Burnage High School

Burnage Media Arts College (formerly Burnage High School) is an all-boys secondary school in Burnage, Manchester, England.

History

Grammar school

The school was founded in 1933 as Burnage Grammar School for Boys, situated on Burnage Lane. The school was expanded in the 1950s with the addition of a multi-storey building. It remained a selective grammar school for over 30 years before becoming a comprehensive school in 1967, when most secondary schools in Manchester became comprehensives.

Comprehensive school

In 1967, the school became Burnage High School for Boys and merged with Ladybarn Secondary School, a secondary modern school on the junction of Parrs Wood Road and Briarfield Road in Withington. This site then became the lower school (for years 7 - 9) while the Burnage Lane site remained the upper school (for years 10 & 11 and the sixth form). This remained the case until 2000, when the lower and upper schools were amalgamated. All students are now based solely at the Burnage Lane site, which was expanded with a new building in 1999 and a new Sports Hall in 2001, though the school no longer has a sixth form. The lower school site on Parrs Wood Road was demolished following its closure and a new housing estate was built in its place.

Media Arts College

In 2007, the school was given Media Arts College status and has since been renamed as Burnage Media Arts College.^[1] Despite this change, it remains an all-boys school for 11-16 year olds.

In 2010, the school was reconstructed under the Building Schools for the Future initiative which saw the original 1930s and 1950s buildings replaced by a new building. The 1999 building was refurbished and the Sports Hall (built in 2001) was also improved with a new gymnasium. On completion of the new main building, the old buildings were demolished and the grounds they once stood on were resurfaced to provide all-weather sports facilities.

Admissions

The school draws pupils from various districts of Manchester, including Didsbury, Levenshulme, Longsight, Rusholme, Fallowfield, Withington, Hulme, Ardwick, and Burnage itself. The majority of students live in Longsight, Levenshulme, Rusholme and Ardwick wards, which suffer from high levels of poverty, deprivation and crime. As mentioned in its 2010 OFSTED report, over 90% of the school's students are from ethnic minorities, and over 64% are of South Asian heritage with more than 50% of all students speaking English as an additional language.^[2]

OFSTED Inspections

The school's latest OFSTED report was conducted in 2012 and rated the school as "Good" (Grade 2).^[3] This follows the school's last inspection in 2010 when it was rated merely as "Satisfactory" (Grade 3).

Academic performance

In the school's 2002 OFSTED report, it was noted that overall examination grades for students at the school in recent years were well below the national average.^[4] The school has had consistently improving GCSE results since 2001 (with the exception of 2005 when results dipped), though they remain well below the national average.^[5] GCSE performance results as published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) since 2001 are as follows:^[6][7][8]

Percentage of students achieving 5 or more GCSE A* - C results or equivalent (national average for each year in brackets):

• 2001: 23% (50%)
• 2002: 32% (52%)
• 2003: 38% (53%)
• 2004: 42% (54%)
• 2005: 35% (56%)
• 2006: 38% (58%)
• 2007: 40% (61%)
• 2008: 50% (65%)

Percentage of students achieving 5 or more A* - C including English and Maths (national average for each year in brackets):

• 2005: 27% (44%)
• 2006: 32% (45%)
• 2007: 28% (46%)
• 2008: 33% (48%)
• 2009: 40% (50%)
• 2010: 43% (54%)

Controversies

In September 1986, the school made headline news when 13 year old Asian pupil Ahmed Iqbal Ullah was fatally stabbed in the school playground by another 13 year old pupil, Darren Coulburn, in what was believed to be a racially motivated attack. The incident severely damaged the reputation of what was once a leading and well-respected school in the district, and launched the MacDonald Inquiry into racism in Manchester schools.^[9]

In 2009, the school made headline news when teacher Mohammed Sarwar was arrested after police had obtained evidence that he had been leading a double life as the mastermind behind a major local drugs gang who had a large-scale operation to deal cocaine and cannabis. Sarwar, who was known as "The Teacher" to his gang, had taught I.T. at the school for seven years until his arrest. In April 2011, he was convicted and sentenced to 21 years in prison.^[10] After his arrest, staff at the school also found crib sheets that Sarwar had drawn up to help his pupils cheat at their exams.^[11]

In 2012, the school made headlines again when former supply teacher Mutasem Alqtaishat was arrested for fraud after he collected weekly payments from young players at a local basketball club that he coached at and deposited the payments into his personal account for his own use over a five month period. Alqtaishat received a 13-week prison sentence (suspended for one year), and was ordered to pay £400 and perform 180 hours of unpaid community service. In 2013, he was also struck off by the Teaching Agency for a minimum period of two years.^[12][13]

Notable alumni

Burnage High School for Boys

• Jason Beckford - former Manchester City footballer
• Wes Brown - Sunderland and England footballer.^[14]
• Aziz Ibrahim - Guitarist (worked with Simply Red, the Stone Roses)
• Brian Sterling-Vete - author, Guinness World Record Holder, motivational speaker, film-maker, TV presenter, actor, and entrepreneur.
• Darren Beckford - former Manchester City footballer
• Luthfur Rahman - Labour Party politician and councillor on Manchester City Council.
• Menelik Watson - Oakland Raiders American Football

Burnage Grammar School for Boys

• Alan Badel - stage, film and television actor
• Roger Byrne - Manchester United and England footballer killed in the Munich air disaster
• Michael Croft - Founder and Director of the National Youth Theatre^[14]
• Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank - architect^[14]
• John Hutton - Author
• Sir Stephen Sherbourne CBE - Conservative political advisor
• Mike Smithson - Editor (since 2004) of Politicalbetting.com
• John Smithson - BAFTA award-winning film producer

References

External links

• EduBase