Henbury High School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henbury High School is a comprehensive school for girls and boys aged 11 - 18 in Whirley, Macclesfield, Cheshire. It has approximately 1000 pupils, and 60 members of staff. The school used to be known as Broken Cross Secondary Modern School, but changed its name around 20 years ago.
The school's headteacher is Ged Ward; the deputy head is Chemistry teacher George White.
Contents |
[edit] Uniform
The uniform is navy blue in colour: pupils must wear a skirt or trousers in black, as well as a pale blue polo shirt and a navy blue sweater. The "HH" badge was abolished in the late 1990s for a different design.
If students choose continue into the Sixth Form, uniform is more lenient than with the younger years. Students in Sixth Form are asked to wear smart casual clothes.
[edit] Subjects taught at Henbury
All the subjects required by the National Curriculum are taught to some standard at Henbury.
[edit] Early '90s - Late '90s
The old uniform was still present at this time, with the famous, aforementioned, "HH" badge still present on all school jumpers with the much preferred shirt and tie dress code still strictly in force. Plans were eventually made for part of the Henbury field to be sold to private developers, this would eventually come to fruition in the late 90s (see below).
Also at the time, plans were being made to construct a newly designed footpath linking Henbury High School with the "Greenside" neighbourhood located just outside the school borders. Development was also under way to construct a brand new "all-weather pitch" on the grounds next to the school playground. This would mean a hefty sacrifice of the Henbury field which had occupied the area since the school was first opened.
[edit] The late '90s - 2005
The uniform of the early '90s was scrapped and a jumper and polo shirt uniform was brought in to appease the younger years that had been crying out for a new dress code. To this day, the uniform still stands until Henbury closes for good (see below).
At this time, part of the school field was sold to private developers, and several houses were built on what became the aptly-named Scholar's Close. The money from this development was used to fund the development of a new Technology block. This allowed Henbury to attribute the term "Technology College" to the school name.
The money that was earned from the selling of Henbury fields brought plans to insurrect a new larger car park for staff and students which was to be built on a small field located next to the Sixth Form Centre (or The Bailey Block as it has become known in local folklore). The small field was stripped of its belongings and in its place came a new, all expenses paid, car park.
In September 2004 Henbury merged with Ryles' Park School, Macclesfield. Although this move was resented by a number of students (many of whom held a wildcat strike, which severely affected the operations of the teaching, with staff members recruited to try and ease the matter). As well as student, a number of staff members employed pre-merger (who will not be disclosed due to ethical reasons) resented the proposal). Many of these have now left the school at their own accord. Most Ryles Park students moved to the Henbury site, though many chose to join various other schools. Various staff from Ryles' decided to join Henbury, including the infamous Paul Martin, who is now head of the Geography department, following the sudden, but expected departure of Elizabeth Hemmings "The First Lady of Geography." A number of former Ryles' students also joined the school, adding to the bulging clientele of Henbury.
At this time, the front of the school went though a phase of redevelopment. The monumental grass verge just at the front of the school was stripped, taken away and replaced with a new layby for school buses to park and drop off/pick school people up from. The road stretches round the back of the school to the large playground making access easier. In conjunction with this, two new gates were installed next to the new layby for security reasons.
This expansion gave the need for several new temporary classrooms and a large purpose built sports hall.
[edit] 2005 and Beyond
Henbury will be demolished starting July 2007 and its students will move to a new "Learning Zone" incorporating Macclesfield College, on Park Lane, Macclesfield. The school sector of this will be known as "Macclesfield High School". The new title will be phased in over the next 18 months, but its official change will occur on September 1, 2007.
Students from Henbury will be relocated to the new school site when construction is complete and demolition will then commence on the old Henbury site.
The old Henbury site will become a brand new housing development site with amenities such as open areas, leisurely play areas and two new football fields as well as being home to new apartments and houses.
The infamous Henbury astro-turf, which was built with the money raised by selling part of the school field for housing (Scholars Close), has now been handed over to local school Fallibroome High School.
