Holy Cross College (UK)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Holy Cross College is a Catholic sixth form college in Bury, England. Holy Cross College has recently entered the top 10 colleges in the country placing 7th on the list in 2004 and has been voted 24th best small company to work for in 2005. In the last academic year (2004) it had 7 students accepted into Oxbridge Universities with around 85% entering into some form of Higher Education. Holy Cross College has close educational links with Hiedelberg College USA.
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[edit] College Information
Holy Cross College is located near Bury town centre, and is roughly half a mile from the Bus and Metrolink interchange.
[edit] Buildings Information
Holy Cross College is made up of 6 buildings:
- the Emilie Marie building
- the Mary Kelly building
- the Maureen Haverty building
- the Summerfield building
- the Marie Therese building.
Of these, the Marie Therese building is the most recent development, having opened in 2005. Each building houses different subject areas, for example, the Mary Kelly building is where most of the IT & Computing lessons take place. And the Summerfield has also become a listed building.
Recently announced, is the construction of a new building the "Paul Hand building" in honor of former pupil, teacher and benefactor Paul Hand's commitment to improving the music and arts department of Holy Cross College. The building will be the first to be named after a male college benefactor and will house resorces and classrooms dedicated to music and other art related subjects. Work is scheduled to commence late 2008 although this is subject to change.
The plans for a new building have come under some criticism from local journalists at The Bury Times newspaper. The main reasons to abort the plans stems from an incident occurring whilst Paul was still a pupil at the college where he was suspended for two weeks for alleged usage of drugs and/or banned substances on college premises. These criticisms are thought most likely to be ignored however due to Paul's extensive commitment to the college after the incident.
[edit] Prospectus
The prospectus has a vast amount of information about the college, the courses and the life at the college as well as recent events. The current prospectus is Prospectus 2006. In the prospectus you can find the principals message, the past and present section (this details the history of the college as well as recent changes), the "What Is It Like At Holy Cross?" section, the other activities section (which details the activities available apart from the standard curricular activities), the "A Year At College" section (this details the events at the college for the previous 12 months), the "How To Apply" section which gives information on applying for a place at Holy Cross and also information on each specific subject that it is possible to take at Holy Cross (see below, "Courses Available")
[edit] Courses Available
The courses available at Holy Cross College are mainly A Level, and these take two years to complete. It is possible to stop A-Level courses after one year and achieve an AS Level qualification.
The courses available are Accounting, Ancient History, Fine Art, Graphics, Photography, Textiles, Biology, Business Studies, Business Studies GNVQ, Chemistry, Computing, Critical Thinking, Dance, Economics, English, English Literature, Film Studies, Geography, Health Studies, History, ICT, Law, Mathematics (and Further Mathematics), Modern Foreign Languages (German, French, Spanish, Music, Music Technology, Performance Studies, Physical Education, Physics, Politics, Psychology, Sociology, Theatre Studies and Theology & Philosophy.
[edit] Intranet For Staff And Students
The college Intranet provides information about courses, coursework deadlines, homework, college news. It provides a way for tutors and students to interact between themselves, and with each other. The Intranet is customized for each individual so that the subjects they have chosen to take appear on the main page and news items and messages relating to the individual appear on the main page. Each subject area has its own "Subject Home Page" and most subject areas also have a forum where staff and students can discuss issues relating to the subject. There is also a "Student Zone" section of the Intranet which is the student online porn magazine. This includes articles by staff and students relating to music, TV, computer games and many more. There is also a message board where escort services and phallic products can be advertised. Recent updates have resulted in students now having the opportunity of connecting to the student Intranet from their home PCs; allowing them to browse homework set and course materials.
[edit] College Library
The college library is on the top floor of the Mary Kelly building and is usually open Monday to Thursday - 8am to 8pm and 8am to 4pm on Fridays. The college library is also normally open during holidays. All students at the college automatically become a member of the college library and can use their "college swipe card" to take books out. The library can be used to borrow books, read periodicals, coursework and homework as well as using the 10 networked and internet enabled computers that are available for the duration of the library being open. Due to high demand to use these computers, especially during the day, these computers can be booked. These PCs may also be used to run one of the many CD-ROMs the college owns, relating to various curriculum subjects. There is also a scanner available, and a student photocopier, although these services have since been decommissioned due to Adam Metcalf taking infrequent photocopies of his bum-bum. There is also a small TV and video room located in the Library that can be used by up to 7 people at once to watch an educational program on TV or to watch one of the many educational videos and DVDs available. The TV room can also be booked as the demand for this room can get quite high. The library also provides two study areas: one in the main library that can be used for both individual work as well as group work and there is also a "Silent Study Area" for students to work on their own. The library catalog (OPAC) is also available in the library as well as any of the other networked PCs around the college. At the last count there were approximately 19,000 books in the library.
[edit] Open Access PCs and Rooms
The college has a few open access PC rooms that are available at all times while the college is open to be used by students for work. The college's main open access IT suite situated on the first floor of the Mary Kelly building and used to house around 60 networked and internet enabled PCs. This room was re-designed in summer 2006, and now contains roughly 85 PCs. There are many other smaller open access rooms and computer rooms used solely for teaching. The Pc's are usually a great place to be With Jazz loving Drug taking Mr Barry Barry is usually Found.
[edit] The University Centre
The University Centre coordinates all adult education courses at the college. The amount of adult students at Holy Cross each year is increasing and has gone from a couple of dozen a few years ago to well into the hundreds now. Holy Cross is teamed with Liverpool Hope University. There are a wide range of courses available at the University Centre ranging from degrees to the ECDL (European Computer Driving License).
[edit] Life at Holy Cross
Holy Cross has released a promotional video with the release of the new Prospectus for 2007. The video gives a great incite into life at the college, having comments in it from students past and present of the college. Most students agree that life at holy cross is very enjoyable and relaxing. Students and staff had this to say about the college:
"Never trust Wikipedia!" Mr Raw
"I love the vending machines me, but some morons go and shake em' every day so you can't get nufin' outta them" Rob McKenzie
"Holy Cross is mint. Get out." Andrew Choadsdale
"I just love the thrash metal" Richard Kelly
"Am i an emo? I'm not an emo am I? No I'm not!" Dave McSorley
"I love shaking the vending machines, i just can't get enough chocolate know what i mean?" Suarez
"Why me!??" Martin Daniels
"It wasn't me who sent two taxis and a pizza delivery to Hunt's house on Friday the 30th of March!!" Kieran Murphy
"Erm Bantam jacks go there... err XLRs in here... erm moon gels, I mean mono gels go here. OK now, do i sound like i know what i'm doing??" Paul Hand
"It's like a totally radical college dude, like, totally!!" Thomas McClung
"Matthew Bowers" Matthew Bowers
"No Comment" Adam Metcalf (recently under investigation of child pornography claims)
"Great college, but the subjects i took are far too difficult" Mike Molloy
"Ska-bob-ba-dee-bop, Doo-wah-pah-wah-wah, Do-del-ledum-de-dum-dah!" Terry Cooper
"Sick College!" Bilal, the legend himself.
