Joseph Whitaker School

Joseph Whitaker School is a secondary school with academy status in Rainworth near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire in England. The school takes its name from Joseph Whitaker, a naturalist who lived in Rainworth at Rainworth Lodge.^[1][2]

Joseph Whitaker School
Staff entrance
Address
Warsop Lane Rainworth , Nottinghamshire , NG21 0AG England
Coordinates	53°06′52″N 1°07′13″W
Information
Type	Academy
Motto	Spes et fides (Hope and faith)
Established	1963
Department for Education URN	137628 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Head teacher	Carey Ayres
Staff	79 FTE teaching staff, ~30 support staff
Gender	Mixed
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1,338 (as of 2024)
Houses	Sherwood (Green), Rufford (Red), Clumber (Yellow), Newstead (Blue)
Colour(s)	Blazer: Navy Blue Necktie: Navy Blue with Blue, Green, Red and Yellow stripes (according to students' house) Trousers: Middle Grey
Website	www.josephwhitaker.org

History

Secondary modern school

The school opened in 1963.

A large fire gutted the building on Monday 19 March 1973, with £250,000 in damage.^[3]

Comprehensive

An arson attack on the lunchtime of Monday 31 October 1994 caused £0.75m in damage, and destroyed the sports hall, laundry, gym, two squash courts, and changing rooms. The arson was featured in a Newsround documentary on arson in schools.^[4][5]

Structure

Headeacher John Loughton started in 1991 when there were 980 pupils, and retired in 2010 after the school had achieved specialist sports college status with 1230 pupils.^[6]

The school is part of the East Midlands Educational Trust (EMET) which it joined in September 2016.^[7] The headteacher is Carey Ayres, who took over from David Bell in 2020.

The school has its own sixth form college for post-16 A-Level studies. In November 2012, the school's flagship £1,000,000 sixth form centre opened. It contains teaching rooms, a media suite, various study areas and a café. All post-16 students have access to the school's on-site fitness suite as part of their membership to the sixth form.^{[citation needed]}