Barstable School

The Barstable School building first opened on 1 March 1962 as the Barstable Grammar and Technical School, a grammar technical school. The grammar school was designed by the Finnish architect Cyril Leonard Sjöström Mardall (of YRM Architects,[1] Yorke, Rosenberg and Mardall). The school started before the building existed. Students were housed temporarily in Woodlands Boys School from September 1958 and in Woodlands Girls School in September 1959. The boys and girls were joined as mixed classes after the February half term in 1962.

In 1968, the Grammar and Technical School under the Headmaster G G Whitehead[2] merged with the Timberlog County Secondary School. When the two schools merged into one school, it took the name of Barstable School. Timberlog Secondary School became a housing estate in the 1990s, following a time as the site of the Lower School.

On 2 November 1973, many children from the school were injured when involved in a coach collision with a lorry in Orpington, when on a school holiday.

On 30 March 1993 the building became a Grade II listed building. Around this time, the school was grant-maintained.[3]

On 16 September 2003, a 14-year-old boy was taken ill in a PE lesson, and later died in Basildon General Hospital. Tests showed the cause to be an unidentified heart defect.

In 2006, David Cameron visited the school. The school suffered from very low, and unacceptable, exam results. In 2006, the school along with Chalvedon School federated under the title of The Federation of Chalvedon School and Sixth Form College and Barstable School, though formally kept their operating names.[4]

When it closed, over 20% of its pupils were receiving free school meals. Its successful future as a school was not even helped by the fact that from 2008–9 it was receiving £5,137 per pupil, one of the highest in Essex, which had an average of £4,066 per pupil.

In 2009 the school formally closed with pupils transferring to the newly created Basildon Academies

In September 2009 it became The Basildon Lower Academy, for ages 11–14. Chalvedon School became The Basildon Upper Academy. On development of the Academy, pupil numbers changed from around 400 to around 950.

This block housed the Art department, Performing Arts, Citizenship and Religious Studies, the Science department, History and Geography. This building contained three floors, and also contained an elevator to ensure ease of access.

This block housed Food Technology, the Maths department, the English department and Modern Foreign Languages. Also the Library. It was very similar in structure to "A Block", in that it had three floors, and also contained an elevator.

This block contained the Special Needs Department.

This block housed the Gym, Sports Hall and a Swimming Pool. It also housed Jake's Gym. Jake's Gym is a gym that has been created in partnership with Pulse. It contained an aerobics centre as well as a fully functioning gym.

This block housed the ICT department and the Technology department.

• Tony Parsons, arts journalist
• Stuart Bingham, professional snooker player
• Dave Gahan, singer with Depeche Mode
• Glenn Keeley, professional footballer
• Dave Favis-Mortlock, geomorphologist and jazz violinist
• Simon Swordy, former director of the Enrico Fermi Institute Chicago and Professor of Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago