St Philip Howard Catholic School

note This page is about the Catholic Secondary School in Glossop, North Derbyshire, not St Philip Howard Catholic High School which is in West Sussex

St Philip Howard Catholic School

Motto	‘The more suffering for Christ in this world, more Glory with Christ in the next' - Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel, June 22, 1587
Established	September 1961 as 'Blessed Philip Howard'
Type	Comprehensive
Religion	Roman Catholic
Chair	Canon Donald Bowdren
Specialism	Sports College
Location	St Mary's Road Glossop Derbyshire SK13 8DR England
Local authority	Derbyshire
DfE URN	112972
Ofsted	Reports
Staff	35
Students	474
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–16
Houses	Challenge, Courage, Determination, Endeavour
Colours	Yrs 7 to 10 have a maroon jumper & Gold emblem whilst Yr 11 have a Black jumper & gold emblem. Trousers black or gray for both sexes. P.E. Kit white polo shirt with school emblem and black shorts. Uniform available from Bulldog Fashions in Glossop.
Website	www.st-philiphoward.derbyshire.sch.uk

Background Information

St Philip Howard Catholic School is a small Roman Catholic comprehensive school in Glossop in northern Derbyshire. It traditionally provides secondary education for Catholic school children in the Glossopdale and Longdendale valleys. However, the school attracts applications from a wide variety of backgrounds and primary schools in Glossop. The school, as of September 2011, will be 50 years old and is celebrating with various Golden Jubilee events. The current Headteacher is Wendy Steciuk, who has been in the post since September 2003. The Deputy-Headtecher is Steve Tickell who started in September 2011. The school has a reputation locally of being a caring school that looks after its students. The small nature of the school allows for all students to be known by name.

Curriculum

Students enter the school in Year 7 with a wide variety of traditional subjects on offer. The emphasis is on English, Maths and Science. The school is a specialist sports college with English as the second specialist subject. Religious Education and Physical Education, take an important part with two lessons a week throughout students time at the school. Other subjects include History, Geography, Modern Foreign Languages (taught as French, German and Spanish), Art, ICT, Design Technology, Food Studies and PSHE. However as of September 2011 the school will also be trialing an 'Opening Minds' curriculum just for its Year 7 intake. This is a competency and skills based curriculum that teaches students how to learn. Rather than 'isolated' learning in subjects, the nationwide scheme initially introduced by the former Labour Education Secretary Ed Balls in 2009, aims to get students to learn universal skills and get them to take more responsibility for their leaning, allegedly lacking in a lot of young people. For the new Year 7 this will take place Period 1 and 2 every morning. The remainder of the time will be following the traditional curriculum.

At the end of Year 9 students can choose currently three subjects to opt from whilst continuing with English, Maths and Science, Religious Education and Physical Education. All of the traditional subjects are on offer. Students can choose to do Physical Education at GCSE and will therefore increase their time in this subject. The school has introduced a broad range of vocational qualifications where students can if they like, go to a local college one day a week to study subjects such as 'Motor Vehicles' or 'Hair and Beauty'. All students follow a course at either Citizenship or the 'Certificate of Personal Effectiveness' known as COPE.

Buildings

The school has two main areas, known as 'The Main Building' and 'Campion House'. The latter was named after the Catholic Martyr Edmund Campion 1540-1581, who was executed in the reign of Elizabeth I. Three new high-tech classrooms have recently been built, added to the lower part of Campion House.

School Day

The school day has changed from September 2011. The day will begin at 8.45am and finish at 3.00pm. The students have registration in the morning with a designated form-tutor (15 minutes) with at least one assembly weekly, two lessons then 'Break' (15 minutes), lesson then Lunch (which is 40 minutes) then two in the afternoon. The school attends a religious service at the nearby St Mary's Catholic Church at least once a term.

Results

GCSE Results August 2011 73% achieved 5 or more A* to C Results including Maths and English. 88% achieved 5 or more A* to C's. The results are above average compared to similar schools nationally, and have improved year on year. The results beat neighbouring Glossopdale Community College. However based on the new English Baccalaureate introduced by the Conservative Education Secretary Michael Gove in 2011, only 13% of students achieved 5 A*-C grades, although this is markedly better than a lot of schools in Derbyshire. The English Baccalaureate judges schools on students who have scored A*-C results in English, Maths, Science, a Humanity (History or Geography) and a Language.

Extra-Curricular and School Trips

Due to the nature of the school being a Sports College, a wide variety of sports activities take place at lunch times and after school, including football, table-tennis and rugby. The school attracts many groups from the local community to use its facilities, including a local judo club and a cheer-leading group. There is a school band, choir, a good choice of Music lessons, a sign language group, film club and a school show, to take part in annually. Various charity work is often undertaken by school students who organise events and stalls in school to raise money for CAFOD. Various organisations come in to school, including 'Brief Candle' a group working on social issues to do with young people and a University Science scheme in to schools, who did some experiments. Students who work hard throughout the year are awarded with a trip to Blackpool Pleasure Beach in July. The students in their form-classes are divided in to four Houses; Challenge, Courage, Determination and Endeavour. Their task is to collect 'loyalty points' by showing good behaviour and effort in subjects. The winning House every year is taken to LaserQuest. Trips are a regular occurrence at the school: -

ENGLISH - Theatre

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION - Savio House

HISTORY - Germany, Poland, New York, Lincoln, Nottingham

PHYSICAL EDUCATION - Lanzarote

LANGUAGES - Paris, German Christmas Market in Aachen, German Exchange to Paderborn

Feeder Primary Schools

The school welcomes applications from all students, but makes clear that Catholic children come first in the selection process. Traditionally, students come from the following schools.

St. Margaret's Primary School Gamesley

St. Mary's Glossop

All Saints Old Glossop

St. Charles Hadfield

However various students join the school from other schools in Glossop, Tintwistle and the Longdendale and Tameside areas.

Ofsted and Reputation

The school was given a 'Satisfactory' rating at the last Ofsted inspection in 2011. The school narrowly missed out on a 'Good' rating. It has made significant improvements to its quality assurance. Locally, the school has a very positive reputation with many past students feeling they got a good education here. However some feel that the choice of secondary education in Glossop is inadequate. Since the school is a Catholic school, some parents feel marginalised and the choice open to them is singularly the neighbouring Glossopdale Community College. That is why, of 2011, a local group of parents are currently planning a bid for Glossop's third secondary school known as a 'Free-School'. They have given it the name 'Partington Wood School' and is due to open, if bidding successful, in 2013.