St. Ambrose College
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| St. Ambrose College | |
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| Motto | Vitam impendere vero |
| Established | 1946 |
| Type | Voluntary Aided Christian Brothers' grammar school with a selective intake |
| Religious affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Headmaster | M.D. Thompson |
| Location | Wicker Lane Hale Barns Altrincham Greater Manchester England |
| LEA | Trafford |
| Ofsted number | 131315 |
| Students | 887 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 11 to 18 |
| Website | www.st-ambrose.co.uk |
| Coordinates: | |
St. Ambrose College is a Voluntary Aided, Christian Brothers' Roman Catholic boys' grammar school located in Hale Barns, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England.
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[edit] History
St. Ambrose College, was founded during the second world war, by a group of evacuee De La Salle Brothers. Arriving in Hale in 1940, from Les Vauxbelets College in Guernsey, the Brothers, and a small group of students soon found suitable accommodation and re-established their school.
Towards the end of June 1940, when the Channel Islands were about to be occupied by the German army, the parents of boys attending Les Vauxbelets College, were asked to decide whether they should allow their sons to be evacuated to Britain or keep them at home to risk famine and, possibly forced labour.
The College was in the charge of the French Province of the Brothers of De La Salle and they had promised that an appropriate number of the community would accompany the evacuees to care for them and to ensure that, as far as possible, their education did not suffer.
Having started with just the boys from Guernsey, in shared accommodation in Hale and keeping the Guernsey name, Les Vauxbelets College, the Brothers acquired a large house in Bowdon as college premises and permission was obtained for the college to accept local boys. The college adopted the name St. Ambrose College after the then Bishop of Shrewsbury.
During the war the College began to grow in popularity, especially as there was no Catholic school for boys in the South Manchester area.
At the end of the war, in the late summer of 1945, the De La Salle Brothers returned to Guernsey, and left a thriving school in the hands of the Irish Christian Brothers. The college moved to fresh premises, a large house with extensive grounds in Hale Barns. This house, Woodeaves, remains the UK headquarters of the Christian Brothers. and the Edmund Rice family. The college retains its original badge, motto and colours to this day.
In 2006, the school celebrated its 60th anniversary.
St. Ambrose College has strong relationships with the history and ethos of Saint Ambrose, for instance the ingnia upon Sixth Form ties are bee hives as, legend has it a swarm of bees settled on St. Ambrose's face whilst he lay in his cradle, leaving behind a drop of honey. His father considered this a sign of his future eloquence and honeyed-tongue. For this reason, bees and beehives often appear in the saint's symbology.[1]
[edit] Mathematics and computing
In 2005, St. Ambrose College gained 'Specialist College Status' in Mathematics and Computing, allowing it to give precedence to the named subjects and bringing a capital grant of £150,000 as well as an annual allowance of £120,000. The money has been spent on computers, projectors and generally modernising the classrooms.
[edit] Results
[edit] GCSE
| Year | 2005 | 2006 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students attaining 5 or more GCSE A*-C grades | 93.5% | 98.3% | |||||||||||
| Source: Guardian Online 2005, Guardian Online 2006 | |||||||||||||
| % achieving Level 2 (5+A*-C) including English and maths | % achieving Level 2 in functional English and maths | % achieving Level 1 in functional English and maths | % achieving Level 2 threshold (the equivalent of 5+A*-C) | % achieving Level 1 threshold (the equivalent of 5+A*-G) | % achieving at least one entry level qualification | Average total point score per pupil (uncapped) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90%, | 90%, | 97%, | 95% | 97% | 100% | 506.2 |
[edit] New school
13 July 2006 - "Pupils at St Ambrose College in Hale Barns look to be set for a new 'school building for the future' following an invitation from the Department for Education and Skills for the council to take part in the Building Schools for the Future - One School Pathfinder scheme. Trafford's Public Executive will consider a recommendation for the rebuilding of the college on its Hale Barns site".[2]
23 March 2007 - A meeting took place in the library with representatives from each year group, who discussed ideas for the new school. Some of the ideas that came up and were confirmed as definite included:
Flash drives Each pupil would be issued a state of the art 'flash drive', which would be used for automatic morning and afternoon registration, access to lockers and to authenticate access to computers.
Tablet PCs - These will be secured using the flash drives discussed above. They will also be used instead of traditional pen and paper.
Lecture theatres - The new school will include a two-tiered assembly hall, which will be used for lectures as well as university style science demonstrations. There is also the possibility for demonstrations to be filmed and made available at a later date for revision, absentees and to aid a Distance Learning programme within the college
Religion and sport - These key subjects were noted as being central to the college ethos. The school would be designed around a central religious prayer room
[edit] Notable alumni
St. Ambrose College also has many notable alumni, including:
- Malcolm Garrett - graphic designer
- Peter Saville - graphic designer whose work includes album covers for New Order and Joy Division .[3]
- Peter Lawlor - member of the band Stiltskin
- Jonathan Wood - European Chief Financial Officer for Gucci
- Lonnie Donegan MBE - creator of the Skiffle music movement
- Peter Anghelides - science fiction author
- Andy Rourke - bass guitarist of The Smiths
- Peter Kelsey - graphic designer whose work includes album covers for Ocean Colour Scene, The Seahorses, The Stone Roses and The Charlatans
- Martin Baker - current master of music at Westminster Cathedral
- Kieran Moriarty, CBE - Commander of the Order of the British Empire for sevices to Medicine
- Simon Cooke - journalist and video game developer
- Greg Mulholland - Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Leeds North West, active member of Cafod.
- Simon Hindle - journalist, musician and DJ (also, graduate of the Red Bull Music Academy [4])
[edit] References
- ^ Catholic Culture
- ^ Trafford Public Executive
- ^ The Gallery of Peter Saville
- ^ Red Bull Music Academy Melbourne - an insiders view » article » Cyclic Defrost Magazine
[edit] External links
[edit] St. Ambrose links
[edit] Other Christian Brothers' schools
- St. Edwards - Liverpool
- St. Anselms - Birkenhead
- St. Joseph's - Stoke
- St. Joseph's Preparatory School - Stoke
- St. Boniface - Plymouth
- St. Aidan's - Sunderland
- St. Mary's - Crosby
- St. Brendan's - Bristol
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