Clacton Coastal Academy is a coeducational high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 serving the western part of Clacton-on-Sea

Clacton-on-Sea

Clacton-on-Sea is the largest town on the Tendring peninsula, in Essex, England and was founded in 1871. It is a seaside resort that attracted many tourists in the summer months between the 1950s and 1970s, but which like many other British sea-side resorts went into decline as a holiday...

. The school has a population of about 1600 students in addition to a Sixth form

Sixth form

In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

 consisting of about 200 pupils. Formerly known as “Colbayns”, the site was officially re-named on the 1st September 2009, after merging with the now defunct school Bishop’s Park.

History

The original school dates from 1926 but moved to its present site in 1931 when it was known as the Clacton-on-Sea Senior School. This school gained the unofficial title 'Pathfields School' because access was off Pathfields Road. In January, 1953, a new building on the west side of Pathfields Road was opened as the Clacton County Secondary School for Girls with Miss Lawrence as Headmistress. The original building on the east site became the Clacton County Secondary School for Boys with Mr K. Portman as Headmaster. In September 1973 the two schools were amalgamated to form Colbayns High School under the headship of Mr. D. King. He was succeeded by Mr. J. Midgley in 1984.

Facilities

In 1988 Mr. J. Holt, who joined the staff in 1964, become Headmaster. With the Governing Body he saw the school through into successful incorporation as a Grant Maintained

Grant-maintained school

Grant-maintained schools were state schools in England and Wales between 1988 and 1998 that had opted out of local government control, being funded directly by a grant from central government...

 School within the terms of the 1988 Education Act

Education Act

Education Act is a stock short title used for legislation in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States that relates to education.-United Kingdom and predecessor states:*The Education Act 1833...

 on the 1st September 1993. Under his leadership, in 1996, over £1 million was spent on new facilities.

Mr. N. Pavitt, took up his post at Easter 1997. During his first year, the school was able to put in hand £420,000 of building work through grants from the Funding Agency to build new Science laboratories, Language laboratories and improved sixth form study provision. A grant of a further £170,000 has allowed the building of a new Mathematics suite, completed in the Spring of 1999.

In 2009, Colbayns High School and Bishops Park merged to become the Clacton Coastal Academy. Mr. S. Chamberlain replaced Mr Pavvit, becoming the school's first Executive Principal.

OFSTED

The Overall Evaluation from Ofsted

Office for Standards in Education

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

(2004) identified staff turn-over as a root cause of poor behavior in the classroom .

The school has grown in recent years, particularly at Sixth Form level. In 2003, Clacton Coastal Academy became the first British school to join the US-run Edison Schools Project.
At the moment, Clacton Coastal Academy has two deputy teachers, Mr Ling and Mrs McAteer.