North Cambridge Academy
North Cambridge Academy is a small secondary school with academy status, located in North Cambridge, England. Founded in 1959 the school has also been known as Manor Community College, and The Manor. Partner schools. Associate primary schools are: Shirley Infant and Primary School, Kings Hedges Primary School, The Grove Primary School and Orchard Park Primary School. The Sister Schools of this establishment are Swavesey Village College, Stamford Welland Academy and Nene Park Academy. History. The school was built as Manor School around 1959 based on a design by the architects W. Doig and M.R. Francis and, at  that time, was a flagship school in Cambridge City. The school was named after Manor Farm which was in the area and was owned by Cambridgeshire County Council, who bought the farm in 1909 from the Benson family of Chesterton hall. The Council split the farm into smallholdings, and the name of one of the smallholders, William Downham, is commemorated in a nearby road called Downham's Lane. The school was due to have funding for refurbishment, but this was removed by Cambridgeshire County Council in 2009. It has recently been selected as part of the Coalition Government's Priority  School Building Programme. In 2007 the school appointed Ben Slade as principal. In October 2012 Slade resigned in order to take up a post in the independent schools sector. The school improved during his 5-year tenure despite 2012 results being the lowest since he was appointed exacerbated by the national grade boundary change scandal. In 2007 results were 23% 5 higher grades including English and Maths. These rose to 49% in 2010. At 5 higher grades results rose from 32% in 2007 to 60% in 2010 "a remarkable turnaround" (Ofsted, 2010). OfSTED commented that "the changes made are recognised  by parents, the vast majority of whom are supportive of the school's work. A considerable number commented on the improvements, including the renewed focus on improving standards. The comment, 'the effort of staff and pupils to make a dramatic improvement is working', is typical." The Manor was designated as a specialist performing arts college by the DCSF in 2007 and they were successfully re-designated by the DfE in 2010. They were also awarded ArtsMark Gold by the Arts Council for England and the Prince's Teaching Institute Award for English by Prince of Wales in 2009, 2010 and  2011. On 28 November 2012, students from the Manor School performed in front of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in an event organised by the Body Gossip education programme. The school became an academy sponsored by Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust in September 2013, and was renamed North Cambridge Academy.