The 2013 opening in Stoke Gifford

BTE Academy opened twice in the contemporary record. On 2 September 2013, it opened as a school. On Tuesday 26 November, the Earl of Wessex visited the Stoke Gifford campus for the formal opening. The two dates mark different events in the first school term.

From a building site to a school

That March, a topping-out ceremony had marked the new building reaching its highest point. Its plans included large workshops, smaller laboratories and classrooms for academic subjects. The location on New Road placed the academy alongside other education facilities on the former Filton High School site.

Rhian Priest was the founding principal. The pre-registration advice note recorded prospective pupils from 52 schools. New arrivals in Year 10 and Year 12 were joining a school with no older cohort to show them round. As they moved up, the academy would develop its full set of year groups.

The November visit

The Earl of Wessex toured three project rooms, meeting students as well as teaching staff and people involved in establishing the school. Representatives from the university, employers, partner schools and the building project attended. An A-level student presented a commemorative gift. The local report published the next day places the pupils' practical work at the centre of the occasion.

The visit is a useful marker for researchers. Photographs or reports labelled the official opening refer to the November event. Documents about enrolment and the first day of teaching refer to September. Read the sponsor archive for the organisations behind the new school.