Counthill School

Counthill School

Motto	Animo Atque Fide<br
Established	1951 (Counthill Grammar School)
Closed	2010 (renamed Moorside Campus, Waterhead Academy)
Type	High School
Head teacher	Mr David Lack
Location	Counthill Road Oldham Greater Manchester OL4 2PY England
Local authority	Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
DfE URN	105728
Ofsted	Reports
Students	900 (approx.)
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11–16
Houses	Globe, Granville, Cairo and Albany (local mills)
Website	Intranet home page

Coordinates: 53°33′23″N 2°04′38″W / 53.5565°N 2.0771°W / 53.5565; -2.0771

Counthill School formerly a high-achieving Grammar School, was a mixed gender secondary school for 11 – 16 year olds in the Moorside area of Oldham in Greater Manchester, England. The School closed at the end of July 2010 as part of the New Oldham Academies Project, merging with Breezehill School to form Waterhead Academy.

The school had approximately 900 pupils on roll. Opened in September 1951, it is reputedly the highest secondary school above sea level in the country. Its motto was Animo Atque Fide.

Oldham Borough Council decided to reshape secondary schooling under the UK government's Building Schools for the Future project. Counthill, along with four other failing schools at the time (Breeze Hill, Kaskenmoor, Grange, South Chadderton) where earmarked for closure to form two new Academies.^[1]

Teaching staff

David J. Clifford resigned as head teacher in March 2005 after Ofsted criticised him as lacking a clear strategic vision for improving his pupils' quality of education.^[2][3]

Mrs Margaret Ryan who got the school out of special measures, after replacing Mr Clifford retired from her post on September 12th 2008.^[4]

Mr David Lack was appointed Headteacher in 2008 and has a record for transforming struggling school. He left when the school merged.

Academics

Although the school did require Special Measures in 2004^[5] on 23 November 2006 the special measures tag was removed.^[6] GCSE exam results improved from 27% in 2004 to 51% passes at A-C in 2007.^[7]

Notable alumni

• Paul Sculthorpe, rugby league player.
• Anne Kirkbride, actor in Coronation Street (Deirdre Barlow)

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ "Head criticised by Ofsted quits", Manchester Evening News, 16 March 2003
3. ^ "School head resigns", James Ferguson, Oldham Advertiser, 16 March 2005
4. ^ report in oldham chron
5. ^ [2]
6. ^ See Page 8. [3]
7. ^ [4]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4127838.stm http://www.oldhamadvertiser.co.uk/news/s/1045594_three_guest_pupils_end_up_in_hospital