Vale of York Academy

Vale of York Academy
Location
Rawcliffe Drive, Clifton York , North Yorkshire , YO30 6ZS England
Coordinates	53°58′34″N1°06′02″W / 53.9761°N 1.1005°W / 53.9761; -1.1005
Information
Type	Academy
Motto	Always the best
Established	As Canon Lee School in 1941 / As Vale of York Academy in 2015
Local authority	City of York
Trust	Heartwood Learning Trust
Department for Education URN	143864 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Principal	Gill Mills
Gender	Co-educational
Age	11to 16
Enrolment	701 (August 2025) [1]
Colour(s)	Maroon
Website	https://voy.hslt.academy/

Vale of York Academy, previously called Canon Lee School, is a co-educational secondary school located in Clifton, York, England. The school is still often referred to locally as Canon Lee.

History

Canon Lee was built in Clifton to serve the north-west suburbs of Rawcliffe, Clifton and Skelton. The doors opened in 1941. The first headmaster was Mr J Storey, and because of the war the school was also used as a hospital and refuge shelter (hence why it has such wide corridors).^{[ citation needed ]}

In 1972 the first extension was built to accommodate the large number of pupils and to bring the school up to date; this included a gym, science labs, and maths and textile classrooms.^{[ citation needed ]} It was extended again at a cost of £4 million in 1999 to accommodate the influx of students when Queen Anne's School closed. ^[2]

In 2012, an all-weather [Artificial turf|3G football pitch] was opened at the school by former England manager Steve McClaren. ^[3]

The school was placed in special measures following an Ofsted inspection in 2015. ^[4] In September 2016 it was announced that Canon Lee would be renamed as the Vale of York Academy as part of a series of changes that include becoming part of Hope Learning Trust ^[5] , which later combined with Hull-based Sentamu Academy Learning Trust to form the Hope Sentamu Learning Trust ^[6] , now called Heartwood Learning Trust ^[7] .

References

1. Ofsted. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
2. Lewis, Haydn (27 March 2012). "Kevin Deadman retiring as head teacher of Canon Lee School after 18 years". The Press . Retrieved 28 November 2016.
3. "Steve McClaren opens school's football pitches". York Press. June 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
4. Lewis, Haydn (27 November 2015). "Canon Lee School in Clifton York placed in special measures after damning Ofsted report". The Press . Retrieved 28 November 2016.
5. "Canon Lee School to become Vale of York Academy". Minster FM. 27 September 2016. Archived from the original on 28 September 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
6. "Hope Sentamu Learning Trust - York and Hull schools merger". The Press (York). 1 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
7. "HEARTWOOD LEARNING TRUST". 10 March 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2025.

External links

• Official website
• GOV.UK information
• Ofsted reports