The Vale Academy

History

Two Secondary modern schools

The school was previously a secondary modern school. Building began in 1955. It was to be called Brigg Secondary Modern School, but was called Glanford Secondary School, and cost £110,089, for the Lindsey Education Committee. It was a two-form entry.

There were seven classrooms, two dining rooms, four rooms for woodwork, housecraft, arts and crafts, and science, and a hall and gymnasium. It opened on Thursday 10 January 1957 on Redcombe Road. Another two-form secondary modern school was planned for Broughton. The headteacher was Mr Ernest Urry, the former head of Caistor Secondary Modern School (now Caistor Yarborough Academy) from 1951, and there were 13 teachers and 320 children.

The school was officially opened 6 November 1957 by Colonel Nelthorpe. Ernest Urry died in August 1990, aged 82, in Stamford, Lincolnshire.

The adjoining Brigg Westmoor Secondary opened in September 1959. This school, to the north, was officially opened on Wednesday 21 September 1960 by the Bishop of Lincoln, Kenneth Riches. It cost £110,000, with ten teachers, nine classrooms and 280 children.

In 1972, both schools became Brigg Secondary School.

Comprehensive School

It became a comprehensive school in September 1976. At the time, it had around 800 children on the Westmoor school site. It became a Music and Technology College in 2007. It joined the Schools Partnership Trust and officially became an academy on 1 September 2011.

In 2011 the Vale had GCSE results of 69% at grades A*-C, which was above the local education authority's average of 52%. The students at the school make good progress – in the last two years value added scores for student progress have been positive. The Sixth Form value added score is also positive for progress at 0.22 and A*-C grades at A level have risen to 86%.

In 2013 the school received a Grade 2 (good) rating for overall effectiveness in its Ofsted inspection. This was consolidated with a shorter follow up inspection performed in 2017 where The Academy retained its good rating.

In January 2017, the Vale moved into a new building. The old school buildings of Glanford and Westmoor Schools were demolished later that year along with a 3rd building which was formerly used for PE and Tech lessons.

In 2024, Brigg Sixth Form split to form The Vale Academy Sixth Form and Brigg Sixth Form @ SJN.

Visits

• On 11 December 2018, the Princess Royal visited

Admissions

The Vale Academy follows local authority policy on admissions.

Notable former pupils

• Guy Martin – Motorcycle racer and TV presenter.

References

References

1. [https://www.valeacademy.org.uk/transition "Transition. The Vale Academy"], The page features The Three Principles of The Vale, The main one being "Join in, Join in"
2. "Post-16 {{!}} The Vale Academy".
3. ''Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph'' Thursday 10 January 1957, page 8
4. ''Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph'' Saturday 19 January 1957, page 3
5. ''Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph'' Friday 20 September 1957, page 4
6. ''Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph'' Thursday 30 August 1990, page 6
7. ''Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph'' Thursday 22 September 1960, page 5
8. [http://www.schoolpartnershiptrust.org.uk/our_academies "Our Academies"], School Partnership Trust Academies
9. [http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/GCSE-RESULTS-North-Lincolnshire-students/story-13201860-detail/story.html "GCSE Results: North Lincolnshire students celebrate outstanding grades"], ''[[Scunthorpe Telegraph]]'', 25 August 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
10. [http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/Brigg-Academy-celebrates-good-Ofsted-rating/story-18628186-detail/story.html "Brigg academy celebrates good (with outstanding) Ofsted rating"], Thisisscunthorpe.co.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2013
11. [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/137453 "The Vale Academy"], Ofsted School inspection report 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013
12. "files".
13. "Home".
14. "About the Academy {{!}} The Vale Academy".
15. "The Vale Academy Sixth Form".
16. "BRIGG SIXTH FORM @ SJN".
17. ''Times'' Wednesday 12 December 2018, page 55
18. [http://www.northlincs.gov.uk/education/schools/secondary-schools/thevaleacademy/ "North Lincolnshire Council – The Vale Academy"] {{Webarchive. link. (12 October 2013 , ''[[North Lincolnshire Council]]'', 11 October 2013.)
19. Martin, Guy. (2014). "My Autobiography".