Pupils gained places at Oxford and Cambridge and other leading Universities,[4] the school produced international football and rugby league players and many of the boys played in local bands.

Many of the children came from deprived backgrounds and Foxwood was described in a brief biography of one of its teachers, the future MP, Colin Burgon, as “a deprived secondary school in the Seacroft area of East Leeds.”[5] Bob Spooner was a leading light in the world of education and was known for appointing radical teachers who used innovative teaching methods.

"[6] During the 1980s falling pupil numbers across the city meant that all Leeds high schools developed surplus places, so in 1986 another plan of major restructuring was launched, middle schools were due to be eliminated with the organisation reverting to the old style pattern of primary and secondary system of education.

These innovations included:[8] – The school was built with comprehensive facilities for sport – extensive playing fields, cross country and cycling courses, many tennis courts and 3 gyms.

[8] In 1965 the school established a residential centre for outdoor education with the purchase, by the PTA, of a farm house in Horton in Ribblesdale in the Yorkshire Dales.

"[10] Foxwood Steel Band was established in 1981 when Bob Spooner bought a set of steelpans for the school with funds provided by a UK government initiative designed to promote Multiculturalism and combat racism.

"Bob Spooner chose pans for an almost all-white school in order to provide a positive example of black culture, but it was the sound, the looks and the great potential for educational and musical inclusion which hit all the right notes!

"[11] When the school closed in 1996 the band was renamed The Foxwood Steel Bandits and, as of 2016, continues to give many concerts every year.

All three were written by Alan Plater and starred James Bolam and Barbara Flynn and produced for Yorkshire Television.

[14] On 3 March 1998 the Leeds Second Chance School was opened in the old Foxwood buildings to accommodate 300 young persons between 16–25 years old.

The announcement at the time stated “The second chance schools are designed to combat the inability of traditional education to meet the needs of certain disadvantaged groups in society”.

In 2009 the local council decided that the buildings were unfit for purpose and uneconomic to repair and in December 2009 the school was demolished.