Birkdale School

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Birkdale School
The Johnson Building
The Johnson Building
Res Non Verba
Latin: "Deeds Not Words"
Location
Sheffield, Yorkshire, England
Information
Head Master Mr. Robert Court
Type Independent, Christian
Established 1904
Homepage http://www.birkdaleschool.org.uk/

Birkdale School is a Christian public school for boys in the city of Sheffield, Yorkshire in England, and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

Contents

[edit] History

Birkdale was founded in 1904 by the Reverend Maurice Asterley as a preparatory school for boys between the ages of 4 and 13 to provide a Christian education, an ethos it has stuck to throughout its 100 year history - it also employs staff on a preferred Christian basis. First housed in Birkdale House on Newbould Lane, it moved in 1915 to its present location in Oakholme House. Birkdale extended from just being a preparatory school in 1980, and established a Sixth Form in 1988, girls being admitted for the first time in 1995.[1] The school has gradually extended, and now is home to over 700 pupils, including approximately 50 girls in the co-educational Sixth Form.

[edit] Houses

There is a House system employed at Birkdale, four in total, each named after old Head Masters:

  • Asterley House (1904-09)
  • Griffiths House (Alban Griffiths 1909-33)
  • Hall House (John Hall 1963-83)
  • Heeley House (Howard Heeley 1943-63)

The Prep School has a slightly different house system, with a house dedicated to J.G.Roberts, Head Master 1933-43, and one to the family of Sir John Osborn, Conservative MP for Sheffield Hallam 1959–1987, of Osborn House, the current site of the Preparatory School.

[edit] The Birkdalian

The Birkdalian has since the mid twentieth century been the school magazine of Birkdale School. Currently published once a year late in the Christmas term it provides for current pupils and parents as well as Old Birkdalians and prospective parents an account of a year in the life of the school. Articles are written by staff and pupils and edited by a small group of staff and senior pupils.

[edit] Recent developments

Birkdale managed to enter the First Division of independent schools results tables in 2005. There is a consistent stream of students gaining places at Oxbridge each year, due to highly successful annual A-level results. 2005 GCSE results were the school's best ever.

Birkdale School is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

The current Head Master is Robert Court, educated at St Paul's School, and a Cambridge graduate. He was the Deputy Head Master at Westminster School for 4 years prior to taking up the leadership at Birkdale.[1]

The Deputy Head is Alastair Gloag, from King's School, Gloucester. He replaced Andrew Johnson, who left at the end of the Summer Term 2006 for the post of Headmaster at Stonyhurst College.

[edit] Facilities

[edit] Sporting facilities

The school has a selection of sporting facilities, most notably large playing fields at Castle Dyke located on the outskirts of Sheffield. A new £2,000,000 sports pavilion was completed here in 2006, offering reasonable new facilities. Castle Dyke is primarily used for football, rugby, cross country and during the summer, athletics and cricket.

On campus the school has a sports hall and an attached gym (for use of older pupils and staff only), containing weights and equipment for badminton, basketball and other sports.

During the 2007-2008 school year, the U15 Rugby team became one the most successful teams in Birkdale's history by reaching the national quarter final of the Daily Mail Vase.[2]

[edit] Buildings

There are several large areas forming the Senior School Campus:

  • Johnson Building (Lower School common room, English, Maths, Religious Studies)
  • Grayson Building and Sixth Form Centre (Modern Foreign Languages, Sixth Form Biology/Chemistry laboratories, Latin/Classics, Lecture Theatre)
  • Cliffhanger (History and Government, Politics)
  • School House (Headmaster's House)
  • Science Block (Middle and Lower School Sciences)
  • Henley Hall (Main school hall)
  • West bury (Art and Library)
  • Caxton (Design Technology and Information Technology)
  • Sports Hall
  • Steakhouse and Octagon (Music, Geography, Business Studies/Economics)

Note- Melancholy, Octagon, Caxton, West bury, Henley Hall and Science block are all in the same building.

[edit] Head Masters

  • Reverend Maurice Easterly (1904-09)
  • Allan Griffith (1909-39)
  • Howard Seeley (1943-1963)
  • John Hall (1963-83)
  • Reverend Michael Hep worth (1983-98)
  • Robert Court (1998-present)

[edit] Links With Nepal

As part of the school's charity projects it has developed strong links with some institutions in and around Kathmandu in Nepal. Most notable are the Peace Garden School, for which the school has helped raise money for a new school building, and a leprosy colony on the outskirts of Kathmandu, where Birkdale is helping to build new facilities and most recently the colony's own Flower Field School. Money has also been granted to other schools to help purchase equipment or develop facilities.

As with other school charity projects, the money is raised through charity events and fundraisers (as opposed to from the school accounts). Since the year 2000, trips have been run once a year to Nepal for pupils and teachers. These involve volunteer work teaching or otherwise working at the schools and leprosy colony as well as a trek in the Anapurna region and a visit to the Chitwan jungle. The trips are crucial in maintaining strong personal links with contacts in Nepal and helping charitable funds to be focused effectively.

As well as links with Nepal, the school has begun to form links with J. E. B. Stuart High School in Virginia, USA, following on from a teacher exchange, and in October 2007 a group of pupils traveled to visit the school.

[edit] Notable Alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Guide to Independent Schools, 2005
  2. ^ Sheffield Telegraph, 25 January 2008