| Motto | Non sed sibi ludo (Not for self but for school) |
|---|---|
| Established | 1907 |
| Closed | 2009 |
| Type | Comprehensive |
| Specialism | Technology College |
| Location | Congress Mount Armley Leeds West Yorkshire LS12 3DT England |
| Local authority | City of Leeds |
| Students | 1,119 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Website | WLHS |
West Leeds High School Specialist Technology College was a mixed comprehensive school located in Armley in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The school had around 1,200 students on roll from ages 11 to 18. The school was replaced with Swallow Hill Community College in 2009, following the merger between two local schools.
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It served the Armley, Bramley and Wortley areas of Leeds for 100 years.
The West Leeds High School opened on 7 September 1907 to improve standards in the city. The school was effectively two schools in one as both Girls and Boys were kept completely separate from each other. In September 1930, following a knock on the knee in the gymnasium on a vaulting horse, the 10 year old son, Oswald Harland, of the headmaster (shared his son's name) died of pyaemia in Leeds General Infirmary.
By the 1950s the schools were known as West Leeds High School for Boys, with 500 boys, and West Leeds High School for Girls, with 450 girls. They were administered by the City of Leeds Education Committee.
In 1959 the Girls School moved to a new campus and formed West Leeds Girls' High School on the Congress Mount Campus, with 550 girls. The Boys' school remained at the Tong Road Campus and formed West Leeds Boys' High School on Whingate, with 550 boys.
The schools retained their name as 13-18 ages comprehensives.
In 1993 the Schools finally remerged to form West Leeds High School. The Congress Mount Campus was expanded in 1999 to become the size it is today. The boys' campus was sold off and turned into 66 apartments by North British Houseing and renamed as 'Old School Lofts'.
The School also merged with Benjamin Gott High School, as the school had failing results and students on its roll.
In 2004 the School applied for the Technology Status and was achieved to become West Leeds High School Specialist Technology College. The School renovated some of the classrooms and fitted new SmartBoard Software in classrooms.
West Leeds served a highly social and economic disadvantage background area. Through strong leadership the school managed to increase its A*-C GCSE Examination Results from 19% in 2000 to 39% in 2006.
In 2006 the school was told that it would be merging with local school Wortley High School to form one new school. This was said to be due to the falling birth rate in the local area. Both schools opposed the merger saying merging would create more faults than benefits. However the merger got approval and the construction of the new school began in 2008 on the West Leeds High School Site. In May 2008 the new name was released Swallow Hill Community College.
When the new school was complete the West Leeds buildings were emptied and closed in September 2009. In October 2009 the school buildings began to be demolished to be replaced with sports fields for the new school.