Burscough Priory Academy is an Academy in Burscough, Lancashire, England. It officially opened on 10 June 1958 as Burscough County Secondary School under the Headship of Brian Stone, and cost just over £120,000 to build. The then Edward Stanley, 18th Earl of Derby (1918–1994) presided over the ceremony. At the time of opening, the school's staff of 10 teachers looked after 222 pupils.
The school's motto E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One), which is also the motto of the United States, was thought to be appropriate as the new school was created from several all-age schools from around the area. The academy's intake is around 700 students and caters for 11-to 16-year-olds, with 90 members of staff.
History
Planning and construction
Several years prior to construction, a report commissioned by the Divisional Executive Education Committee accepted that Burscough had a "good case" for a secondary modern school "in the very early future". Skelmersdale also proposed a need for a new secondary modern school too, however existing provision in the area meant that the need in that area was not considered as pressing. Burscough's case was also considered a higher priority due to the situation at Skelmersdale having been alleviated upon them taking over Mission School, despite trustees being reassured that the takeover would not hinder hopes of a new school. A secondary modern for Burscough, with a proposed three-form entry, was put top of the list in Lancashire's building programme for the year 1954 to 1955.
Residents of Burscough in 1954 had expressed concern at the lack of educational facilities in the area and the surrounding outlying districts. Proposals to build the school had been included in the 1955-1956 building programme but in 1954, were relegated to the "reserve list". Despite this, proposals to build a new school in Burscough later passed and it was originally to be named Ormskirk Burscough County Secondary School, until protests by council representatives were successful in having the "Ormskirk" dropped from the title. Mr W A Dean, divisional education officer, explained the standard practice in prefixing "Ormskirk" to all schools located in the urban district. The eventual decision not to include Ormskirk in the school's name was the original recommendation approved by the Divisional Executive. Councillor Truscott expressed that the matter was of "great issue", particularly as the school was something the village had never had before. The original school was designed to educate a maximum of 300 students, but numbers rose to 450 before any extensions where added.
Operation
The school, which cost £120,000 to build, was designed to accommodate around 300 pupils and originally occupied of space, of which just over was developed into playing fields and sport facilities. The school building comprised a two-storey building with 8 classrooms and 6 practical rooms, amongst changing rooms, a kitchen and hall-gymnasium. It was among the first schools in Lancashire to be built under a new scheme designed to reorganise secondary education in rural locations. The first headteacher was Mr Brian H. Stone, then aged 33 who had previously served as a deputy headteacher at Huyton Secondary Modern School, having been there since 1950. The school, which had been open for instruction since January 1958, was officially opened in June 1958 by Lord Derby.
By 1961, the school was overcrowded and considerations were made with regards to catering provision, in particular limiting a school lunch offering only to those who lived farthest away. Efforts to secure additional classrooms had failed due to budget cuts by the government in the education service, with the stage and dining room among spaces in the school that were repurposed as classrooms. Headmaster Brian Stone noted at a prize-giving ceremony that cuts to education funding meant they had not been able to secure "the much needed extra classrooms". However in the following year, the school put out a tender for the construction of two additional classrooms, also to include alterations to some existing buildings.
