St Philip Howard Catholic School - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Background Information

St Philip Howard Catholic School is a small Roman Catholic comprehensive school

Comprehensive school

A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...

in Glossop

Glossop

Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...

in northern Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

. It traditionally provides secondary education for Catholic school children in the Glossopdale

Glossopdale

Glossopdale is the area around Glossop, Derbyshire, England, UK, the valley of the Glossop Brook.It includes Glossop, Dinting, Dinting railway station, Dinting Vale and Higher Dinting.-External links:**...

and Longdendale

Longdendale

Longdendale is a valley in the north of England, north of Glossop and south east of Holmfirth. The name means "long wooded valley".- Geography :...

valleys. However, the school attracts applications from a wide variety of backgrounds and primary schools in Glossop. The school, as of September 2011, will be 50 years old and is celebrating with various Golden Jubilee events. The current Headteacher is Wendy Steciuk, who has been in the post since September 2003. The Deputy-Headtecher is Steve Tickell who started in September 2011. The school has a reputation locally of being a caring school that looks after its students. The small nature of the school allows for all students to be known by name.

Curriculum

Students enter the school in Year 7 with a wide variety of traditional subjects on offer. The emphasis is on English, Maths and Science. The school is a specialist sports college

Sports College

Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, PE, sports and dance. Schools that successfully apply to the Specialist Schools Trust and become Sports...

with English as the second specialist subject. Religious Education and Physical Education, take an important part with two lessons a week throughout students time at the school. Other subjects include History, Geography, Modern Foreign Languages (taught as French, German and Spanish), Art, ICT

ICT

-Science and technology:*Information and communication technologies** Information and communication technologies for development** Information and communication technologies in education** Information and communication technologies for environmental sustainability...

, Design Technology, Food Studies and PSHE. However as of September 2011 the school will also be trialing an 'Opening Minds' curriculum just for its Year 7 intake. This is a competency and skills based curriculum that teaches students how to learn. Rather than 'isolated' learning in subjects, the nationwide scheme initially introduced by the former Labour Education Secretary 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....

in 2009, aims to get students to learn universal skills and get them to take more responsibility for their leaning, allegedly lacking in a lot of young people. For the new Year 7 this will take place Period 1 and 2 every morning. The remainder of the time will be following the traditional curriculum.

At the end of Year 9 students can choose currently three subjects to opt from whilst continuing with English, Maths and Science, Religious Education and Physical Education. All of the traditional subjects are on offer. Students can choose to do Physical Education at GCSE and will therefore increase their time in this subject. The school has introduced a broad range of vocational qualifications where students can if they like, go to a local college one day a week to study subjects such as 'Motor Vehicles' or 'Hair and Beauty'. All students follow a course at either Citizenship or the 'Certificate of Personal Effectiveness' known as COPE.

Buildings

The school has two main areas, known as 'The Main Building' and 'Campion House'. The latter was named after the Catholic Martyr Edmund Campion

Edmund Campion

Saint Edmund Campion, S.J. was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Protestant England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason by a kangaroo court, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn...

1540-1581, who was executed in the reign of Elizabeth I. Three new high-tech classrooms have recently been built, added to the lower part of Campion House.

School Day

The school day has changed from September 2011. The day will begin at 8.45am and finish at 3.00pm. The students have registration in the morning with a designated form-tutor (15 minutes) with at least one assembly weekly, two lessons then 'Break' (15 minutes), lesson then Lunch (which is 40 minutes) then two in the afternoon. The school attends a religious service at the nearby St Mary's Catholic Church at least once a term.

Results

GCSE Results August 2011
73% achieved 5 or more A* to C Results including Maths and English.
88% achieved 5 or more A* to C's. The results are above average compared to similar schools nationally, and have improved year on year. The results beat neighbouring Glossopdale Community College

Glossopdale Community College

Glossopdale Community College is a secondary school in Glossop, Derbyshire, England.-History:The school used to be the Glossop Grammar School from the 1920s, being on Talbot Road since 1959, becoming Glossop Comprehensive School in 1965 when it merged with West End Secondary Modern Glossopdale...

. However based on the new English Baccalaureate introduced by the Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove

Michael Gove

Michael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...

in 2011, only 13% of students achieved 5 A*-C grades, although this is markedly better than a lot of schools in Derbyshire. The English Baccalaureate judges schools on students who have scored A*-C results in English, Maths, Science, a Humanity (History or Geography) and a Language.

Extra-Curricular and School Trips

Due to the nature of the school being a Sports College

Sports College

, a wide variety of sports activities take place at lunch times and after school, including football, table-tennis and rugby. The school attracts many groups from the local community to use its facilities, including a local judo club and a cheer-leading group. There is a school band, choir, a good choice of Music lessons, a sign language group, film club and a school show, to take part in annually. Various charity work is often undertaken by school students who organise events and stalls in school to raise money for CAFOD

CAFOD

The Catholic Agency For Overseas Development, previously known as the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, is a United Kingdom-based international aid agency working to alleviate poverty and suffering in developing. It is funded by the Catholic community in England and Wales, the UK government...

. Various organisations come in to school, including 'Brief Candle' a group working on social issues to do with young people and a University Science scheme in to schools, who did some experiments. Students who work hard throughout the year are awarded with a trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach in July. The students in their form-classes are divided in to four Houses; Challenge, Courage, Determination and Endeavour. Their task is to collect 'loyalty points' by showing good behaviour and effort in subjects. The winning House every year is taken to LaserQuest.
Trips are a regular occurrence at the school: -

ENGLISH - Theatre

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION - Savio House

HISTORY - Germany, Poland, New York, Lincoln, Nottingham

PHYSICAL EDUCATION - Lanzarote

LANGUAGES - Paris, German Christmas Market in Aachen, German Exchange to Paderborn

Paderborn

Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...

Feeder Primary Schools

The school welcomes applications from all students, but makes clear that Catholic children come first in the selection process. Traditionally, students come from the following schools.

St. Margaret's Primary School Gamesley

Gamesley

Gamesley is a residential area within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England, west of Glossop and north of New Mills. It lies close to the River Etherow which is the boundary with Tameside in Greater Manchester.-Early:...

St. Mary's Glossop

Glossop

All Saints Old Glossop

Old Glossop

Old Glossop is a parish village and the original part of the town of Glossop in the High Peak area of Derbyshire, England, about 15 miles east of Manchester and 23 miles from Sheffield...

St. Charles Hadfield

Hadfield

-People:*Charles Hadfield , British canal historian*Charles Hadfield , English journalist*Chris Hadfield -People:*Charles Hadfield (historian) (1909–1996), British canal historian*Charles Hadfield (journalist) (1821–1884), English journalist*Chris Hadfield -People:*Charles Hadfield (historian)...

However various students join the school from other schools in Glossop

Glossop

, Tintwistle

Tintwistle

Tintwistle is a village and civil parish in the High Peak district of the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,401. The village is just north of Glossop at the lower end of Longdendale Valley...

and the Longdendale

Longdendale

Longdendale is a valley in the north of England, north of Glossop and south east of Holmfirth. The name means "long wooded valley".- Geography :...

and Tameside

Tameside

The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after the River Tame which flows through the borough and spans the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Audenshaw, Denton, Droylsden, Dukinfield, Hyde, Mossley and Stalybridge. Its western...

areas.

Ofsted and Reputation

The school was given a 'Satisfactory' rating at the last Ofsted inspection in 2011. The school narrowly missed out on a 'Good' rating. It has made significant improvements to its quality assurance. Locally, the school has a very positive reputation with many past students feeling they got a good education here. However some feel that the choice of secondary education in Glossop is inadequate. Since the school is a Catholic school, some parents feel marginalised and the choice open to them is singularly the neighbouring Glossopdale Community College

Glossopdale Community College

. That is why, of 2011, a local group of parents are currently planning a bid for Glossop's third secondary school known as a 'Free-School'. They have given it the name 'Partington Wood School' and is due to open, if bidding successful, in 2013.

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