History
The original school building was built in 1836 by the architect Charles Dyer but was rebuilt after its destruction by German bombs during the second world war, and was replaced in 2008 with a new building on the same site and became an academy from the beginning of the 2009–2010 school year.
In 2003, Briarfield (a specialist school for children with disabilities) was built in Whitefield's grounds, and later a City Learning Centre (CLC3) was constructed adjacent to Briarfield. The CLC houses equipment designed for work with media projects.
During 2005, Whitefield Fishponds Community School was given Language College status. It is one of the few schools in Bristol to have been awarded this. The status recognises that Whitefield excels in the teaching of foreign languages to the local community.
The focus of the school is the central street, which is designed to be the heart of the school, providing a place for social interaction between students and staff and to give the school a sense of identity and drama. The environmental aspects of the school were also critical; maximisation of natural daylight, use of natural ventilation, recycling of rainwater for use in toilets and the use of biomass, recycled timber waste, to generate heat and power.
The school was designed collaboratively by the architects, an educationalist and also the school itself.
At one time, Whitefield School had four sites - Whitefield Lower Mixed, the lower co ed site located in Alexandra Park in Fishponds,(subsequently an Adult Education Centre), Whitefield Lower Girls on Fishponds Road, Eastville (subsequently demolished for housing) and Whitefield Lower Boys located at Greenbank. Students 11-13 spent the first three years at one of the lower schools, before transferring to the Whitefield Fishponds Upper School, adjacent to the current site of the Bristol Metropolitan College, for years 14-18 (or Sixth Form as the last two years of school were then known).
Read more about this topic: Bristol Metropolitan Academy
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