Whitley Academy is an academy school in Whitley, Coventry, England. The school was rebuilt and opened on 13 October 2000, replacing the former Whitley Abbey Comprehensive School built in the 1950s, which was one of the first comprehensive schools in Coventry. In July 2007, Whitley Abbey Community School gained specialist status in Business and Enterprise and was renamed Whitley Abbey Business and Enterprise College. On 1 July 2011 Whitley Abbey Business and Enterprise College became an Academy and was renamed to 'Whitley Academy'. The new academy was formally opened on 13 March 2012 by the Princess Royal. It was one of the seven schools in the RSA Family of Academies, all in the West Midlands, of the Royal Society of Arts. In July 2019 the governors of the school decided to leave the RSA.
RSA Academy
Whitley Academy was a part of the from March 2012 to July 2019. There are now currently seven schools in the family who are all based in the West Midlands, following the schools departure from the group of Academies.
National Teaching School
Whitley Academy also partly lead the . The school has been using the RSA since 2011 and is a training school for other schools wishing to learn about the Opening Minds curriculum and incorporate it into their own schools. The school worked with partner schools in an alliance to ensure high quality school-led initial teacher training and professional development opportunities for teachers at all stages of their career. They raise standards through school-to-school support, engage in research and development, and ensure that the most talented school leaders are spotted and supported to become successful headteachers.
Whitley has been inspected by Ofsted 4 times in the last 10 years. After 9 year of being 'Outstanding', in March 2019 the school received the 'Requires Improvement' grade.
Whitley Arts
The website, , was launched in March, 2013, as an eCommerece website to sell unique pupil artwork, whilst at the same time showcasing the excellence and artistic flair of Whitley Academy pupils to a local and national audience. The project idea of Whitley Arts was commissioned by Lorraine Allen, then Principal, after initial discussions with Centre Stage Digital, the school Art Department and the Business Manager. The website was the first of its nature in Warwickshire, and one of only two such sites nationally, and has raised over £1,000 for pupils and the Whitley Art Faculty. Money raised from Whitley Arts and purchase of pupil art will help support the arts, the pupils and their learning.
