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.
ALUMNI STORY ✨
Past WLA student Emma Tait shares her journey from studying Dance at LIPA to performing and choreographing internationally, along with the lessons she's learned along the way. 💃🌍
Read her story on our website. 👇
wla.education/student-alumni/
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We are pleased to share the photos from our Sports Day Photo Booth! 😃📸
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Year 7 students celebrating birthdays in June, July and August met with Mrs Williamson for cake before the end of term. 🎂🥳
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SMSC Day 2026
On the Thursday before the end of term the academy came together for SMSC Day, a day of enriching activities designed to develop Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural understanding.
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Before the end of term, our Music Department held a fantastic Summer Music Concert, celebrating the incredible talent of our students. 🎶
Here are some photos from a memorable evening of performances, featuring students from across all year groups and culminating in a brilliant finale from our Year 11 and Year 13 leavers. 🌟🎤🎸
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Parents and carers can find our End of Term Summer Newsletter on our website here: heyzine.com/flip-book/1b1535f4c1.html
As we come to the end of the school year, we’d like to thank all of our students and their families for their continued support. We wish everyone a lovely, restful summer break and look forward to welcoming our students back in the new school year.
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🏆 House Cup Champions 2025/26 – Falcon House! 🦅💙
The points have been counted, the results are in, and we’re delighted to announce that Falcon House are this year’s House Cup winners! 🎉
Students were invited to a special celebration assembly where Falcon House received their winners’ medals, before being presented with the House Cup to mark their fantastic achievement.
A huge congratulations to Falcon House, and well done to every single student who got involved throughout the year. From competitions and challenges to consistently demonstrating the WLA values, showing great effort and embracing getting behind their house teams, it’s been fantastic to see such enthusiasm across the school.
This year marked the exciting return of the house system to WLA, and what a brilliant success it’s been. Thank you to everyone who has played their part in making our first year back so memorable.
Congratulations once again to Falcon House… and bring on 2026/27! 🏆💪💙
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Thank you to our amazing music department and all of our talented students for putting on a wonderful show! 🎶
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