| Motto | Vitam impendere vero |
|---|---|
| Established | 1946 |
| Type | Voluntary Aided Christian Brothers' grammar school |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Headmaster | Michael Thompson |
| Specialism | Maths and ICT |
| Location | Wicker Lane Hale Barns Altrincham Greater Manchester England |
| Local authority | Trafford |
| DfE URN | 131315 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1023 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Ignatius, Augustine, Aquinas, Newman |
| Website | www.st-ambrose.co.uk |
St. Ambrose College is a leading state Voluntary Aided, Christian Brothers' Roman Catholic boys' grammar school located in Hale Barns, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It was founded in 1946. In 2005, St Ambrose College became a mathematics and computing college and the school is today part of the Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council local education authority.
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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 Great Britain or keep them at home with all the attendant risks (hunger, forced labour, etc).
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. The college retains its original badge, motto, and colours to this day.
In 2005, St. Ambrose College were national champions in the FIRST Lego League.[1]
In April 2004, after the school's second bid for specialist status in six months failed, the headmaster Michael Thompson accused the Department of Education of bias. He claimed that when he asked officials why the bid was unsuccessful, he was told that it was "too Catholic".[2] Member of Parliament for Altrincham and Sale West, Graham Brady called for an inquiry to be held.[2] In 2005, St. Ambrose College gained specialist status in mathematics and computing,[3] 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.
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) carried out an inspection in November 2005. The report noted that the school's buildings were "old and cramped and at times this makes learning difficult".[4] St Ambrose College, which was considered the school in Trafford "most in need of a new building",[5] was awarded £17 million in July 2006 to completely rebuild.[6] Construction company Balfour Beatty was awarded the contract in January 2010 after a bidding process.[5]
In 2010, house groups were reintroduced into the school, following much planning by senior management. Aquinas (blue), Ignatius (red), Augustine (green), and Newman (yellow) houses are now prominent within the school, especially on uniform, which now entails a coloured dot representing the pupil's house. The Sixth Form has been given a more visible role, giving presentations and talks during assemblies and during a Wednesday morning tutor period. Prefects, Senior Prefects, Vice House Captains, House Captains, the Deputy Head Boy, and Head Boy, all have new ties, as well as badges which relate to their house.
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.[7]
In 2010, the Trafford Local Education Authority was ranked seventh out of 150 in the country – and first out of Greater Manchester's 10 LEAs – based on the percentage of pupils attaining at least 5 A*–C grades at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) including maths and English (63.3% compared with the national average of 50.7%).[8] St Ambrose College was the sixth out of 19 secondary schools in the borough in terms of proportion of pupils achieving at least five GCSEs A*–C (92%).[9] For A-level results, the school was ranked fifth out of nine schools in Trafford, with pupils averaging 955.7 points compared to the national average of 739.1.[10]
St. Ambrose College has many notable alumni, including:
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