Helsby High School

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Helsby High School is a comprehensive school on Chester Road in Helsby, Frodsham, for ages 11-18. The school performs well, and above average for the UK at both GCSE and especially at A level. Its A-level results are in the top 10% of comprehensives in the UK, and the third highest in Cheshire, after schools in Northwich and Tarporley.

1 History
2 External links

[edit] History

[edit] The Runcorn School

The history of Helsby High can be traced back to the 14th April 1894 when John Thomlinson Brunner MP, partner in Brunner Mond one of the forerunners of ICI, laid the foundations of the school.

In 1897 the school opened as Runcorn Institute School on Waterloo Street, Runcorn.

In 1907 the school became the Runcorn Institute County Secondary School. The 1908 inspector's report shows a school with 133 pupils, mainly drawn from the Runcorn area, although several came in from Frodsham, Helsby and Ellesmere Port. The inspection team drew attention to the inconvenience of using a Technical Institute as an institute. They criticised the "foul gases that pass into the woodwork room" when a gas engine was running. The inspectors were hopeful that when the Runcorn-Widnes Bridge was completed, the site might increase in value for office purposes and a more suitable site could be found. In 1914, a further inspection declared the building unsuitable for a secondary school.

[edit] The War Years

By the 1930s, it was clear that the school could not continue on its existing site. Helsby was proposed as the new site for a secondary school for the Runcorn area. Building work started in 1938 but was interrupted by the outbreak of war. In 1939, only the walls of the school were completed. In light of a shortage of building materials, the education committee were forced to seal off the girls' school. The boys' school was completed in 1940.

In 1941, the buildings were requisitioned by the Ministry of Supply and became a hostel for munitions workers in Chester. There are no current records of any further uses during the war.

In 1947, the buildings were de-requisitioned and in 1948, the Ministry of Education approved the reinstatement and completion of the buildings. In 1949, the boys' school was re-opened and occupied by 350 boys and girls from the Runcorn County Grammar School and, in accordance with the Education Act 1944 became Helsby County Grammar School. 1940s until 1978.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Helsby Schools were the main grammar schools in the Runcorn area, and the period was generally one of stability with a number of recorded highlights.

In 1951, the Conservatives' victory in Helsby's mock election reflected the national result as Winston Churchill was returned as Prime Minister.

In 1953, the Coronation year, the school took part in the 'Coronation Survey of Education in the Empire' which aimed to show that 'although methods of education and ways of life differ, we are united under our Queen in the British Empire and Commonwealth.'

[edit] Recent years

In the winter gales of 1966, the girls were sent home from school when strong gusts broke glass panels, rendering the building unsafe.

In the 1970s, as educational trends led towards comprehensive schooling for all, this meant a great deal of change on the horizon for the boys' and girls' grammar schools.

In 1978, the two grammar schools merged into a single comprehensive school, and by 1997, Helsby High had emerged as a successful school serving a similar area to the Institute School of 1897.

In 2003 the school was awarded Specialist Science College status.