a multi-academy trust with 57 primary, secondary and special schools in England. One of the largest networks of schools in the country, it is a non-profit, educational trust, which sponsors schools with academy status.
Joy Ballard is a British head teacher. She has been prominently featured in the media discussing the potential for improvement in schools and issues with the British education system.
London Academies Enterprise Trust (LAET) was a multi-academy trust (MAT) controlled by the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) in England. It was dissolved in August 2021.
Weston Academy was an Isle of Wight primary school run by the Academies Enterprise Trust academy chain. It closed in 2015.
