Bruntcliffe School

Bruntcliffe School is a comprehensive secondary school in Morley, West Yorkshire, England. There are approx 1500 students at the school, age between 11 and 18, of both male and female gender. The school is a Specialist Business and Enterprise College, with a business college for sixth form students. It is situated on Bruntcliffe Lane in Morley, and is one of three secondary schools in the area. The current Headteacher is Heather Scott.

Ofsted reported in 2007 that the school was largely satisfactory with some areas of good teaching and education, with a good capacity to make necessary improvements.

As a Business and Enterprise College, Bruntcliffe supports and initiates schemes including student businesses and ventures, and offers support for student organisations and community events. The school has currently pioneered a potential nationwide scheme, called 'Moneybox', an enterprise programme initially launched by West Yorkshire Trading Standards and Ge Money, which led to congratulation from Schools Minister Ed Balls who said of his visit "Of all the schools I have visited, I don't think I have been in one as enterprising as Bruntcliffe." The school is one of only four in the UK to have been awarded the Investors in People Champions Award.^{[citation needed]}

The school also received recent attention from ASDAN, the UK award body for personal and self-development, who recognised that Bruntcliffe's CoPE project was a successful, developing project for students. CoPE has seen a section of the school be turned into a garden and allotment, with students having the capabilities to sell produce and plants to the wider community. This project has been very successful, leading to a team assisting a wider group in converting and maintaining areas of land throughout the Morley area, including a previously waste-land site in Gildersome.^{[citation needed]}

Construction

In May 2008, the Headmistress confirmed rumours of a major building project at Bruntcliffe, explaining an announcement would be made in due course. On Wednesday June 11, 2008, the Morley Observer and Advertiser reported that due to an overwhelming petition from parents, Leeds City Council had looked into the possibility of extending the school, due to the lack of suitable teaching space found in some portable classrooms. The article continued to report that Councillor Robert Finnigan had been able to secure £600,000 from the leader and deputy of the Council, which would be added to the £800,000 already offered by Education Leeds. The article concluded that the £1.4million investment would see a whole new science block built at the rear of the school, replacing the portable classrooms, adding another building onto the large school site, which would utilise space for other departments also. The school is also currently undergoing a scheme to refurbish the Sixth Form Centre, providing more facilities and improve the building.

Healthy school

The School has recently achieved Healthy Level 3 and is working towards the achievable goal of becoming the first school in the local area to be awarded the National Healthy School Status.

Bruntcliffe Showgroup

The school, over the years, has built up a showgroup, which until 2008 put on large productions. In 1989, Trevor Perry and Bruce Dalgleish directed a team for the first time, leading to thirty shows over a 18 year period, ranging from Bugsy Malone in 1989 until Annie in 2007. The showgroup during the nineties included show trips to Germany, and performed at the Leeds City Varieties, West Yorkshire Playhouse and in the Leeds Breeze Festival. The shows are normally performed during the first or second week of July, with evening performances from Tuesday right through to Saturday, with the last day including a matinee. However, the record for the most shows performed within a single year at Bruntcliffe, was during 1997 and 2000, when four shows were produced. In more recent years, the Showgroup attracted larger audiences, and launched their website, acting as a Gallery, Archive and Forum for visitors to see photographs from all the shows.

In 2007, Trevor Perry announced that he would not be producing any more shows at Bruntcliffe, and handed over the management to the Music and Drama departments. The first of the new shows was held in June 2008, entitled "A Night In Hollywood" where students performed songs and set pieces from recognisable musicals and shows.

International links

Bruntcliffe School has links in the wider international educational community. During the 1990s, they formed a relationship with schools in Siegen, Germany, with whom Morley is a twin-town. The Bruntcliffe Showgroup travelled on numerous occasions to work with students there or to perform. More recently, the school has formed links with the Phoenix Secondary School in Durban, with staff members and sixth form student representatives making annual trips to work with students, and to experience life there (Leeds is the twin city of Durban). This has been extended in recent years, with students at the school participating in an African Week, with Zulu Tribal dancers visiting and working with Bruntcliffe and local primary students, along with Bruntcliffe's successful Gospel Choir, who have worked on projects including songs from The Lion King.

Community links

Bruntcliffe also has community links, with a dedicated community manager, who oversees events and organises special programmes and schemes reaching out into the people of Morley. These incorporate all areas, extending from the Business and Enterprise specialism found at Bruntcliffe, right through to Community Art Projects which see students, teachers and local residents cooperate in special schemes. Every year, the students host a Christmas dinner for the likes of the Mariners and Elderly Action Group, whilst other events include links with primary schools, fetes and fairs. The school also hosts the Morley School Sports Day, which sees athletic teams from each of the primary schools in the area, participate for the best team in the area. This is normally managed and run by the Sixth Form and representatives from the PE department.

In 2008, Morley Sports attracted 13 schools, one of the largest numbers in recent years. Guest of Honour was ex-student, Jonathan Howson, who met students and handed out awards.

Notable alumni

• Coronation Street and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps star, Beverly Callard attended the school in the early 70's. She went on to become a shorthand typist, before then turning her attention to her acting career.
• Norwich City player and former Leeds United captain Jonathan Howson attended the school leaving in 2004. In 2008, Leeds United reached the League One Play-Off Final at Wembley, due to Howson's goals against Carlisle which led them to win the game due to aggregate. Subsequently, the school received local and national attention, especially after one of the Sky Sports commentators mentioned Bruntcliffe. His old PE teacher, Alex Tate, appeared on local television congratulating Johnny Howson, and Leeds.
• Daniel Broadbent left the school in 2005. Daniel is a professional footballer, who plays as a striker for League One side, Huddersfield Town. He was on the England U-16 team, receiving his first cap in a 2005 match against Northern Ireland U-16. On his 18th Birthday on March 2, he was named the winner of the League One Apprentice Award at the Football League Awards held in London. In his earlier years, he also represented England in Cricket.
• Lee Lambert who was the winner of the second series of BBC television talent show Let Me Entertain You. Lee, who cites his main influence as Michael Ball, has been a public singer since he was 10. An avid performer, he has won many singing competitions and awards, and since his success has appeared in a range of national and local concerts and shows.
• Emmerdale actress Chloe Proctor, known for playing Bob Hope's estranged American daughter in the soap, left the school in 2009.

In the media

In June 2008, Bruntcliffe was placed in the list of 25 most under-achieving schools in the whole of the area, with a reported 28% achievement rate of 5A*-C's at GCSE. The Yorkshire Evening Post report explained that its lack of achievement meant that it was one of over 600 schools that could potentially face closure or radical change and action, in a new scheme launched by the Schools Minister Ed Balls. The shake-up of education currently proposed includes a 50-day period where schools are encouraged to draw up plans and contingencies in order to provide sufficient educational and academical development.

External links

• School Website
• Bruntcliffe Showgroup Website, Gallery and Guestbook
• Bruntcliffe Modern Language Website