| Home | |
Littlehampton School
October 2012
This was a bit of a strange visit for me as I actually went to school here. Its an odd feeling to walk down the corridors that you know well, that at seem once both familiar and alien in their derelict state...
Littlehampton School is actually 2 schools which were then merged together. As a result the site is large and has many different buildings spread over 2 Main areas: Hill Road and Elm Grove. The buildings at Elm grove were completed 1940 (apparently seeing use as a second world war hospital) before the local girls school moved in. In 1962 It was renamed Maud Allen Secondary Modern.
The Hill Road buildings were opened on an adjacent site in 1959 and the local boys school moved in, by 1962 it had been renamed Andrew Cairns Secondary School. Both schools merged to form Littlehampton Comprehensive School in 1972, Following the decision in 1965 to abolish the eleven plus and grammar school / secondary modern system in favor of comprehensives.
A series of extensions and revisions to the existing buildings followed. The canteen at Elm Grove was converted into classrooms and workshops and the stage was bricked up. Most of the administration functions were moved to the newer Hill Road Site .A number of prefabs and temporary classrooms were also added to cope with increased pupil numbers. In 1991 a major arson attack devastated a number of buildings and resulted in the building of a new science block and a library.
By the end of the 1990's the name had changed to Littlehampton Community School and it was one of the ten biggest secondary schools in the country with around 2000 pupils. Pupils were organised into five houses named after local Hills: Amberly, Bignor, Chantry, Highdown, Rackham, though these were abolished in 2004.
In 2003 It became a specialist business and enterprise school and in 2007 applied for academy status. Reopening as an academy in September 2009. A new school was built on the playing fields and in the summer of 2012 many of the buildings at elm grove and hill road were closed.
Elm Grove Buildings,
