St Hilda's Church of England High School

St Hilda's Church of England High School
Address
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Croxteth Drive Liverpool , Merseyside , L17 3AL England
Coordinates	53°23′17″N 2°56′20″W / 53.388°N 2.939°W / 53.388; -2.939Coordinates: 53°23′17″N 2°56′20″W / 53.388°N 2.939°W / 53.388; -2.939
Information
Type	Voluntary aided school
Motto	"Laborare Est Orare" "to work is to pray"
Religious affiliation(s)	Church of England
Established	1 May 1894[1]
Founder	Mother Emily Ayckbaum
Local authority	Liverpool City Council
Department for Education URN	104721 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Headteacher	Mrs Jo Code
Gender	Co-educational
Age	11 to 18
Enrolment	1060
Colour(s)
Website	http://www.st-hildas.co.uk/

St Hilda's Church of England High School is a secondary school with a sixth form, located in Croxteth Drive, Sefton Park, Liverpool, England.^[2] As of 2018–19, Year 11 is girls only, but in September 2015 the school began to enrol boys into the lower years after the completion of the new £15 million building.^[3] The sixth form has been coeducational for many years.

History[]

St Hilda's was established in 1894 by Emily 'Mother Emily' Ayckbaum, focusing on the education of girls. Mother Emily's strong views on Christianity incorporated some of the strong beliefs in the school today and still remain part of the school ethos. The Community of the Sisters of the Church opened "Sefton Park School" on 1 May 1894 with 17 pupils. By 1905, the roll had risen to 377, and the name changed to "Arundel Central School" in 1924. After the 1944 Education act, the name became "St Hilda's C of E Secondary Commercial Technical School", and, eventually, "St Hilda's C E High School" before its move to a new building in Croxteth Drive, Sefton Park, in 1967 when there were 361 pupils including 32 in the sixth form.

The Diocese persuaded St Hilda's to become comprehensive in 1980 with a four-form intake, and numbers have subsequently increased to 863 with a large sixth form. On becoming Grant Maintained in January 1995, the school began a building programme to improve its educational facilities, and this continued after returning to Voluntary Aided status with the addition of a Drama Studio and new library, officially opened on 15 April 2005.

For ninety years, St Hilda's only had female headteachers until 1980 when Mr Dawson arrived at the school, serving one of the longest periods. In 1997 he retired to the Isle of Man leaving the school in the care of headteacher, Mr Christopher Yates. In March 2009 it was announced that he was to retire due to ill health and Mrs Eleanor Benson, the former head of sixth form became acting headmistress, being officially appointed from September 2009. As of 2016, Mrs Jo Code became headmistress with Mrs Eleanor Benson retiring to London. In September 2015 the school became a coeducational school with a roll of 56 boys and 94 girls in that year's intake.

References[]