Bruntcliffe High School
Encyclopedia
Bruntcliffe School is a comprehensive secondary school in Morley
, West Yorkshire
, England
with an intake of students between 11 and 18, of both male and female gender. The school is a Specialist Business and Enterprise College
, with a business college for sixth form students. It is situated on Bruntcliffe Lane in Morley, and is one of three secondary schools in the area. The current Headteacher is Lynda Johnson. There are approx 1500 students at the school, with Ofsted in 2007 reporting that the school was largely satisfactory with some areas of good teaching and education, with a good capacity to make necessary improvements.
As a Business and Enterprise College
, Bruntcliffe supports and initiates schemes including student businesses and ventures, and offers support for student organisations and community events. The school has currently pioneered a potential nationwide scheme, called 'Moneybox', an enterprise programme initially launched by West Yorkshire Trading Standards and Ge Money, which led to congratulation from Schools Minister Ed Balls
who said of his visit "Of all the schools I have visited, I don't think I have been in one as enterprising as Bruntcliffe." The school is one of only four in the UK to have been awarded the Investors in People Champions Award.
The school also received recent attention from ASDAN, the UK award body for personal and self development, who recognised that Bruntcliffe's CoPE project was a successful, developing project for students. CoPE has seen a section of the school be turned into a garden and allotment, with students having the capabilities to sell produce and plants to the wider community. This project has been very successful, leading to a team assisting a wider group in converting and maintaining areas of land throughout the Morley area, including a previously waste-land site in Gildersome
.
In May 2008, the Headmistress confirmed rumours of a major building project at Bruntcliffe, explaining an announcement would be made in due course. On Wednesday June 11, 2008, the Morley Observer and Advertiser reported that due to an overwhelming petition from parents, Leeds City Council
had looked into the possibility of extending the school, due to the lack of suitable teaching space found in some portable classrooms. The article continued to report that Councillor Robert Finnigan had been able to secure £600,000 from the leader and deputy of the Council, which would be added to the £800,000 already offered by Education Leeds. The article concluded that the £1.4million investment would see a whole new science block built at the rear of the school, replacing the portable classrooms, adding another building onto the large school site, which would utilise space for other departments also. The school is also currently under going a scheme to refurbish the Sixth Form
Centre, providing more facilities and improve the building.
The School has recently achieved Healthy Level 3 and is working towards the achievable goal of becoming the first school in the local area to be awarded the National Healthy School Status.
, West Yorkshire Playhouse
and in the Leeds Breeze Festival. The shows are normally performed during the first or second week of July, with evening performances from Tuesday right through to Saturday, with the last day including a matinee. However, the record for the most shows performed within a single year at Bruntcliffe, was during 1997 and 2000, when four shows were produced. In more recent years, the Showgroup attracted larger audiences, and launched their website, acting as a Gallery, Archive and Forum for visitors to see photographs from all the shows.
In 2007, Trevor Perry announced that he would not be producing any more shows at Bruntcliffe, and handed over the management to the Music
and Drama
departments. The first of the new shows was held in June 2008, entitled "A Night In Hollywood" where students performed songs and set pieces from recognisable musicals and shows.
, Germany
, with whom Morley is a twin-town. The Bruntcliffe Showgroup travelled on numerous occasions to work with students there or to perform. More recently, the school has formed links with the Phoenix Secondary School in Durban
, with staff members and sixth form student representatives making annual trips to work with students, and to experience life there (Leeds
is the twin city of Durban
). This has been extended in recent years, with students at the school participating in an African Week, with Zulu Tribal dancers visiting and working with Bruntcliffe and local primary students, along with Bruntcliffe's successful Gospel Choir, who have worked on projects including songs from The Lion King
.
In 2008, Morley Sports attracted 13 schools, one of the largest numbers in recent years. Guest of Honour was ex-student, Jonathan Howson
, who met students and handed out awards.
report explained that its lack of achievement meant that it was one of over 600 schools that could potentially face closure or radical change and action, in a new scheme launched by the Schools Minister Ed Balls
. The shake-up of education currently proposed includes a 50-day period where schools are encouraged to draw up plans and contingencies in order to provide sufficient educational and academical development.
Morley, West Yorkshire
Morley is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately south-west of Leeds city centre. Together with Drighlington, Gildersome, Churwell, Tingley and East/West Ardsley, the town had a population of 47,579 in...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
with an intake of students between 11 and 18, of both male and female gender. The school is a Specialist Business and Enterprise College
Business and Enterprise College
Business and Enterprise Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields...
, with a business college for sixth form students. It is situated on Bruntcliffe Lane in Morley, and is one of three secondary schools in the area. The current Headteacher is Lynda Johnson. There are approx 1500 students at the school, with Ofsted in 2007 reporting that the school was largely satisfactory with some areas of good teaching and education, with a good capacity to make necessary improvements.
As a Business and Enterprise College
Business and Enterprise College
Business and Enterprise Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields...
, Bruntcliffe supports and initiates schemes including student businesses and ventures, and offers support for student organisations and community events. The school has currently pioneered a potential nationwide scheme, called 'Moneybox', an enterprise programme initially launched by West Yorkshire Trading Standards and Ge Money, which led to congratulation from Schools Minister Ed Balls
Ed Balls
Edward Michael Balls, known as Ed Balls, is a British Labour politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2005, currently for Morley and Outwood, and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer....
who said of his visit "Of all the schools I have visited, I don't think I have been in one as enterprising as Bruntcliffe." The school is one of only four in the UK to have been awarded the Investors in People Champions Award.
The school also received recent attention from ASDAN, the UK award body for personal and self development, who recognised that Bruntcliffe's CoPE project was a successful, developing project for students. CoPE has seen a section of the school be turned into a garden and allotment, with students having the capabilities to sell produce and plants to the wider community. This project has been very successful, leading to a team assisting a wider group in converting and maintaining areas of land throughout the Morley area, including a previously waste-land site in Gildersome
Gildersome
Gildersome is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough 5 miles south west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England....
.
In May 2008, the Headmistress confirmed rumours of a major building project at Bruntcliffe, explaining an announcement would be made in due course. On Wednesday June 11, 2008, the Morley Observer and Advertiser reported that due to an overwhelming petition from parents, Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council
Leeds City Council is the local authority for the City of Leeds metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England.-History:The city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973...
had looked into the possibility of extending the school, due to the lack of suitable teaching space found in some portable classrooms. The article continued to report that Councillor Robert Finnigan had been able to secure £600,000 from the leader and deputy of the Council, which would be added to the £800,000 already offered by Education Leeds. The article concluded that the £1.4million investment would see a whole new science block built at the rear of the school, replacing the portable classrooms, adding another building onto the large school site, which would utilise space for other departments also. The school is also currently under going a scheme to refurbish the Sixth Form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
Centre, providing more facilities and improve the building.
The School has recently achieved Healthy Level 3 and is working towards the achievable goal of becoming the first school in the local area to be awarded the National Healthy School Status.
Bruntcliffe Showgroup
The school, over the years, has built up a showgroup, which until 2008 put on large productions. In 1989, Trevor Perry and Bruce Dalgleish directed a team for the first time, leading to thirty shows over a 18 year period, ranging from Bugsy Malone in 1989 until Annie in 2007. The showgroup during the nineties included show trips to Germany, and performed at the Leeds City VarietiesLeeds City Varieties
The Leeds City Varieties is a Grade II* listed music hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.It was built in 1865 as an adjunct to the White Swan Inn in Swan Street and the original interior is largely unaltered. Along with Hoxton Hall and Wilton's Music Hall , it is a rare surviving example of the...
, West Yorkshire Playhouse
West Yorkshire Playhouse
The West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, England is a theatre which opened in March 1990 as part of the regeneration of the Quarry Hill area of the city...
and in the Leeds Breeze Festival. The shows are normally performed during the first or second week of July, with evening performances from Tuesday right through to Saturday, with the last day including a matinee. However, the record for the most shows performed within a single year at Bruntcliffe, was during 1997 and 2000, when four shows were produced. In more recent years, the Showgroup attracted larger audiences, and launched their website, acting as a Gallery, Archive and Forum for visitors to see photographs from all the shows.
In 2007, Trevor Perry announced that he would not be producing any more shows at Bruntcliffe, and handed over the management to the Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
departments. The first of the new shows was held in June 2008, entitled "A Night In Hollywood" where students performed songs and set pieces from recognisable musicals and shows.
International links
Bruntcliffe School has links in the wider international educational community. During the 1990s, they formed a relationship with schools in SiegenSiegen
Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, with whom Morley is a twin-town. The Bruntcliffe Showgroup travelled on numerous occasions to work with students there or to perform. More recently, the school has formed links with the Phoenix Secondary School in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, with staff members and sixth form student representatives making annual trips to work with students, and to experience life there (Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
is the twin city of Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
). This has been extended in recent years, with students at the school participating in an African Week, with Zulu Tribal dancers visiting and working with Bruntcliffe and local primary students, along with Bruntcliffe's successful Gospel Choir, who have worked on projects including songs from The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
.
Community links
Bruntcliffe also has community links, with a dedicated community manager, who oversees events and organises special programmes and schemes reaching out into the people of Morley. These incorporate all areas, extending from the Business and Enterprise specialism found at Bruntcliffe, right through to Community Art Projects which see students, teachers and local residents cooperate in special schemes. Every year, the students host a Christmas dinner for the likes of the Mariners and Elderly Action Group, whilst other events include links with primary schools, fetes and fairs. The school also hosts the Morley School Sports Day, which sees athletic teams from each of the primary schools in the area, participate for the best team in the area. This is normally managed and run by the Sixth Form and representatives from the PE department.In 2008, Morley Sports attracted 13 schools, one of the largest numbers in recent years. Guest of Honour was ex-student, Jonathan Howson
Jonathan Howson
Jonathan Mark "Jonny" Howson is an English footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Football League Championship team Leeds United. A graduate of Leeds' prolific youth system, he serves as club captain....
, who met students and handed out awards.
Notable alumni
- Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of CrispsTwo Pints of Lager and a Packet of CrispsTwo Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps was a BBC sitcom created and written by Susan Nickson. It is set in the town of Runcorn in Cheshire, England, and initially revolves around the lives of five twenty-somethings, played by Ralf Little , Sheridan Smith , Will Mellor , Natalie Casey and...
star, Beverly Callard attended the school in the early 70's. She went on to become a shorthand typist, before then turning her attention to her acting career. - Leeds United player Jonathan HowsonJonathan HowsonJonathan Mark "Jonny" Howson is an English footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Football League Championship team Leeds United. A graduate of Leeds' prolific youth system, he serves as club captain....
attended the school leaving in 2004. In 2008, Leeds United reached the League One Play-Off Final at Wembley, due to Howson's goals against Carlisle which led them to win the game due to aggregate. Subsequently, the school received local and national attention, especially after one of the Sky Sports commentators mentioned Bruntcliffe. His old PE teacher, Alex Tate, appeared on local television congratulating Johnny Howson, and Leeds. - Daniel BroadbentDaniel BroadbentDaniel James Broadbent is an footballer who plays as a striker for Hyde. He received his only England U-16 cap against Northern Ireland U-16 in the Victory Shield in 2005.-Huddersfield Town:...
left the school in 2005. Daniel is a professional footballer, who plays as a strikerStrikerForwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
for Coca-Cola League One side, Huddersfield Town. He was on the England U-16 team, receiving his first cap in a 2005 match against Northern Ireland U-16. On his 18th Birthday on March 2, he was named the winner of the League One Apprentice Award at the Football League AwardsFootball League AwardsThe Football League Awards is an annual awards ceremony commemorating football-related people involved in the three divisions of the Football League...
held in London. In his earlier years, he also represented England in Cricket. - Lee Lambert who was the winner of the second series of BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television talent show Let Me Entertain YouLet Me Entertain You (TV series)Let Me Entertain You was a daytime variety show that aired on BBC Two from 21 August 2006 and ended on 22 June 2007. The show is presented by British funnyman, Brian Conley, with co-presenter Christine Bleakley.-Format:...
. Lee, who cites his main influence as Michael Ball, has been a public singer since he was 10. An avid performer, he has won many singing competitions and awards, and since his success has appeared in a range of national and local concerts and shows. - EmmerdaleEmmerdaleEmmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
actress Chloe Proctor, known for playing Bob Hope's estranged American daughter in the soap, left the school in 2009.
In the media
In June 2008, Bruntcliffe was placed in the list of 25 most under-achieving schools in the whole of the area, with a reported 28% achievement rate of 5A*-C's at GCSE. The Yorkshire Evening PostYorkshire Evening Post
The Yorkshire Evening Post is a daily evening publication published by Yorkshire Post Newspapers Ltd in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
report explained that its lack of achievement meant that it was one of over 600 schools that could potentially face closure or radical change and action, in a new scheme launched by the Schools Minister Ed Balls
Ed Balls
Edward Michael Balls, known as Ed Balls, is a British Labour politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2005, currently for Morley and Outwood, and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer....
. The shake-up of education currently proposed includes a 50-day period where schools are encouraged to draw up plans and contingencies in order to provide sufficient educational and academical development.