The George Spencer Academy (informally George Spencer; formerly George Spencer Foundation School and Technology College) is an English academy in Stapleford, Nottinghamshire encompassing both a secondary school and sixth form on the same campus. First opened in 1960, it was named after George Spencer–headmaster of the Church Street Boys School from 1889 to 1927. The school specialises in design and technology with its sixth form being a Technology College established in 2004. The school is situated in Stapleford near the Toton boundary. Able to be seen from Stapleford's Bardill's roundabout, it has a lower and upper site over the A52 and is consequently the only school in England to have a footbridge over an A-road. Students begin to educate at George Spencer at the age of eleven. The school has three feeder schools: Fairfield Primary School, Chetwynd Road Primary School and Bispham Drive Junior School, however children from other primary schools are able to apply. At the end of Year 11 (aged 16), around half the students choose to stay on at the academy's sixth form for further education. Year groups 7 to 8 are dubbed the "r-phase" and study "Learning to Learn" lessons until the end of Year 8, focusing on reflectiveness, resourcefulness and resilience, the three aspects which are intended to help the students use their lesson time more effectively. In addition to most of the students' things, some students in years 9 to 11 are dubbed the "i-phase" and at the Technology College study between three and four A-levels. Each year group is split into the P-half and S-half due to the school's large pupil intake to allow for easier lesson co-ordination. Students' forms are split into George Spencer's four houses: Armstrong, Hubble, Loxley and Socrates. These houses are named after academic pioneers, save for Loxley (the place named after the accepted birthplace of Robin Hood). History 1960–1980s George Spencer Academy was established in 1960 as George Spencer Comprehensive School, and originally consisted of just its upper site (Stapleford side); the academy expanded afterwards to include its lower site in 1978. 1990s–2000s From the 1990s, the academy had around 900 boys and girls. A ballot of parents, in 1993, resulted in it becoming grant-maintained. It had since become a foundation school, awarded the Beacon School status. In 1994, the academy acquired the Technology College specialisation; it was thus simply known as George Spencer Foundation School and Technology