The main 'Hill Road' campus consisted of the English, Science, Humanities, Languages, Core Curriculum, Learning Support, Performance and Physical Education departments, whilst 'Elm Grove' campus was home to the Design Technology department and a disused Maths block.

In its final years, largely due to the ageing nature of the school, many new buildings were built, including a separate sixth form college, a specialist business and enterprise centre, and a 'Maths Village'.

In contrast to this, a reorganisation in 2004 saw students being sorted into one of three 'learning teams' which were all named after species of trees; Larch (Red), Chestnut (Yellow) and Sycamore (Blue) – the initials subsequently spelling the acronym of the school, 'LCS'.

As a result of this donation, a new building that was built with this money was named 'The Roddick Enterprise Centre' (normally abbreviated to 'REC').

The successful implementation of Business and Enterprise specialism meant the school often entered teams into national competitions.

It launched on Tuesday 18 September 2006, with help from Arun District Council Chairman Stephen Haymes and kids TV presenter Dave Benson Phillips.

It maintained strong links with the school through various methods, such as college students became involved in several lower-school events, particularly creative ones and other drama department productions.

An early suggestion proposed during the feasibility study was to name the new institution after Dame Anita Roddick, a long-time supporter of the school, who had recently died.

The feasibility study saw much opposition to the academy proposals becoming evident, with the National Union of Teachers (NUT) openly opposing the plans, stating that they were "not impressed" by Woodard's lack of detailed discussions on the proposals, and the number of issues which they claim the school's senior management team refuses to address.

[12] The main consultation event was held on 13 March 2008, and was open to parents, staff, students and wider members of the community, who could put questions to a panel that included the headteacher, chairman of the school governors, a West Sussex County Council representative, head of the consultation process and representatives from the Woodard Trust.

One of the main concerns raised at the event was the possibility of the Academy becoming a faith-designated establishment, a suggestion widely denied by Woodard.

Feedback from the evening showed that seven staff were in favour of academy plans with fifty against, whilst 36 parents said they supported the move, compared to 141 who opposed it.

[16][17] The appointment of Jewell led to renewed speculation that the Academy would be a faith designated school, something that Woodard had constantly denied.

[18] The approval meant the school would closed at the end of the 2008/09 academic year, ceasing to exist fully on 31 August 2009.

[21] On 7 June 2013 the new buildings were "officially" opened by comedian Hugh Dennis in a ceremony attended by senior bishops and the mayor of Littlehampton.

In December 2015, the Department for Education issued a warning notice from regional schools commissioner, Dominic Herrington over "unacceptably low" performance and gave the Woodard Academies Trust until 1 February 2016 to ensure the quality of teaching improved "significantly and rapidly".

[27] At the beginning of 2016, Marianne Gentilli stepped down from her post, days after the Trust pledged “rapid and effective improvement” at the academy.

The academy also runs activity weeks abroad working alongside local charities in countries such as, Thailand, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Romania and Sri Lanka.

The year-seven trio designed and built a miniature rocket car that reached 66.1 mph in less than one second in the final.