Trinity Catholic Technology College
Encyclopedia
Trinity Catholic School is a mixed Catholic secondary school in Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...

, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

, England.
The school has Technology College
Technology College
Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...

 status awarded in 2000 and 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 awarded in 2004 and had been awarded Artsmark Gold award. Following 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 ....

 inspection in 2009, the school was given a Grade 3 (satisfactory) rating for its overall performance. The school has a sixth form college on site.

Until September 2005 when they were amalgamated, the school operated from two separate campuses: Dormer Hall on Myton Road in Warwick
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...

, and Bishop Bright Hall/Freeman Hall on Guy's Cliffe Avenue in Leamington Spa.

Students at the school were allowed to wear casual clothes of their own choosing until September 2004, when uniform with purple and yellow tie was introduced. The move came after failed attempts in 2001 to introduce a uniform. Currently, year 7, 8 and 9 wear a yellow and purple tie, whilst years 10 and 11 wear a blue tie.

The school gained publicity in March 2009 when a pupil was arrested after bringing a stun gun onto the site and three fellow students were zapped.

Ethos

In 2002, before a uniform was introduced, Trinity was described in the press as being traditionally a liberal catholic school.

History

The school was founded as an amalgamation of two catholic schools in the area: Bishop Bright Grammar School and Dormer High School.
Dormer High School opened in Myton Road, Warwick
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...

, in 1959. Bishop Bright Grammar School opened in 1966, with Peter Hastings as its founding headmaster. It was built on a new site at Guy's Cliffe Avenue, Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...

.

In the late 1970s or early 1980s, under the education reforms of the time, the two original schools merged to form a new catholic comprehensive school. For a number of years the school remained divided between the two original sites; named as Bishop Bright Hall, in Guy's Cliffe Avenue and Dormer Hall in Myton Road. A sixth-form college, named Freeman Hall, was added to the Guy's Cliffe site. In February 1999 the school announced its intention to combine all of the school facilities onto a single site. In September 2005, following the completion of a multi-million pound extension, they were amalgamated at the Guy's Cliffe Avenue site in Leamington Spa.

Introduction of uniform

Since the school's foundation, pupils were allowed to wear casual clothes of their own choosing. In March 2002, after prolonged discussion, and in the face of considerable opposition from parents, students and teachers, the school governors decided that a uniform was to be introduced the following school year. During the following months parents, students, and the school's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) fought to get the decision overturned. Under a newly appointed temporary head, plans to introduce the uniform were put on hold in September 2002.

In October 2003, a uniform was finally imposed for new-starters for the following (2004/5) school year. Pupils organised demonstrations, and lessons were boycotted in protest against the way the decision had been taken. The school stated that parents of pupils starting at the school wanted the uniforms and characterised the protestors as not being representative of the majority view, and the PTA was criticised for lobbying the parents, pupils and teachers to continue the protest. The Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for the area became involved, inviting the Archbishop of Birmingham
Archbishop of Birmingham
The Archbishop of Birmingham heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham in England. As such he is the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of Birmingham....

 to intervene and help to resolve the disagreement. In November 2003, at the annual meeting of the PTA, a clear majority of parents supported a vote of no-confidence in the governing body, calling for them to resign.

The protests failed however, and on the first day of the 2004/5 school year, new pupils arrived at the school wearing the uniform.

Notable alumni

  • Sam Troughton
    Sam Troughton
    Sam Troughton is a British actor. He is the son of David Troughton and the grandson of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton. His younger brother is Warwickshire cricketer Jim Troughton...

     - Actor
  • Kate Fleetwood
    Kate Fleetwood
    Kate Fleetwood is an English actress. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Chichester Festival Theatre's Macbeth which transferred to the West End and Broadway....

     - Actor
  • Jim Troughton
    Jim Troughton
    Jamie Oliver Troughton is an English cricketer. He is mainly an attack-minded left-handed batsman but also an occasional slow left-arm orthodox bowler...

     - Professional Cricket Player for Warwickshire County Cricket Club
  • Luke Concannon - Musician (Nizlopi
    Nizlopi
    Nizlopi were a two-piece band, from 1993–2010, with Luke Concannon on vocals, guitar, and bodhrán, and John Parker on double bass, human beatbox, and providing backing vocals. They were based in Leamington Spa, England. Prior to attending Trinity Catholic Technology College, Luke and John...

    )
  • John Parker - Musician (Nizlopi
    Nizlopi
    Nizlopi were a two-piece band, from 1993–2010, with Luke Concannon on vocals, guitar, and bodhrán, and John Parker on double bass, human beatbox, and providing backing vocals. They were based in Leamington Spa, England. Prior to attending Trinity Catholic Technology College, Luke and John...

    )
  • Naomi Bolster
    Naomi Phoenix
    Naomi Phoenix is an English singer-songwriter from Warwick, who had several releases between 1997 and 1999 on Gut under the alias 'Naomi'. Naomi's name at the time of the releases was Naomi Freeth, but since leaving Gut has since changed her name to Naomi Phoenix .Whilst with Gut, Phoenix's label...

     - Musician
  • Luella Bartley
    Luella Bartley
    Luella Dayrell Bartley MBE is an English fashion designer, magazine editor and former journalist based in the UK.A onetime journalist and fashion editor of British Vogue and Canada's Evening Standard newspaper, Luella Bartley first attended the prestigious further education arts college,...

     - Fashion Designer
  • Tony Tobin
    Tony Tobin
    Tony Tobin is a celebrity chef who has been a regular on the BBC food show Ready Steady Cook since 1995. His other notable British TV appearances were as the presenter of the 13-part series Spice World and The Green Gourmet on the Carlton Food Channel...

     - Chef
  • Si Begg
    Si Begg
    Si Begg is electronic dance music DJ, musician and record producer Simon Begg, from Leicester, England.His music combines elements of Experimental, Downtempo, Breakbeat Ambient, Drum and bass, Turntablism and Jazz. Begg grew up in Leamington Spa and moved to London in 1991...

     - Musician/producer
  • Cristian Vogel
    Cristian Vogel
    Cristian Vogel is an experimental electronic musician.-Biography:Cristian Vogel was born in Chile and moved to England in the mid 1970s. Vogel first began working with electronic compositions in the late 1980s with the Cabbage Head Collective...

    - Musician/producer

External links

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