Hagley RC High School

Hagley Catholic High School

Mottoes	Semper Fidelis
Established	1959
Type	Academy
Religion	Roman Catholic
Headteacher	Ted Hammond
Chair	Elaine Yates (2006)
Location	Brake Lane Hagley Worcs DY8 2XL England Coordinates: 52°25′25″N 2°08′56″W / 52.423485°N 2.14875°W / 52.423485; -2.14875
Local authority	Worcestershire
DfE number	885/4800
DfE URN	141414 Tables
Ofsted	Reports Pre-academy reports
Students	1025 (2006)
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11–18
Houses	Anselm, Bede, Chad, Gregory, Kenelm and Wulstan
Colours
Website	www.hagleyrc.com

Hagley Catholic High School is a mixed 11-18 school in Hagley, Worcestershire. The school holds specialist academy status, and was accorded a Grade 1 (Outstanding) in its Ofsted (2011) report.^[1] The school plays host to students studying for Key Stage 3, GCSE, AS and A-level examinations. The chosen Patron Saint is Catholic martyr Saint Nicholas Owen, and the school is divided into houses named after saints: Anselm, Bede, Chad, Gregory, Kenelm, and Wulstan.

The school recently agreed to work in correspondence with Haybridge High School and sixth form, located opposite, to share subject teaching in the less commonly chosen subjects by students. They have shared common ground for sporting events for some time.

Present Day

The current headteacher is Mr T. Hammond, who has been in post since 2000. He is only the fifth headteacher during the 50+ years the school has been operating. Hagley Catholic High School obtains impressive examination results for its pupils. According to BBC league tables, Hagley Catholic High School has the 6th highest performance rate of the 20 or so state schools in the county, based on GCSE results, with 73% of students in 2010 gaining 5+ GCSEs A* to C including Maths and English.^[2]

History

The Catholic community in Worcestershire first began collecting funds to build a secondary school in 1942. Hagley Roman Catholic Secondary School was opened in 1959 (the current name was adopted when the school became comprehensive in 1974). Originally, the school was to be built in Stourport-on-Severn, but land was donated in Hagley.

In 1969, in the building which would later become Lab 5, a full-scale replica of a Bristol Scout aeroplane was built by five pupils and their history teacher. The aeroplane could only be removed when the window frames were removed. Though A Levels had been taught in the school since the 1960s - the first A-Level History lesson taking place on the steps outside the staffroom - they became an important part of the curriculum in the 1970s. A Sixth Form common room and adjacent teaching rooms were built in 1976, and pupils began regularly to go on to university.^[3]

An extensive collection of catalogued records relating to the history of the school can be found in the library. A history of the school, written by teacher Stephen Roberts, was published in 2009.

Prefects, Library Monitors and the Office Junior

The school offers pupils opportunities to take on roles of responsibility. About a third of the pupils in Year 11 are appointed school prefects. In this capacity that assist the staff in ensuring the orderly running of the school during morning breaks and lunch times. At least 10 pupils are selected to be library monitors, and they help the Librarian look after the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) at break and lunch times. They help organise events in the Library along with the Library Student Committee, as well as helping run the day to day library services. Every pupil takes on the role of office junior in Year 8. On their allotted day they are off timetable, and they help the receptionist by delivering notices to classrooms and sorting out the register folders. The office junior plays an important part in the smooth-running of the school, and at the end of the day is awarded a certificate.

Notable former pupils

• Dominic Thompson, brain surgeon, was a pupil at the school from 1974 until 1981.
• Vincent Bartram, footballer, who played in goal for Wolves, Arsenal and Gillingham, was a pupil at the school from 1979 until 1986.
• Phil Howell, a plant biologist in Cambridge, attended the school from 1982 until 1987. His pioneering work has featured on the BBC television programme 'Countryfile'.
• Lee Sharpe, footballer, who began his career at Torquay United and came to national prominence as a left-winger for Manchester United, attended the school from 1982 until 1987. He regularly returned to the school during his playing career, and subsequently opened the newly constructed Sports Centre and distributed prizes at the annual presentation evening.^[4]
• James Cooper, historian, attended the school from 1993 until 2000. He has taught at a number of universities, and is now a senior university lecturer in Oxford. He is a specialist in recent US political history, and has publications to his name on this subject.

• Stephen Roberts, taught history and law at the school from 1982 until 2012. He is the author or editor of a large number of books on Victorian Britain, most of them relating to the Chartist Movement.

School bus accident

The school became known for a tragic M40 minibus crash that occurred on November 18, 1993 in which twelve children and a teacher lost their lives. Several memorials were put in place, including a stained glass window in the entrance foyer, and several charities were also formed in the wake of the crash. One of the consequences of the crash was the launch of a national campaign to improve safety and driving standards for Passenger Carrying Vehicles (PCV). The huge number of letters which were sent to the school in the weeks after this tragic event were placed for safekeeping in the care of Worcestershire County Archives in 2012.

References

External links

• Stephen Roberts 'This Wonderful School: Fifty Years of Hagley Catholic High School, 1959-2009' (2009).
• School League Table
• Official school website