The Crossley Heath School

The amalgamation required a re-organisation of the two sets of staff, the net outcome being the former Headmaster of Crossley and Porter, Paul Barker, became the Head of the new school with John Bunch, former acting Head of Heath becoming Deputy Headmaster. The first intake of true Crossley Heath students arrived on Tuesday 27 August 1985. The initial intake was circa 90 pupils; a reduction from the previous intakes of Crossley and Porter and Heath intakes by around 50 pupils.

The school was initially located on two sites, the former Crossley and Porter School building and the Heath Grammar School building (initially referred to as the Crossley Heath Annex but later changed to the Crossley Heath 6th Form Centre). The former Heath building initially housed the combined sixth forms of the two schools, plus the combined fourth form, with all other years being housed at the Savile Park. As the number of pupils reduced over the coming years, the 6th form and 4th form were relocated to the Savile Park site and the Free School Lane site was passed over to the local authority to become a training centre. Throughout this period, the staff head count was also reduced to reflect the smaller number of pupils.

Helen Gaunt was appointed Head Teacher in April 2001 and the school became a Specialist Language College in 2003. In 2006 it was designated an Outstanding Language College and a second specialism as a Leadership Partner school was granted in 2007. In 2010 a sports hall was built, which provided long-awaited, superior accommodation (supplementing the two victorian gymnasia) for students and staff in which to develop their sporting/dancing prowess. It also provides a space in which the whole school can congregate (a resource the school had not previously had). Following a ten year period of change and growth, under the leadership of Miss Gaunt, the school was inspected and judged to be "outstanding" by Ofsted in February 2011. Notable improvements included a wide range of partnerships and collaborative ventures, enhanced support and guidance systems for students and the school's best ever examination results. In September 2011, Helen Gaunt resigned from her position as head teacher.

Languages

As a language college, the school teaches a range of languages. These include French, German, Spanish and Chinese. The school specialises in language and has an entire block, just for language. The language teachers include Mrs Lusk, Mrs Lovatt, Mr Pickles, Miss Flood, Mrs Gubbini, and until recently Mr McIntyre. Out of 51 students that took French at GCSE, only 3 failed, with 14 A*'s. In German there were 7 people that did not pass and 24 A*'s.

Present day

The Crossley Heath School is now a mixed, foundation grammar school with 984 pupils and students on roll aged from 11 to 18. There are presently 214 students in the sixth form.

Technology

In recent years the school has had a new technology block built, with five classrooms.

Houses

The school has a flourishing house system with all students belonging to one of the four houses; Porter, Savile (derived from the Crossley and Porter School - the houses of Crossley and Standeven were dropped in the merger), Kings and Queens (derived from Heath Grammar School). There are competitions between the houses each year, including the school Sports Day, Swimming Gala, House Music Competition and House Drama Competitions. There is also competition between the various forms and houses with charity work. The school is extremely supportive of many charities and forms will, as previously stated, often compete to raise the most money for charity events; Comic Relief, Jeans for Genes and Children in Need are just some examples of the charities supported on a regular basis.

Sport

The school also has a large degree of successful sports teams, many of whom have won their respective competitions on a local and national scale. These include the athletics team, the cross country team, hockey teams, cricket teams, football teams and rugby teams.

School community

The school fosters friendship between both staff and pupils. The staff themselves have on many occasions been deemed to be very approachable, with a predisposition to treating students as young adults rather than children; many students therefore report that there is a very positive feel about the school.

The proportion of pupils with special educational needs, and the proportion with statements, is well below the national average. Those with the most severe need have physical disabilities. The proportion of pupils known to be entitled to free school meals is well below the national average. The area surrounding the school is relatively prosperous, but the school draws from a very wide geographical area and some pupils travel long distances to school. Pupils are selected for admission based on their performance in tests administered by the school, and the attainment of pupils on entry to the school in Year 7 is very high. The attainment of students on entry to the sixth form is well above average.

Notable former pupils

Although various famous people were pupils at either Crossley and Porter or Heath, there have been few Crossley Heathen celebrities since the schools' amalgamation in 1985. This is not to say there have been no notable former pupils. Famous former pupils include:

Leonard Bairstow CBE FRS FRAeS (1880–1963) - Mathematician, best remembered for his work in aviation and Bairstow's 'Method for arbitrarily finding the roots of polynomials'
Sir Frank Watson Dyson KBE FRS RAS (1868–1939) - Astronomer and Cambridge Scholar, best known for introducing the 'six pips' (time signals) for Greenwich Mean Time, thus making it far more accurate, and testing Einstein's 'Theory of Relativity'
Brian Turner CBE (1958–1960) - Celebrity Chef and Restaurateur
Leslie Woodhead (1948-?) - One of Britain's most distinguished documentary film makers, he almost certainly attended Heath school from 1948. Although born in Glasgow in 1937 his family moved to Halifax after the war where they owned and ran a record shop in the Halifax Borough Market. Writing in his autobiography 'My Life As A Spy' he describes how, 'in the Autumn of 1948, plucked out via the chancy selection of the eleven plus examination, I was translated to a boy's grammar school with a Latin motto over the gate.' The Woodhead family record shop later traded under the 'Bradleys Records' name and today the premises are in use as a photography retailer.

Crossley and Porter School

Steve Fryer (1965–1971) - Well known businessman, author and photographer
Dame Betty Kershaw (née Gammie), Professor from 1999-2006 at the University of Sheffield School of Nursing and Midwifery and President from 1994-8 of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), and wife of Sir Ian Kershaw
Nick Lawrence, BBC radio presenter
Brian Moore (1973–1980) - British Lions and England Rugby Union International

Crossley School

Charles Belling (1884–1965), electrical engineer - formed the MK Electric company in 1912, which invented and produced the three pin plug, then his Belling electrical company would become a market leader in cooking equipment, and is still made by Glen Dimplex.
Sir Herbert Read (1893–1968) - Renowned art critic & historian, poet, anarchist and author of over 60 books. He is the father of the novelist Piers Paul Read.

Former teachers

Robin Pedley, history teacher at the Crossley and Porter School from 1943-6, and champion of comprehensive schools who developed the three-tier model of education which was mostly implemented first in Leicestershire (and largely abandoned in 2008). His 1963 book, The Comprehensive School was widely read and had implications for the UK education system.