West Lakes Academy is a vibrant 11-18 secondary school nestled in the western edge of the picturesque Lake District of Cumbria, serving a dynamic community of 1,200 students. Since opening in September 2008 and moving into our state-of-the-art £26m building in 2012, we have been committed to delivering the highest quality education in an environment that inspires success.
Our vision is to succeed in ‘Changing Lives through Learning’ by providing the very best possible educational opportunities for young people in West Cumbria. We have extremely high hopes for all of our students and our highly skilled and enthusiastic members of staff encourage children to have high ambitions and to work hard to achieve these.
Mr Stephen Grant
West Lakes Academy is committed to the creation of a fully inclusive, aspirational, high achieving Centre of Excellence, firmly rooted in the local community. Our vision is to succeed in ‘Changing Lives through Learning’ by providing the very best possible educational opportunities for young people in West Cumbria.
Changing Lives Learning Trust is a Multi-Academy Trust with Sponsor Status and is a not for profit charity which sponsors primary and secondary academies.
WORLD OF WORK DAY 💬
Yesterday our Year 9 students took part in our annual World of Work Day.
They had a fantastic day taking part in speed‑networking sessions with local employers, learning about different career paths and what those jobs involve. They also enjoyed a Gen2 skills workshop, team‑building activities, and a short session on Unifrog, our careers planning and guidance platform.
Mrs Walter praised the confidence students showed stepping out of their comfort zones, and employers commented on how mature and focused they were throughout the day. ⭐
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This week, our Year 7 and 8 students took part in assemblies led by PC Neil Hunton from the Cumbria Child Centred Police Team, focusing on knife crime. The sessions helped raise awareness of an important issue and supported our young people in making safe, informed choices.
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✨ Author Visit Inspires Our Writers ✨
We were delighted to welcome author Henry Vyner Brooks on Wednesday. He shared his powerful story with Year 7, from struggling with dyslexia and boarding school to making his dad proud on a Munro‑climbing adventure with the help of his friend Bear Grylls. His honesty and humour had students completely captivated.
Henry then ran creative writing workshops with Years 7, 8 and 9, setting short challenges that students tackled brilliantly. He was hugely impressed with the students' talent and behaviour.
He left some generous prizes behind… and after a very tough decision, our winners are:
🎺 Year 7: Angel McCarron
🎺 Year 8: Amelia Long
🎺 Year 9: Rebecca Turpin
A fantastic day of inspiration for all our young writers.🖊️📖
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Well done to Jay and Leila on completing their work experience last week, and thank you to Northern Warrior for supporting them.
We’re proud of how our students approached their placements and the skills they gained from stepping into real workplace environments. Thank you as well to all our local businesses who continue to offer these valuable opportunities.Last week we had Jay and Leila from West Lakes Academy join us at Northern Warrior for a week of work experience 👏
Jay will already be a familiar face to many of you from our Teens sessions, and Leila is the daughter of one of our members. Both were keen to learn more about how the gym operates and what goes on behind the scenes of running a busy training facility.
Throughout the week they got properly hands-on - helping demonstrate movements in classes, setting up sessions, supporting coaches, and seeing how we run community events like our Friday Night Lights for the Open 🔥
It’s always great to support young people who are interested in fitness, coaching and the industry, and both of them brought a great attitude all week.
Great work both of you - we hope you enjoyed the experience and got a real insight into life at Northern Warrior 💪
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YEAR 7 ROUND-UP ⭐
Well done to our Year 7 Stars from last week, great work everyone!
Mrs Williamson also marked the February birthdays in Year 7 with a birthday cake celebration. 🎂
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