Coordinates: 53°21′47″N 2°43′59″W / 53.363°N 2.733°W / 53.363; -2.733 Secondary education in the Borough of Halton is provided by eight secondary schools and one further education college, Riverside College. Four of the secondary schools are in Widnes and four are in Runcorn. The college works from three campuses, two in Widnes and one in Runcorn.

[edit] The Bankfield School

The Bankfield School is a mixed non-denominational secondary school in Widnes taking pupils within the ages 11–16 with a pupil roll of 828.^[1] It opened in September 1958 as a small secondary modern school. The school grew and in the early 1970s was suffering from serious overcrowding. It became a comprehensive school in 1974. The numbers on the roll fell and in the 1980s it was threatened with closure. Following a campaign by the local community it became a grant-maintained school in January 1990. In 1997 it opted to join the other schools managed by Halton Borough Council.^[2] Since September 2004 it has been a specialist science college. Its partner is the Catalyst Museum and Science Discovery Centre and 16 industrial companies act as sponsors.^[3]

[edit] Fairfield High School

Fairfield High School is a mixed non-denominational secondary school in Widnes taking pupils within the ages 11–16 with a pupil roll of 701.^[4] Since September 2004 it has been a specialist arts college located to the north of the town centre of Widnes, Cheshire, England. A school has been on the site since the 16th century. In the 1960s two separate-sex secondary schools amalgamated and the school has had its present title since 1974. An extensive programme of rebuilding was completed in September 1994. Since September 2005 the school's facilities include a theatre, two music rooms, a media suite, a performing arts studio and several practice rooms in addition to a school hall and two gymnasiums which are also used for workshops and performances.^[5] It is planned to close the school by the end of August 2010 and for its pupils to be transferred to Wade Deacon High School.^[6]

[edit] The Grange Comprehensive School

The Grange Comprehensive School is a mixed non-denominational secondary school in Runcorn, Cheshire, taking pupils within the ages 11–16 with a pupil roll of 1006.^[7] In June 2007, plans were announced for the school to close and to merge with the Heath School in 2012.^[8]. However the Education & Skills Select Committee raised objections to the proposal^[9] and it was decided that the school would join the adjacent nursery, infant and junior schools to be an all-through school to be called G4.^[10] Following improved examination results in 2008, the plan to merge with the Heath School was cancelled.^[11]

[edit] Halton High School

Halton High School is a mixed non-denominational secondary school in Runcorn taking pupils within the ages 11–16 with a pupil roll of 526.^[12] An application has been made for the school to work in conjunction with The Innovation Unit.^[13].

[edit] The Heath School

For the school with a similar name in USA see Heath School.

The Heath School is a mixed non-denominational secondary school in Runcorn taking pupils within the ages 11–16 with a pupil roll of 1048.^[14] Since September 2002 it has been a specialist technology college. The original school on the site was the Heath Secondary Girls School. When Balfour Road Boys School closed in 1977 the two schools merged to become The Heath School.^[15]

In 2006 The Heath School was granted the award of Halton Secondary School of the Year for Sports. The award, which was sponsored by 'Vikings in the community', was granted to the school for continually competing at the top level throughout the area.^[16]

[edit] St Chad's Catholic and CE Joint Faith High School

St Chad's Catholic and CE Joint Faith High School is a mixed voluntary aided mixed faith secondary school in Runcorn.^[17] It takes pupils within the ages 11–18 with a pupil roll of 906.^[18] It is a specialist language college.^[19] Phase II of a new building programme costing £7.1 million will start in the summer of 2008. It will consist of a new science block, a new sports hall, the conversion of the current sports hall into an assembly hall, a learning resource centre and a performing arts, drama and music suite.^[20] Some areas of the school are available to hire for community sports facilities.^[21]

[edit] Saints Peter and Paul Catholic College

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Sports College is a mixed voluntary aided Roman Catholic secondary school in Widnes taking pupils within the ages 11–18 with a pupil roll of 1585. It is a specialist sports college.^[22] The school opened in 1952 as Saints Joseph's Roman Catholic High School. It was initially a mixed sex secondary modern school but from 1959 education was provided separately for boys and girls. It returned to being a mixed sex school in 1972. It later merged with the neighbouring Sts John Fisher and Thomas More Roman Catholic High School to form Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic High School.^[23] Its current title is Saints Peter and Paul Catholic College.^[24]

[edit] Wade Deacon High School

Wade Deacon High School is a mixed non-denominational secondary school in Widnes taking pupils within the ages 11–16 with a pupil roll of 1121.^[25] It is a specialist technology, mathematics and computing college.^[26] The school was founded in 1507 as Farnworth Grammar School by Bishop William Smyth. The present main school building was opened in 1931 as Wade Deacon Grammar School. This was named after Sir Henry Wade Deacon, a prominent local industrialist and chairman of the Local Education Committee. The school became fully comprehensive in 1974.^[27]

[edit] Riverside College Halton

This is a non-denominational further education college taking pupils aged 16 and over.^[28] It works from three campuses; Kingsway and Cronton Campuses are in Widnes and the Runcorn Campus is in Runcorn, on the outskirts of the Old Town. ^[29] The college was created from the merger of Halton College and Widnes & Runcorn Sixth Form College in August 2006. It has not yet had a full inspection by OfSted.^[30]

[edit] Performance table

This table shows the percentage of pupils gaining five GCSE A*–C level grades, including English and Maths, in the years 2005–2008 compared with the local and national averages.^[31]

[edit] Ofsted reports

The key for the inspection grades in the table are: Grade 1 Outstanding: Grade 2 Good: Grade 3 Satisfactory: Grade 4 Inadequate

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• The Bankfield School
• Fairfield High School
• The Heath School
• St Chad's Catholic High School
• Saints Peter and Paul Catholic College
• Wade Deacon High School
• Riverside College