Fowey River Academy

The school dates back to the Fowey Free School which was founded in 1692 by John Rashleigh and Shadrack Vincent. The land was provided by John Treffry and Vincent gave £500 to purchase land to provide income for the school. Originally the school was for "educating 30 poor children of Fowey and adjacent places." numbers increased by 25 in 1773 when a further bequest was given John Johns. In 1880, the school was converted to a Board School under the Elementary Education Act 1870 and a new building added in 1876. A new Grammar School, designed by Silvanus Trevail was built in 1879-80 on Daglands Road. It became a Beacon School in September 2000 and a Leading Edge School in 2004. In 2004 it was identified by OFSTED as a school “extremely effective in providing high quality education and ensuring that their pupils achieve very well.” Following this rating it began the process of converting to an academy. and was given approval by the Education Secretary Michael Gove in February 2014. In the same week Ofsted inspectors said the school had improved significantly. In August 2015 the head teacher John Perry stepped down and handed his role over to Executive Principal: Sara Davey and Principal Martin Dale. In July 2017 Principal Martin Dale took full control of the school, with Executive Principal Sara Davey going back to her post at Mounts Bay Academy. The academy in July 2017 received an Ofsted inspection that spanned over two days, the overall effectiveness rating was released by Ofsted on Monday 11 September 2017, the school received a 'Requires Improvement' rating, Ofsted had the following to say on the report: Improve the quality of teaching and raise achievement for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, by ensuring that • staff consistently use assessment data effectively to monitor and improve pupils’ progress • teachers plan activities that routinely challenge pupils to think more deeply • advice and guidance provided by teachers consistently helps pupils to improve their work The full report is published here. ==Financial management==

The school was featured in a ‘damning’ BBC Panorama documentary, that looked into the way two academy trusts (ALAT & Bright Tribe) had spent millions of pounds. Serious questions were raised about how money was spent on improvements, as well as claims that school governors were denied financial reports and that there was a lack of local scrutiny over the way the school was run. Fowey River Academy was reportedly charged at least £300,000 for LED lighting that its chairman of governors said was not installed. ==References==