Longton High School
Encyclopedia
History
Before the school moved to a new site in Sandon Road, it was situated in Trentham Road and also used part of the Sutherland Institute.Grammar school
Up to the early 1930s, the school was co-educational, and, together with Hanley High School, was one of two high schools in the Stoke-on-Trent area. When Brownhills Girls High School opened in the early 1930s and Thistley Hough Girls High SchoolThistley Hough High School
Thistley Hough High School is a secondary school in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. It was built in 1938 as a school for girls. It is a classical art deco building which retains its original features.The current headteacher is Mr R Haines.-External links:...
opened in 1938, Longton High School no longer took in girls. It was run by the City of Stoke on Trent Education Committee and had around 700 boys with a 3-form entry.
In 1963, the school moved from Sandon Road in Meir to a site in Box Lane, and took in girls in the first year as a co-educational 11-18 grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
.
Comprehensive
It became a comprehensive in September 1970, with an age range of 12-16. From April 1974 until 1997, it was administered by Staffordshire Education Committee.The school gained specialist Arts College
Arts College
Arts Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, the performing, visual and/or media arts...
status in 2007. In this time it was known as Longton High School and Arts College.
Closure
To mark the closing of the school in 2010, a time capsule was buried. The students were transferred to Sandon Business and Enterprise College. Following the closure, the site is being used by Sandon Business and Enterprise College but consultation is underway to close the site in September 2011.Houses
The houses were called Astbury, Brindley, Bennett, Mitchell, Lodge, and Wedgwood, after notable local people, and a stained glass window depicting them was a feature at both the Sandon Road and Box Lane sites.Academic performance
By the time it closed it was producing the worst GCSE results in Stoke on Trent, although the school had only around 250 pupils. Berry Hill High School and Sports CollegeBerry Hill High School and Sports College
Berry Hill High School and Sports College was a mixed, secondary school located on Arbourfield Drive, Berry Hill, Stoke-on-Trent. The school was awarded specialist Sports College status, though was usually just referred to as Berry Hill High School....
had similar results. In the years previously it had slightly higher, but low results, and similar to many schools in Stoke.
Former teachers
- Sir Emrys EvansEmrys EvansSir David Emrys Evans was a Welsh classicist and university principal.-Life:Evans, from Clydach, Glamorgan, was educated at University College, Bangor and then at Jesus College, Oxford, where he obtained a B. Litt. degree. He taught at the secondary school in Pentre from 1918, before becoming...
, Vice-Chancellor from 1933-5, 1941-4, 1948-50, and from 1954-6 of the University of Wales (taught Classics from 1918-9)
Boys' grammar school
- Norman Astbury CBE, Director from 1960-73 of the British Ceramic Research Association, and President from 1969-70 of the British Ceramic Society
- William AstburyWilliam AstburyWilliam Thomas Astbury FRS was an English physicist and molecular biologist who made pioneering X-ray diffraction studies of biological molecules. His work on keratin provided the foundation for Linus Pauling's discovery of the alpha helix...
, physicist and molecular biologist, Professor of Biomolecular Structure from 1945-61 at the University of LeedsUniversity of LeedsThe University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England... - Prof Geoffrey Boulton OBE, Regius Professor of Geology and Mineralogy from 1986-2008 at the University of EdinburghUniversity of EdinburghThe University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
- Cliff BrittleCliff BrittleBenjamin Clifford "Cliff" Brittle was an English business man and former rugby union player who was the chairman of the Rugby Football Union from 1996 to 1998.-Rugby career:...
, Chairman from 1996-8 of the Rugby Football Union - Sir Arthur BryanArthur BryanSir Arthur Bryan is former managing director of the Wedgwood pottery firm . He became the first non-Wedgwood family member to hold the post when he succeeded Josiah Wedgwood V in 1967. He was knighted in 1976 for services to export.-External links:*...
, Managing Director from 1963-85 (and Chairman from 1968-86) of WedgwoodWaterford WedgwoodWaterford Wedgwood plc is the former holding entity for a group of companies headquartered in Ireland, which specialised in the manufacture of high quality china, porcelain and glass. The group was dominated by Tony O'Reilly and his immediate family, and the family of Mr. O'Reilly's second wife,...
, Lord Lieutenant of StaffordshireLord Lieutenant of StaffordshireThis is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant for Staffordshire. Since 1828, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Staffordshire.-Lord Lieutenants of Staffordshire:*Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford 1559...
from 1968-93, and President from 1970-1 of the British Ceramic Manufacturers' Federation - Air CommodoreAir CommodoreAir commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Jack Frost - Prof John L. Jinks CBE, Professor of Genetics from 1985-7 at the University of BirminghamUniversity of BirminghamThe University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
, President from 1981-4 of the Genetical Society of Great Britain (now The Genetics SocietyThe Genetics SocietyThe Genetics Society is a British learned society. It was founded by William Bateson in 1919 and therefore is one of the oldest learned societies devoted to genetics....
), who discovered that in-bred plants could be as good as those produced by hybrid vigourHeterosisHeterosis, or hybrid vigor, or outbreeding enhancement, is the improved or increased function of any biological quality in a hybrid offspring. The adjective derived from heterosis is heterotic.... - Raymond Thompson CBE, chemist
- Prof Charles TomlinsonCharles TomlinsonAlfred Charles Tomlinson, CBE is a British poet and translator, and also an academic and artist. He was born and raised in Penkhull in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.-Life:...
, poet, Professor of English from 1982-92 at the University of BristolUniversity of BristolThe University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
Later co-educational grammar school
- Robbie EarleRobbie EarleRobert Fitzgerald "Robbie" Earle MBE is an English-born Jamaican former international footballer who played as a midfielder. He played 578 league games in senior club football, scoring 136 goals....
, footballer - David KidneyDavid KidneyDavid Neil Kidney is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Stafford from 1997 to 2010.-Early life:...
, Labour MP from 1997-2010 for StaffordStafford (UK Parliament constituency)Stafford is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. The sitting MP is the Conservative Jeremy Lefroy.... - Steve Platt, Editor from 1991-6 of the New StatesmanNew StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....