| Stationers' Crown Woods Academy | |
| Coordinates: | 51.4522°N 0.0762°W |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 14 |
| Motto: | Aspire, Strive, Thrive Relentlessly pursuing excellence...[1] |
| Religious Affiliation: | None |
| Head Label: | Principal |
| Head: | Joseph Sparks |
| Address: | 145 Bexley Road |
| Postcode: | SE9 2PT |
| Dfeno: | 203/4271 |
| Urn: | 141309 |
| Ofsted: | Yes |
| Enrolment: | 1,638 |
| Lower Age: | 11 |
| Upper Age: | 18 |
| Houses: | Ashdown Sherwood Delamere Arden |
| Colours: | Red, Blue, Purple |
Stationers' Crown Woods Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in the Eltham area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London, England. The school is built upon the land that was formerly King Henry VIII's hunting grounds (hence 'Crown Woods').
First known as Crown Woods School, the school was founded in 1958. It was reopened in new £50 million buildings designed by Nicholas Hare Architects in 2011 and was renamed Crown Woods College.[2] In 2014 the school was renamed Stationers' Crown Woods Academy after the school gained academy status and joined the Leigh Academies Trust, the first Leigh academy outside Kent.
The school also featured in BBC series Tough Young Teachers as two trainee teachers went to the school to learn on the job.
At one point Crown Woods was the largest comprehensive school in London with 2600 pupils.
Between 1964 and 1985 or later the school had a boarding section for 120 children, mainly of serving Forces personnel, called The Lodge.[3] [4] [5]
In 2000, Crown Woods was identified by Ofsted as a "failing school".[6] The school was critical of the cursory inspections Ofsted had made to come to this judgement, and challenged it in court. In a humiliating 11th-hour climbdown, Ofsted agreed to an out-of-court settlement which spared it the embarrassment of a public hearing. Ofsted was ordered to pay the school's costs - estimated to run into five figures - as well as lifting its judgment. The chief inspector Chris Woodhead retired. [7] [8]
It is structured into four 'home schools', each in separate buildings.[2] The scheme received a RIBA London Award in 2012 and was commended at the Civic Trust Awards the same year. Three of the schools are for pupils aged 11 to 16 and pupils are allocated to the schools based on ability, skills and interests. The fourth school is a dedicated sixth form centre for 16- to 18-year-old students.[9]
Previously a community school governed by Greenwich London Borough Council, Crown Woods College converted to academy status on 1 September 2014 and was renamed Stationers' Crown Woods Academy. The school is part of the Leigh Academies Trust[10] and is sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers.[11] The school is having a planned name change in September 2024 and the school will be renamed "Leigh Stationers academy".[12]
Stationers' Crown Woods Academy offers GCSEs, BTECs and vocational courses as programmes of study for pupils, while students in the sixth form have the option of studying from a range of A Levels as well as further BTECs, GNVQs, and other vocational courses.