Ripley St. Thomas C of E High School
Encyclopedia
Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy is a mixed Church of England
High School
operating under Academy
status, in the city of Lancaster
in the north-west of England
.
The school has around 1650 pupils between 11 and 18 years old, 350 of which are part of The Sixth Form at Ripley St Thomas.
. Having no children, on his death in 1852, he left a considerable sum of money in trust to establish the Ripley Hospital, to cater for fatherless children, especially those whose fathers had been lost at sea.
On the 3rd November 1864, it was designated to educate an equal number of boys and girls – 300 in total – providing they lived within either 15 miles (24.1 km) of Lancaster Priory or 7 miles (11.3 km) of Liverpool Cathedral.
The main school building, originally costing £30,000, included a first-class gym, woodwork and metalwork rooms, a domestic school for girls, and heated swimming-pool, four courts for playing fives and enough full-sized football pitches to allow 150 boys to play at the same time. A farm of some 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) kept the school supplied with home produced meat, milk and poultry, and a vast kitchen garden gave a constant supply of fresh vegetables. This school was well in advance of its time. The farm won awards for the quality of its meat.
The work of the Hospital continued until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, when the building was requisitioned by the army. The pupils then moved out to Capernwray Hall
. They expected to return at the end of the War, but the government requisitioned Ripley for another three years for use as an emergency Teachers' Training College. By then, it was realised that the need for an endowed orphanage was much reduced. State pensions allowed more one-parent families to stay together, and the fashion had moved away from institutional units.
After the trainee teachers left, the building became a National School, then a boys' secondary modern school until 1966 when Ripley Boys' and St. Thomas Girls' Schools amalgamated to become Ripley St. Thomas Church of England School.
In September, 1996, Ripley was designated a Language College
. Whilst not changing in any way its status as a Voluntary Aided Church School, this does enable the school to develop its language facilities and so become a 'Centre of Excellence' for modern languages, including French, German, Spanish and Japanese.
The current headteacher is Mrs Liz Nicholls, succeeding Mr J. Lailey.
Recent additions include science laboratories, a new Language and Technology block housing new classroom space, new sports hall with full size basketball courts, classrooms and fitness suite, and Sixth Form Centre. Ripley has also upgraded the technology, language and mathematics classrooms as part of a wider upgrade of the school's facilities. The school site is spacious and contains some exceptional features, including good sports facilities, the school farm, plant centre, walled garden and green space including fine mature trees.
The farm has been the subject of much media attention of late, with features from BBC North West Tonight, BBC Songs of Praise and BBC Newsround, all of which praised the school on the 'Farm to Fork' initiative, as the farm provides produce for the school kitchen.
The school raised enough money to build a new multi-million pound sixth form centre, which opened in January 2009, complete with lecture and conference facilities. Since doing so, numbers in the Sixth Form have increased, widely renowned as one of the best in the district. Ripley St Thomas has also been as approved a Technology college, adding to the Language status. This means students must take at least one language and at least one technology course e.g. Food Technology, Textiles etc at GCSE, continuing the curriculum students experience from Year 7. Ripley has gained many specialisms, including Training School, National Support School and member of the Leading Edge Partnership Programme, providing support to other schools in the area.
In January 2008, an Ofsted
report rated the school overall as "Outstanding", the highest of 4 achievable Ofsted grades.
Whilst the name and branding of Ripley changed to reflect academy status, the ethos and beliefs of the school remain true to the heritage, as founded by Julia Ripley. The school still practices as a Church of England institution and the conversion to Academy status mainly concerns the back office running and funding of the school. In principle, the Academy Trust delegate the running of the school to the Governing Body.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
High School
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
operating under Academy
Academy (England)
In the education system of England, an academy is a school that is directly funded by central government and independent of control by local government in England. An academy may receive additional support from personal or corporate sponsors, either financially or in kind...
status, in the city of Lancaster
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
in the north-west of 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...
.
The school has around 1650 pupils between 11 and 18 years old, 350 of which are part of The Sixth Form at Ripley St Thomas.
History
The school started life as Ripley Hospital, founded by Julia, wife of Thomas Ripley, a merchant who traded out of Lancaster and Liverpool. Thomas Ripley was born in Lancaster in 1791, and had been an apprentice to a grocer and linen draper. Since his mercantile career began later than 1807, there is no evidence to link Thomas Ripley with the slave trade. Indeed, much of his wealth stems from the fact that he was one of the first English merchants to embark on trade with China, and much of his subsequent trade was with the East Indies. As a devout Christian, he was keen to establish a Charity Hospital, modelled on the Liverpool Blue Coat SchoolLiverpool Blue Coat School
The Liverpool Blue Coat School is a voluntary aided secondary school located in Wavertree, Liverpool and is Liverpool's only Grammar School. The school was for many years a boys' school but as of September 2002 it has reverted to its original coeducational remit.The Blue Coat School holds a...
. Having no children, on his death in 1852, he left a considerable sum of money in trust to establish the Ripley Hospital, to cater for fatherless children, especially those whose fathers had been lost at sea.
On the 3rd November 1864, it was designated to educate an equal number of boys and girls – 300 in total – providing they lived within either 15 miles (24.1 km) of Lancaster Priory or 7 miles (11.3 km) of Liverpool Cathedral.
The main school building, originally costing £30,000, included a first-class gym, woodwork and metalwork rooms, a domestic school for girls, and heated swimming-pool, four courts for playing fives and enough full-sized football pitches to allow 150 boys to play at the same time. A farm of some 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) kept the school supplied with home produced meat, milk and poultry, and a vast kitchen garden gave a constant supply of fresh vegetables. This school was well in advance of its time. The farm won awards for the quality of its meat.
The work of the Hospital continued until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, when the building was requisitioned by the army. The pupils then moved out to Capernwray Hall
Capernwray Hall
Capernwray Hall is a former country house situated 3 miles ENE of Carnforth, Lancashire, England, and is currently used as a Christian bible school and holiday centre. The house has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building...
. They expected to return at the end of the War, but the government requisitioned Ripley for another three years for use as an emergency Teachers' Training College. By then, it was realised that the need for an endowed orphanage was much reduced. State pensions allowed more one-parent families to stay together, and the fashion had moved away from institutional units.
After the trainee teachers left, the building became a National School, then a boys' secondary modern school until 1966 when Ripley Boys' and St. Thomas Girls' Schools amalgamated to become Ripley St. Thomas Church of England School.
In September, 1996, Ripley was designated a Language College
Language College
Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages...
. Whilst not changing in any way its status as a Voluntary Aided Church School, this does enable the school to develop its language facilities and so become a 'Centre of Excellence' for modern languages, including French, German, Spanish and Japanese.
The school today
Today, 1650 boys and girls are educated at the school, many of whom continue to the age of 18 years and go on to complete university degree courses.The current headteacher is Mrs Liz Nicholls, succeeding Mr J. Lailey.
Recent additions include science laboratories, a new Language and Technology block housing new classroom space, new sports hall with full size basketball courts, classrooms and fitness suite, and Sixth Form Centre. Ripley has also upgraded the technology, language and mathematics classrooms as part of a wider upgrade of the school's facilities. The school site is spacious and contains some exceptional features, including good sports facilities, the school farm, plant centre, walled garden and green space including fine mature trees.
The farm has been the subject of much media attention of late, with features from BBC North West Tonight, BBC Songs of Praise and BBC Newsround, all of which praised the school on the 'Farm to Fork' initiative, as the farm provides produce for the school kitchen.
The school raised enough money to build a new multi-million pound sixth form centre, which opened in January 2009, complete with lecture and conference facilities. Since doing so, numbers in the Sixth Form have increased, widely renowned as one of the best in the district. Ripley St Thomas has also been as approved a Technology college, adding to the Language status. This means students must take at least one language and at least one technology course e.g. Food Technology, Textiles etc at GCSE, continuing the curriculum students experience from Year 7. Ripley has gained many specialisms, including Training School, National Support School and member of the Leading Edge Partnership Programme, providing support to other schools in the area.
In January 2008, an Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
report rated the school overall as "Outstanding", the highest of 4 achievable Ofsted grades.
GCSE & A Level Results
Ripley St Thomas achieves outstanding results for GCSE and A Level students every year, far outweighing the Local Authority and National Average. The results for 5 or more A*-C including English and Maths has risen from 75% in 2007, to 85% in 2010, 32% higher than the national average.The Sixth Form at Ripley St Thomas
In 2009, The Sixth Form at Ripley St Thomas moved into a brand new multi million pound complex. Complete with lecture and conference facilities, the sixth form centre serves sixth formers and outsiders looking to host events. The building boasts classroom space holding tutorials and seminars, whilst the sixth form canteen ensures independence from the Main School building can be maintained. 350 Sixth Formers currently reside in the centre, however a new extension to the building aims to provide more canteen and social space, alongside adding additional conference facilities. The Sixth Form is branded separately, and boasts a mature learning environment, for a mature approach to study; creating 'The Best of All Worlds...'Academy Status Onwards
On Sunday, 1 May 2011, Ripley St Thomas became the third high school in Lancaster to be granted Academy status by the Secretary of State and was re designated as "Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy". The company has been registered with Companies House and an Academy Trust has been set up to run the company.Whilst the name and branding of Ripley changed to reflect academy status, the ethos and beliefs of the school remain true to the heritage, as founded by Julia Ripley. The school still practices as a Church of England institution and the conversion to Academy status mainly concerns the back office running and funding of the school. In principle, the Academy Trust delegate the running of the school to the Governing Body.