Wales High School

Wales High School

Motto	Humble et Loyal
Established	1970
Headteacher	Mr. J. Day
Chair of Governors	Mr J Beeston
Specialism	Business and Enterprise (Operational)
Location	Storth Lane Kiveton Park Sheffield South Yorkshire S26 5QQ England
Local authority	Rotherham
DfE URN	106961
Ofsted	Reports
Students	1,600, 350 of whom in 6th form (2011)
Gender	Co-educational
Ages	11–18
Houses	Busli, Mortain, Rollo and Warenne
Colours	Blue, Gold and Silver
Parents' Association	'Friends of Wales High School'
Adopted Charity	Barnardo's
Website	www.waleshigh.com

Wales High School is an academy for 11–18 year olds, located in Kiveton, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Opened in 1970, the school provides education for its many connecting villages. Kiveton Park, Harthill, Todwick, Wales, Thurcroft and South Anston are the major villages which rely on Wales High School to educate their children. Despite being located in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, the school is sometimes erroneously classed as being in Sheffield, yet it also has a Worksop telephone code. There is often confusion around the fact that the school is not in the country of Wales, nor is it in the small neighbouring village of Wales, South Yorkshire, which is less than a mile away. It is in fact situated in Kiveton Park. It specialises in Business and Enterprise and in a recent 2006 Ofsted inspection gained the accolade of "outstanding", an achievement attained by a minority of the best schools in the country. Following outstanding ofsted reports the school is now an academy.

Contents 1 Traditions 2 Famous pupils 3 Recent refurbishment 4 External links

Traditions

Wales High is seen as a school with traditional values, with procedures which take place each year. The following are important aspects of the school:

• Every four years the school holds a sponsored walk to try and raise money for the school.

• Full School Assembly: affectionately known as the 'Full School Squash' by students and staff alike. The assembly takes place four times a year with yearly opening and closing assemblies, where the bell is rung to mark the beginning and ending of a school year, as well as an Easter assembly in April and a Christmas assembly. Every member of the school is expected at these formal assemblies, in which important news is delivered, certificates and awards are presented, and special guests are invited. Musical items are often delivered throughout the course of these assemblies.

• The Plough: a model plough held in a glass case, representing Year 7 diligence. Each term, the tutor with the highest diligence score are presented with the plough.

• Houses and the Dragon: Busli (Blue), Mortain (Black), Rollo (White) and Warenne (Yellow). Busli after Roger de Busli, Warenne after William de Warenne, Mortain after another of William the Conqueror's Knights, and Rollo was his family name. Each student is assigned a house upon entering the school, which is an important part of the school's community. Students are provided with sports kit with their specific house colours, which is to be worn in P.E. lessons and house sporting events. Numerous house events are competed in, such as football, rugby, tennis, cross country and netball, as well as other non-sporting activities such as chess, drama and art. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the Dragon, a golden dragon statue in a glass case. The dragon is then engraved with the year and the winning house respectively.

• The Sixth Form Rugby Match: Each year, the sixth form compete for The Headmasters Trophy. Year 12 play Year 13 annually in a match that is watched by all the school on a Wednesday afternoon during the 2nd term. The 2008 match took place on 19 March, and was won by the Year 13s. The scoreline was 13-0 to the upper sixth, but was not an accurate reflection of how tight a game it was.

Famous pupils

• James Toseland - The World Superbike Champion, winning the title in both 2004 and 2007.
• Ryan Sampson - In the BBC TV programme After You've Gone as "Alex". Sampson also does theatre and has been involved in other TV work, such as Doctor Who, playing the child genius Luke Rattigan in "The Sontaran Stratagem" and "The Poison Sky" in 2008.
• Darren Bennett - Features on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing who partnered with Lynda Bellingham in the latest series.
• Rebecca Taylor - Member of the folk-pop band Slow Club

Recent refurbishment

The school has undergone recent renovation work, costing millions of pounds. The 13 science department laboratories underwent a total revamp in around 2003. Around this time, the tower block received a new white-stone facade that covers the previous grey stone walls.

In 2006, the Food Studies department rooms FS1 and FS2 were re-fitted with new appliances and units, bringing the kitchens up-to-date.

Facilities for disabled students are continuously improving, with wheelchair access now provided to almost every part of the school, including the P.E. department, where an elevator is installed to take passengers up to higher ground, where before it was impossible to do so.

The Sixth Form area has just undergone serious changes, making more space for an extended common room and renovating the study room across from the library to include personal, partitioned workspaces.

On 3 July 2010 work began on a mural of recently deceased popstar Michael Jackson in the Sixth Form common room as a tribute to his life and music.

External links

• Wales High - Official Website