Wright Robinson College
 | |
| Motto |
' Intentio coix est excellentia ' ' Excellence is our aim ' |
|---|---|
| Type | Foundation school |
| Headteacher | Neville L. Beischer |
| Location |
Abbey Hey Lane Gorton Manchester M18 8RL England Coordinates: 53°28′00″N 2°09′12″W / 53.4667°N 2.1533°W |
| Local authority | Manchester |
| DfE number | 352/4276 |
| DfE URN | 105564 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 11–16 |
| Colours | Red, black, white |
| Website | www.wrightrobinson.co.uk |
Wright Robinson College is a mixed 11–16 secondary school located in Abbey Hey, Gorton, Manchester, England.
The college caters to students of all socio-economic and religious backgrounds and is a specialist college of "Sport and The Arts"; it 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 the single largest and most over-subscribed school in the city of Manchester, with around 1,800 pupils on roll.
The Headmaster of the college is Neville Beischer BEd (Hons), and the Chair of Governors is Mr Colin Brierley 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.
History
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.
Curriculum
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. However this stopped in September 2012.
As a result of the school's specialism, sport, throughout the 5 years that pupils spend at Wright Robinson, the subject 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.
New building
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 meter swimming pool, multiple sports halls, fitness suite, dance studio, 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 holds 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.
Reputation
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'.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
Sport
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.
Since 2012 the Manchester Giants basketball team has used Wright Robinson as its home venue.
Equality and diversity
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 affect them later in life.' (Ofsted 2007).
Student leadership
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.
Rivalry
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
Official opening
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.
Notable alumni
- Premiership footballer Nicky Butt
References
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