Bristol Metropolitan Academy

Bristol Metropolitan College

Established	2009
Type	Secondary Academy
Trust	Cabot Learning Federation
Principal	Sally Apps
Location	Snowdon Road Bristol BS16 2HD England Coordinates: 51°28′50″N 2°32′21″W / 51.4805°N 2.5392°W / 51.4805; -2.5392
DfE number	801/6913
DfE URN	135959 Tables
Ofsted	Reports Pre-academy reports
Capacity	945 (Data from January 2016)
Students	783 (Data from January 2015)
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11–19
Website	bristolmet.bristol.sch.uk

Bristol Metropolitan Academy, formerly Whitefield Fishponds Community School and later Bristol Metropolitan College, is an academy in Eastville, Bristol, England.

History

The original school building was built in 1836 by the architect Charles Dyer but was rebuilt after its destruction by German bombs during the second world war, and was replaced in 2008 with a new building on the same site and became an academy from the beginning of the 2009–2010 school year.

In 2003, Briarfield (a specialist school for children with disabilities) was built in Whitefield's grounds, and later a City Learning Centre (CLC3) was constructed adjacent to Briarfield. The CLC houses equipment designed for work with media projects.

During 2005, Whitefield Fishponds Community School was given Language College status. It is one of the few schools in Bristol to have been awarded this.^[1] The status recognises that Whitefield excels in the teaching of foreign languages to the local community.

The focus of the school is the central street, which is designed to be the heart of the school, providing a place for social interaction between students and staff and to give the school a sense of identity and drama. The environmental aspects of the school were also critical; maximisation of natural daylight, use of natural ventilation, recycling of rainwater for use in toilets and the use of biomass, recycled timber waste, to generate heat and power.

The school was designed collaboratively by the architects, an educationalist and also the school itself.

At one time, Whitefield School had four sites - Whitefield Lower Mixed, the lower co ed site located in Alexandra Park in Fishponds,(subsequently an Adult Education Centre), Whitefield Lower Girls on Fishponds Road, Eastville (subsequently demolished for housing) and Whitefield Lower Boys located at Greenbank. Students 11-13 spent the first three years at one of the lower schools, before transferring to the Whitefield Fishponds Upper School, adjacent to the current site of the Bristol Metropolitan College, for years 14-18 (or Sixth Form as the last two years of school were then known).

Building

In 2006 construction began on a new school building, on the existing site, and by summer 2007 the exterior construction was finished, with the interior fitting of the school and the landscaping of grounds to be completed. The old school buildings have been demolished, however Briarfield and CLC3 remained, and the new school building opened in May 2008.

Bristol Metropolitan College was the second school in Bristol to be completed under the Building Schools for the Future programme. Designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, it uses the exemplar Learning Cluster, or "strawberries" are they are affectionately known, first used at the John Madjeski Academy in Reading.

Academic achievement

The school has improved its results year on year and achieved its best ever GCSE scores in 2011, the table below shows the percentage of students hitting the key measure of 5 A*-C including English and Mathematics.^[2]

In 2014 it had the third highest value added score in the country, meaning that irrespective of starting point, students made exceptional progress in English, maths and across the curriculum.

Ofsted inspection

The school's latest inspection took place on 23 and 24 May 2012 and it received the following grades:^[3]

References

External links

• Official website
• City Learning Centre 3