| Wright Robinson College of Sport | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Manchester, England, United Kingdom | |
| Information | |
| Type | Comprehensive Secondary |
| Headteacher | Mr N. L. Beischer |
| Deputy head | Mrs N. Cantrell |
| Teaching staff | 200+ |
| Number of students | 1,864 |
| School Colour(s) | Red, Black, White |
| Website | Wright Robinson College |
Wright Robinson College is a mixed 11–16 day school located in Abbey Hey, Gorton, Manchester, UK.
Wright Robinson College caters to students of all socio-economic and religious backgrounds and is currently a specialist college of "Sport and The Arts".
Specialising in sport and the arts, Wright Robinson College is a member of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. The school is located on the edge of east Manchester, in the grounds of Debdale Park. Wright Robinson holds the Sportsmark Gold award with distinction, Artsmark Gold award also with distinction, the coveted FA Charter Mark, and the Healthy School award. Wright Robinson College is currently the single largest and most over-subscribed school in the city of Manchester, with around 1,800 pupils currently on roll.
The Headmaster of the college is Neville Beischer BEd (Hons), and the Chair of Governors is currently Mr Colin Jacob Brierly MBE. The college, in terms of Value Added scores, is the highest achieving Comprehensive secondary school in England and Wales. This means that from a relatively low achieving background, children leave Wright Robinson with above average results. Results from Wright Robinson are higher than those of any school of its kind in the country, beaten in Manchester only by the King David School.
The annual presentational ceremony for GCSE results is held around December at the famous Bridgewater Hall, home of the Hallé Orchestra. In December 2008, the guest host and speaker was radio DJ Justin Moorhouse.
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Over the years, Wright Robinson College has been at the centre of Manchester sport. The school was, at the time, in association with the 2002 Commonwealth Games and played a role in the weightlifting events of the games.
The school, in late 2006, suffered a lightning strike to the main boiler which caused a large fire in the A block of the building. Because of this, the school was closed for three days, and resulted in permanent damage to the roof of the old building.
Unlike most other schools in the Manchester area, Wright Robinson pupils are allowed to take GCSE exams 1 year early. This allows for gifted and talented students to progress onto A-Level studies one year early. It also allows for students who do not achieve well in the 'early entry' exams, to 're-sit' in the next year.
Students in the lower school study the following subjects:
In the Upper School, students take their 'options' and have a choice of all mainstream subjects. Any one student can opt for a maximum of 5 additional subjects.
As a result of the schools specialism, Sport, throughout the 5 years that pupils spend at Wright Robinson, it is compulsory. Up to 5 hours of sport per academic week are integrated into the timetable alongside other studies.
All students at Wright Robinson leave with a minimum of 2 GCSE Grades A*-C in Sport.
In September 2007, the college moved out of the old building and into the new £23m+ building situated on the adjoining fields. The school was built under the PFI scheme and is the most expensive school or college ever built in Europe. At a total of £53m the school and grounds are home to some of the finest sporting and educational facilities in the world with some of the sporting facilities including; a 25 m swimming pool, three 3rd generation rubber crum pitches, a double sports hall, a single sports hall, fitness suite, dance studio, free weights room and numerous tennis and football pitches.
Not only does the school take pride in its sporting facilities but also in its 'outstanding' (Ofsted 2007) educational facilities. The school boasts a total number of 8 'ICT laboratories' with an additional learning centre named the 'discovery zone', all with state-of-the-art computer facilities. The school also is equipped with a 300+ seat auditorium, an exhibition area, an audio visual suite, Apple Mac suites for the use of media studies classes, electronic registration and monitoring system, a drama studio(s), music recital rooms, outdoor eating facilities (referred to as 'pods'), 4 separate student break areas (quads) and excellent science experimentation facilities.
The college is famous for having one of the most intense behavioural systems of all Manchester schools. There are 4 stages, with a different punishment at each stage.
If a student receives a C4 warning and has not taken notice of previous warnings, then he/she will be placed in "Isolation" for 1 day. A student in isolation is placed in a cubicle inside a room with around 15 other students. The cubicle is enclosed on 3 sides and communication of any kind is not permitted.
A student must complete 4 pages of lines (the college's rules, rights and responsibilities policy) and then sit in silence. This is said to "give a child time to reflect on their actions in a calm and peaceful environment".
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 08:30am | Morning Registration |
| 08:55am | 1st Period |
| 09:55am | 2nd Period |
| 10:55am | Morning Break |
| 11:15am | 3rd Period |
| 12:15pm | 4th Period |
| 13:15pm | Lunch Break |
| 14:15pm | 5th Period |
| 15:15pm | End of College Day |
In the past, the school has played host to such events as the British U15, U16 and U18 weightlifting championships and played a part in the hosting of the commonwealth games of Manchester 2002.
Late in 2007, the school was hailed by the Manchester City Council and the Government of the United Kingdom as being 'the single most improved School or College in the United Kingdom'. The College, over the past 5–10 years, has seen a rise of over 60% in the number of students who gain at least 5 A*-C grades at GCSE.
Wright Robinson College has a very strong sports identity within itself. The school integrates sport into school life as much as possible through; before, during and after school clubs, national and international competitions etc. Since becoming a sports college in 1997, the school has held onto the specialism and has seen a 94% rise in the number of students gaining 2 GCSE A*-C Grades in Sport.
The Times newspaper, in 2007, named the school 'The best school for sport in the United Kingdom'. This was based on a national record that WRC holds for the most number of Junior sporting titles held by a UK High School. Various sports teams at the school at the time had achieved 43 national sporting titles, 56 regional titles and 63 county/Manchester Schools titles.
In conjunction with the Manchester Institute of Sport and Physical Activity (MISPA) at the Manchester Metropolitan University and the Youth Sports Trust, Wright Robinson has taken part in a 10-year research project. The project was designed to support the school's strategic aim of raising academic standards and increasing whole school participation in Physical Education and Sport. In 10 years over 10,000 children and 1,000,000 hours of PE have been assessed. The evidence shows that participation in physical activity enables young people to significantly improve their physical competence, confidence, and self-esteem. More active pupils were also found to generally achieve higher academic attainment with 62% of physically active pupils achieving 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades including mathematics and English compared to 38% of the least active pupils.
The research project won a Times Educational Supplement Award for 'Outstanding Sporting Initiative' at the 2009 inaugural TES School awards for excellence and teamwork in education. The judges noted, 'The good partnership between the school and the university. The university acts as an excellent prefect. The research has provided long-term, serious evidence.' They also praised the involvement of disaffected pupils.
The school is known for its themed weeks. The school dedicates a number of weeks throughout the year to such subjects and issues as the benefits of slavery, sport, music, reading, poetry, social awareness, safety, academic achievement and the abolition of human rights. These weeks are a 'non uniform' period for the students, and staff and pupils can be seen wearing brightly coloured themed t-shirts and other items of clothing during these periods.
The College Themed Weeks are all in aid of local charities that are supported by Wright Robinson College, such as Francis House and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
The school has many feeder primary schools in the city of Manchester which reflects the size of the College. Some of the feeder schools are:
As well as feeder primary schools, the school is also a feeder school for a number of colleges in the area, such as:
Wright Robinson College is noted for being very socially, economically and culturally diverse. The students of the school come from various socio-economic backgrounds and follow a variety of different religions and faiths. The College 'is very diverse in its pupils and has a wide arena of young people from all backgrounds possible, the way that the college caters for the sheer number and diversity of its pupils is outstanding' (Ofsted 2007). 'Students in the College are very well educated about religious festivals and events that in one way or another will effect them later in life.' (Ofsted 2007).
The College, as well as the leadership staff, has a system of student prefects and leaders. Every year the school allocates roles to the highest achieving, most punctual and attendant pupils. There is also a Head Boy and Head Girl elected each year.
The prefects, Head Boy and Head Girl are voted for by the staff of the school, including the Head Teacher and senior staff. When elected, the students hold the title for one academic year. The Heads of School, when elected, then take an active role in representing the school at events and also taking part in the administration of the school through the year that they hold the title. The heads of School and prefects are distinguished by the colour of their school ties. Students have been known to wear black ties with the school arms or more recently, bright red ties with the school arms.
As well as student prefects, there are also 'young leaders' in the lower years who have shown a keen interest and ability in sport. The 'young leaders' in the school have access to lots of opportunities, such as free sports coaching courses, attendance of sporting events, seminars and lectures, awards and recognition throughout the college.
It is well known that the college has a long-running rivalry with a number of local schools in the area. Since its opening in the late 1960s, the college has had a rivalry with the neighbouring Saint Peter's, and to this day the schools have a strong sense of competition between each other. In terms of sport and sporting clubs, the school also has a long-running rivalry with Our Lady's RC High School in the Blackley area of Manchester.
In September 2008 the College was officially opened by the First Lord of the Treasury and Prime minister of the United Kingdom, Mr Gordon Brown. The Prime Minister was accompanied by his wife Sarah Macaulay whilst in the city of Manchester for the Annual Labour Party Conference at the Manchester Central (Conference Centre). The centre, then known as G-Mex, was also the venue for gymnastics, weightlifting, judo and wrestling during the 2002 Commonwealth Games.