Chesterfield High School

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For the US high school, see Chesterfield High School (South Carolina).

Chesterfield High School
Location
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Crosby
,
Merseyside
,
L23 9YB

England
Coordinates53°29′28″N 3°00′18″W / 53.491°N 3.005°W / 53.491; -3.005Coordinates: 53°29′28″N 3°00′18″W / 53.491°N 3.005°W / 53.491; -3.005
Information
TypeSecondary Academy
Motto"For everyone the best"
(Cuique Optimum)
Established1974
Local authoritySefton
SpecialistSports and ICT
Department for Education URN137514 Tables
OfstedReports
GenderMixed
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1200
Websitehttp://www.chesterfieldhigh.co.uk/

Chesterfield High School in Crosby, Merseyside, England, officially opened in 1974. The school has an intake of roughly 1,200 students in years 7–11.

The school was founded as a comprehensive from Waterloo Park Grammar School for Girls, Haigh Road, and Crosby County Secondary School for Boys, Coronation Road. There were 1,174 pupils upon opening, with a Sixth Form of 162 students, 130 girls and 32 boys.

History[]

Construction[]

During construction, the school site suffered an arson attack on 5 June 1971, during which gas cylinders exploded and a smoke rose around 500 feet (150 m) over the school. Four firemen were injured while fighting the fire[1] that needed 50 firefighters to tackle the blaze.[2] A police spokesman said on 7 June that three boys aged 10, 11 and 13 were helping with their inquiries[3] as police believed the fire was deliberate, while concerns were raised by education officials about any delay affecting the introduction of comprehensive education in the borough.[4] On 22 June, a spokesman for Lancashire County Council said that the damage was not serious enough to cause a delay and that construction work would continue.[5]

Opening[]

Having been due to open to students in time for the start of the 1972 academic year, it was announced that the handover that was planned to be on Monday 8th August 1972 was delayed just weeks before the new term,[6] due to builders joining in a national dispute that brought work to a halt.[7] Contingency plans were therefore enacted which meant that students coming from the Waterloo Park Grammar School and Crosby Secondary Boys' School would remain, while new first year students would be based at Coronation Road and Waterloo Park.[8] The first students to transfer to the new school came in October, although the school was not fully complete at this point.[9] By December, building work had completed and the site was fully operational.

After nearly a year from opening, the Formby Times described the school as having had "a rewarding year" and that "a good co-educational atmosphere has prevailed from the start".[10] The school operated a split-site, using the old school for younger students and named "the Annexe".

Split site[]

From the opening of the school on Chesterfield Road up until the construction of The Mall in 1996, the school resided on 2 separate sites, with the old site referred to as "the Annexe" and considered a misnomer. Pupils at the Annexe would refer to the main school as 'the other school' as for them, the Annexe was Chesterfield High School for their first 2 years until moving to Chesterfield Road. It was claimed that the Annexe, disliked by many staff as an administrative nightmare with substandard buildings, was important in the school's success. It was felt that pupils here were able to find their feet in a homely environment and mix with others of the same age before being subjected to the rigours of bigger pupils; this was only disproved when the pupils did come on one site, as there was not much difficulty of this sort. However, at the time, parents believed this was the case and for many, it was an attraction for choosing Chesterfield's Annexe as their child's initial secondary home.

The buildings were a concern for school staff, mainly due to the fire hazard with having the wooden structures. It was difficult for staff working in the Annexe to not feel that the buildings and equipment there were not inferior to those available at the main Chesterfield Road site. It was felt that expenditure on the Annexe buildings would be in vain because it was considered the buildings would not last anywhere near as long as they did. It was only towards the end of their life in the last few years when some attempt was made to bring the Annexe buildings up to a sub-standard of the main school, with new fire doors and lowered ceilings being fitted. Construction of what would be called The Mall started at the main site in the mid-1990s to open for the 1996/1997 academic year, allowing the final closure of the Annexe.

After completion and opening in 1996 in a scheme estimated to cost around £2.5m, students from the Annexe were moved across to the main site.[11] Within hours of the move, the Annexe buildings were boarded up and demolished just weeks later. There is now no trace of these buildings, which considering their wooden structures, lasted for an impressive 75 years.[12] The demolition cost as reported by the Liverpool Echo was around £60,000.[13]

Buildings[]

A, B, C and D block[]

The original school was designed in blocks, with an outdoor quad in the centre, referred to as 'A block (Administration)', 'B block', 'C block' and 'D block' respectively.

D block was originally intended as a junior section where the younger forms could have most of their lessons, away from most of the rigours from the older students within the school. It included a fully fitted kitchen which was never used, with an adjacent pair of classrooms, since redeveloped into technology workshops. Initially the first floor of D block was used open-plan, in accordance with educational philosophy during time of construction. To reduce construction costs, none of the blocks were designed with any through corridors.

Considering the buildings were cheaply constructed, over time the roof started to wear, opening up holes for heavy rain and the weakened roof structure caused problems with burglaries until a roof renewal programme eliminating the problem.

The Sixth Form Block[]

The Sixth Form at Chesterfield High School is managed currently by J. Deary. During construction of the high school, the Sixth Form building was ready first and Sixth Form students transferred there from Alexandra Hall. The Sixth Form building used a standard 'ROSLA' design amongst other secondary schools throughout the country alike, which first came into use upon the raising of the school leaving age from 15 to 16 in 1973.

In 1984, rumours began circulating that there were plans to change the nature of Sixth Form provision in Crosby, mainly due to the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton deciding to review Sixth Forms throughout the Borough, especially those which had fewer than 140 pupils. In March 1985, education chiefs in Sefton began 12 month consultation on the proposals due to falling pupil numbers.[14] The proposals involved removing Sixth Forms from Crosby schools to place students into an expanded tertiary college centred on Hugh Baird College in Bootle. Numerous meetings were held between Chesterfield High School's and what was then Manor High School's senior management teams. Overwhelming support to keep the Sixth Form at Chesterfield concluded in the retainment of it during a decisive meeting held in October 1986.[15]

In September 2008, the sixth form block was refurbished following work by the head boy and assistant head boy and a £90,000 investment was made. This refurbishment of the sixth form block included 30 new computers and space for the students to work. The investment was made after the sixth form was criticised during the Ofsted report. 'Standards in the sixth form are not as high as in the main school and are below the national average.'[16]

The Mall[]

The Mall was officially opened 18 March 1996, with The Duke of Westminster invited to unveil the plaque. Also present at the ceremony were the Mayor, Councillor Terence Francis, and Mayoress, Sir Malcolm Thornton, MP, Councillor B Reynolds, Chairman of the Education Committee, John Marsden, Director of Education and Alan Moore, Director of Technical Services.

The mall created new classrooms for various number of departments, including English, Mathematics and Geography. It also included a new Library, replacing the older Library which used to reside where the language classrooms (L1 and L2) now are. Additional Science Laboratories were also built at the back of the school, bringing the total number of laboratories into double figures.

Sixth form[]

Sport[]

Rugby[]

The Sixth Form Rugby team was founded in 2007 after a group of students who were relatively new to the sport started training sessions on the school field. The group attended training sessions every Wednesday after school and made steady progression with the game and following the support of geography teacher Chris Tees a rugby player for Southport Rugby Football Club, the sixth form rugby team played their first game against another local sixth form team which was drawn 10–10. The team has made steady progress since then and in September 2008 the team's progression was rewarded when the school provided the funding for rugby posts and a pitch to be marked out on the schools field. This has proved to be a success as the team currently has a 100% home record.[17]

Headteachers[]

Sybil Thomas[]

Duration: 1972–1988
Originally Headmistress of the Grammar School, took on the role of Headmistress of the then-new Chesterfield High School, overseeing its development. She retired in 1988, to be succeeded by Dr. A. K. Irving.

Alan K. Irving[]

Duration: 1988–2005
In 198 Thomas was succeeded by Dr Alan Irving who had been Deputy Head of Fairfield School, Widnes. After over 16 years as Chesterfield's Headteacher, Irving left the school for promotion to Schools and Young People's Director of Merseyside in 2005. However, Irving began a "£100,000-a-year" job in March 2006[18] as Schools and Young People's Director of Manchester. The school was left in the hands of the even longer serving Brenda Wheeler, then Deputy Headmistress, until appointment of Simon Penney as Headteacher in January 2006.

Brenda Wheeler (Acting Head)[]

Duration: 2005 (Q4)
Even longer serving than Irving, B. Wheeler took over the role of Acting Headteacher for the fourth quarter of 2005, until the appointment of Simon Penney, at which point she took her retirement.

Simon Penney[]

Duration: 2006–2019

Kevin Sexton[]

Duration: 2019–Present

Alumni[]

See also[]

  • List of North West England Schools
  • Crosby

References[]

  1. ^ "News of arson". Liverpool Echo. 25 June 1971. p. 1. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Fire threat to all-in school plan". Liverpool Echo. 16 June 1971. p. 5. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  3. ^ "School Blaze". Liverpool Echo. 8 June 1971. p. 5. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Police probe school site blaze". Liverpool Echo. 7 June 1971. p. 7. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Fire should not delay school". Liverpool Echo. 22 June 1971. p. 3. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  6. ^ "New Crosby school opening is delayed". Liverpool Echo. 7 August 1972. p. 3. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  7. ^ "National dispute brings halt to new school handover". Liverpool Echo. 11 August 1972. p. 15-16. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Crosby to beat school snag". Liverpool Echo. 16 August 1972. p. 9. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  9. ^ "First pupils at new school". Liverpool Echo. 20 October 1972. p. 9. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  10. ^ "High school has rewarding year despite transition". Formby Times. 4 April 1973. p. 9. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  11. ^ "£2.5m scheme brings school onto single site". Liverpool Echo. 6 October 1994. p. 10. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  12. ^ Chesterfield High School: The Annexe Archived 25 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Annexe demolished as new school extention nears completion". Liverpool Echo. 8 April 1996. p. 2. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Labour bucks sixth-form colleges". Liverpool Echo. 7 March 1985. p. 16. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  15. ^ Save Crosby Sixth Forms Archived 6 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ http://frogserver/user/59/27757.pdf[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ Chesterfield High School - Crosby Liverpool Archived 13 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Chesterfieldhigh.co.uk (22 January 2009). Retrieved on 2011-05-23.
  18. ^ Dr Irving new Education Boss of Manchester ManchesterEveningNews.co.uk, 16 December 2005
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b Chesterfield High School History Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Banleen.freehostia.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-23.
  20. ^ Liverpool F.C. profile for Jack Robinson Archived 12 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ "Premier League records". Premier League. Retrieved 14 October 2019. Click "Players" tab.

External links[]

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