Darwen Vale High School

Darwen Vale High School

Darwen Vale’s original predecessor school, Darwen Higher Grade School, was opened 1894 and in 1929 became Darwen Grammar School. The school moved to its current location in 1938 and continued until 1972 when, under the reorganisation of the education system across the country, it became Darwen Vale High School. The school was named a specialist Engineering College under the 2002 Specialist Schools Programme in England.

The present school buildings were opened in 2012 following a £24million revamp under the Building Schools for the Future programme. The site had been closed for two years while large sections of the original structure were demolished and rebuilt. The existing front of the building was retained and cleaned up to keep the character of the old Grammar School. During the rebuilding process the school was relocated to the vacant former site of Darwen Moorland High School.

The school has strong links to its community, a focus on a providing a safe, secure and caring environment, and a clear vision of looking forward whilst building on the strong traditions of the previous schools.

In December 2013 the Department for Education (DfE) issued an Academy Order on the school naming Aldridge Education as its preferred sponsor and established an Interim Executive Board (IEB) to replace the Governing Body following the recommendation of Ofsted that an external review of governance be undertaken. Following a consultation in June 2014 the DfE confirmed the Academy conversion. The conversion was completed and Darwen Vale High School became an academy sponsored by Aldridge Education in December 2014.

Since conversion to academy status the school has shown a strong improvement in GCSE results. The overall percentage of students obtaining 5 + GCSEs at A*-C  EM* was up by 14% points to 52% with a significant rise in the numbers of passes at the top A* and A grades.

STEM and engineering continue to be priorities for the school going forward.