David Young Community Academy

David Young Community Academy

Motto	Building your career and community
Established	2006
Type	Academy
Religion	Anglican
Principal	Mrs. Ros McMullan
Location	Bishops Way Seacroft Leeds West Yorkshire LS14 6NU England
Local authority	City of Leeds
Staff	120
Students	920
Ages	11–18
Houses	6
Website	www.dyca.org.uk

Coordinates: 53°49′13″N 1°28′36″W / 53.82018°N 1.47655°W / 53.82018; -1.47655

David Young Community Academy (also known as DYCA) is a state-funded independent school sponsored by the Church of England^[1] in Seacroft, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is named after David Young (1931–2008) a former Bishop of Ripon. According to its Mission Statement it "provides a safe and secure environment in which Christian values underpin and support the development of a lifelong learning community".^[1] Its speciality is Design and the Built Environment.^[1] It was established on 18 September 2006 as a combination of students from Agnes Stewart Church of England High School and Braim Wood for Boys High School.^[2] Prior to the building of the Academy the largest secondary school in Seacroft was the now closed, East Leeds High School (formerly Foxwood School), the somewhat dilapidated building of the former school stood close to the academy before being demolished in December 2009.

Other information

The school population as of January 2008 was 920 (of whom about one third were female), with a sixth form of 65.^[3] At the same time it was reported that the school had one of the worst attendance records in the country, and was 25th from the bottom for GCSEs.^[2] However, a year later the school reached government targets for GCSEs for the first time.^[4]

In June 2009 it was announced by School Secretary Ed Balls that £3.3 million would be spent on the school to create a purpose built base for army and air cadets.^[5]

House structure

The school has six houses.^{[citation needed]}:

• Brunel House - Named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, an engineer.
• Da Vinci House - Named after Leonardo da Vinci.
• Hadid House - Named after Zaha Hadid, an architect.
• Hopper House - Named after Grace Hopper, a computer pioneer.
• Telford House - Named after Thomas Telford, a civil engineer.
• Whittle House - Named after Frank Whittle, noted for the jet engine.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} David Young Community Academy School Prospectus
2. ^ ^{a b} Yorkshire Post 10 Jan 2008
3. ^ Letter 20 Jan 2008 from Ofsted
4. ^ Yorkshire Post 15 Jan 2009
5. ^ Yorkshire Evening Post 18 June 2009