Castlebrook High School

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Castlebrook High school, Bury, is a comprehensive school located in the urban, residential area of Unsworth, Greater Manchester. It has a wide ranging catchment area with some pupils travelling from central Manchester or neighbouring Prestwich and Crumpsall. Some even come from as far as Bolton. However the majority of the school's intake is from the surrounding residential area which is a mixture of private owned post-war semi-detached housing and some local authority housing.The intake is very mixed, as with most comprehensives, some pupils are from very low socio-economic backgrounds whilst other are relatively middle-class. In recent years the school has been underperforming in the league tables although it is still highly regarded amongst many of the local residents.

The school originally opened in September 1971 and was originally called Unsworth Comprehensive School. Its initial enrollment was 146 pupils. In 1981, the school merged with Albert Road School and was renamed Castlebrook High School.[1]

Throughout 2006, along with several other schools in the Bury metropolitan area, it has been under a sustained threat of closure. It is believed that there will be 2,000 fewer high school students in Bury by 2015, so Bury Council wants to close two high schools in the area. It is possible that it may amalgamate with Philips High School, or that either Castlebrook or Philips will be closed.[2]

As of 2004, 952 pupils attend the school.[3]

The actress Gemma Atkinson attended the school before landing her role in Hollyoaks. Also Trevor Sinclair attended Castlebrook, who was part of England's world cup squad in Japan/Korea 2002.