Cramlington Learning Village

The school was established in 1969 as Cramlington County High School, after the upgrading of Cramlington to a new town under the New Towns Act 1946.[1] In line with Northumberland Local Education Authority's other high schools, the name was changed to Cramlington Community High School in the early 1990s as part of a scheme that enabled wider community use of the schools. Though a second high school was originally planned, as of 2022, it remains the only secondary school in the town.

Former head teachers include Peter Dines CBE, later the Chief Executive of the Schools Council from 1988 to 1993 and the National Curriculum Council, Angus Taylor OBE and Derek Wise CBE (born 6 June 1949).[2] Wise, head from 1990 until 2010, led a turnaround in the school's performance and began to implement the process of "Accelerated Learning" in 1997.[3][4] By 2004, it was performing significantly above local authority and national averages on all key measures.[5][6]

For a number of years, the school used the tagline "where the science of learning meets the art of teaching".[7] Wise, along with former deputy headteacher Mark Lovatt, wrote Creating an Accelerated Learning School, a book explaining their implementation of accelerated learning techniques.

Wendy Heslop succeeded Wise as headteacher.[8] Upon her retirement in 2021, she had worked at the school for 35 years.[9] John Bird and Kim Irving were then appointed Co-Heads.[9]

It had Science College status and was later awarded a second specialism in vocational education. In 2003, it was selected as one of the nation's Leading Edge schools by the office of Public Service Reform (Cabinet Office).

The CLV campus including all buildings: JLV, Inspire, Innovate, Imagine, Investigate, Learning Plaza, Applied Learning Centre, Sixth Form; as well as Inspire and Innovate Café.

The school is divided into separate "villages":

• the Junior Learning Village – years 7 and 8
• the Senior Learning Village – years 9 to 11
• and the Advanced Learning Village – years 12 and 13 (Sixth Form).

Badge used since 2008

The original buildings were constructed in 1969, consisting of a tin-plastic mixture, using the Consortium of Local Authorities Special Programme building system. A number of additional buildings have been added over the years, and the originals blocks were reclad in the 1990s.

The main buildings now include two 'blocks', Inspire and Innovate, with classrooms focussing on English, Maths, Science and Languages, 'Imagine' (a design, craft, food and ICT block), two dining halls attached to Inspire and Innovate (known as Inspire Cafe and Innovate Cafe respectively), 'Investigate' focussing on Humanities, the 'Learning Plaza', which is a mixture of a social area frequented by Years 9 to 11 (formerly the Social Block) equipped with computers, conferencing facilities. Additionally there is an Applied Learning Centre (formerly Music and Drama) where subjects such as construction and computer science are taught.

More recent additions to the school's architecture include the Advanced Learning Village (formerly Sixth Form Centre), built in 1996 to house A-Level students. It features a large seating area, small café and the Independent Learning Centre, a room for self-study with computers. There are also two small classrooms for Sixth Form specific subjects such as sociology, psychology and politics.

The Sporting Club, opened 12 February 2002, is another later addition to the site. Owned by Northumberland County Council and used by students for physical education, it houses a fitness suite, dance studio and tennis courts. There are also several fields (for football, rugby and cricket), a student-built cricket pavilion, and Astroturf suitable for play even during wet weather. There are also several large halls in other buildings suitable for indoor sports.

The JLV is part of Cramlington Learning Village's campus and includes a central 'street' area.

The most recent addition, completed in the summer of 2008, is the Junior Learning Village. The centre contains resources for teaching Years 7 and 8 after the council reforms of 11 September 2001 which moved the education system in Northumberland to the two-tier system after decades of using the three-tier system. Also contained within are resources for music and performing arts. The building is made up of other isolated 'blocks' called Enquire, Explore, Discover, Create, Communicate and Care. Other features of the JLV include its "Village" street, open science Learning Plaza, Knowledge Café, Pasta King and flexible learning spaces.

The school also uses a three-dimensional screen across the curriculum and the 'Biome' which was the result of a successful bid through the "Faraday" project designed to take the teaching of science into the 21st century. The building also has a multipurpose space called 'The Hub' which is used for assemblies, conferences, socialising at lunchtimes and hosting live shows and performances for music and drama/performing arts.

In July 2022, it was announced that the school had been selected as one of those to be rebuilt as part of the Department for Education's School Rebuilding Programme, though the extent of the development was yet to be decided.[10][11]

In August 2023, a consultation was released to temporarily increase the number of Year 7 places for September that year. It was then agreed to open two portacabin classrooms near the Investigate block to accommodate the extra pupils. These mobile classrooms will also be used for when the school is demolished to be rebuilt.[12][13]

Most recently, the school was judged to be Good in an inspection published in May 2022.[17]

It had previously been rated Good in an inspection published in February 2017.[17] Having previously been rated Outstanding in four successive Ofsted ratings up until 2013, an inspection in July 2015, however, found the school to be Inadequate and placed it in Special Measures.[18][17] The review proved controversial, being featured on the local television news on the evening of the report's publication.[19][20][21] A monitoring inspection, the report of which was published in October 2016, removed the Special Measures status, allowing the school to once again recruit newly qualified teachers.[17]

• – The school has a biennial exchange to Bettendorf, Iowa with Bettendorf High School.
• – In 2008, the school undertook a cultural and linguistical exchange with Polyvalente Hyacinthe-Delorme in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada
• – Yearly exchange with an unknown school in Levante, Spain. Students swap places with other students.

The sound and lighting booth used for shows and productions, situated at the top of the JLV Hub at Cramlington Learning Village.

• High School Musical – March 2008
• Return to the Forbidden Planet – March 2009
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – March 2011
• We Will Rock You – March 2012
• CLV Christmas Spectacular – December 2012
• The Wizard of Oz – March 2013
• More Than Soulful Christmas – December 2013
• Our House – March 2014
• Now That's What I Call... CLV Xmas! – December 2014
• Footloose – March 2015
• Grease – March 2016
• A Disney Christmas – December 2016
• The Sound of Music – March 2017
• Billy Elliot – March 2018
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – March 2022
• We Will Rock You – March 2023

Ross Noble with Cramlington Learning Village headmistress Wendy Heslop, his former English teacher

• Ross Noble, stand-up comedian and actor. Voted the 10th-greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups[22]
• Mark Clattenburg, football referee who refereed the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final and UEFA Euro 2016 Final
• Graeme Owens, former footballer who played for Middlesbrough
• James Brown, former footballer with Hartlepool United
• Stephen Miller, gold medal-winning British paralympics athlete
• Martin Brittain, former Newcastle United footballer
• Martin Taylor, footballer who played in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City
• Alex Nicholson, footballer who plays for Gateshead

• Cramlington Learning Village website