Wright Robinson College

Wright Robinson College is a mixed 11-16 specialist college in the English city of Manchester. The college caters for boys and girls of all social and religious backgrounds and has current specialist status. The college currently specialises in Sport and The Arts and is a member of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. The school is located on the edge of east Manchester and situated in the grounds of Debdale park. The school holds the prestigious Sportsmark Gold award with distinction, Artsmark Gold award, the FA Charter Mark and the Healthy School award. Wright Robinson College is currently the single largest and most over subscribed school in the city of Manchester with around 1'800 pupils currently on roll. The headteacher of The College is Mr Neville Beischer BEd (Hons) and the Chair of Govenors is curently Mr Colin Breirly MBE. The College, in terms of Value Added Scores, is the highest achieving Comprehensive Secondary School in England and Wales

Over the years, Wright Robinson College has gone by many names including; Wright Robinson High School, Wright Robinson Sports college, Wright Robinson Specialist College and the most recent, Wright Robinson College. The term 'College', as opposed to 'High School , reflects the fact that the school specialises in more than 1 sebject and there fore is a; 'High school for the Arts' and a 'High School for Sport'.

New building

In september 2007, the college moved out of the old building and into the new £23m+ building situated on the adjoining fields. The school was built under the PFI scheme and is the most expensive school or college ever built in Europe. At a total of £53m the school and grounds are home to some of the finest sporting and educational facilities in the world with some of the sporting facilities including; a 25m swimming pool, three 3rd generation rubber crum pitches, a double sports hall, a single sports hall, fitness suite, dance studio, free wieghts room and numerous tennis and football pitches.Not only does the school take pride in its sporting facilities but also in its " 'outstanding' " (ofsted 2007) educational facilities. The school boasts a total number of 8 'ICT laboratories' with an additional learning centre named the 'descovery zone', all with state of the art computer facilities. The school also is equipped with; a 300+ seat auditorium, an exhibition area, an audio visual suite, Apple Mac suites for the use of media studies classes, electronic registration and monitoring system, a Drama studio(s), music recital rooms, outdoor eating facilities (referred to as 'pods'), 4 seperate student Break areas (Quads) and excellent science experementation facilities.

Reputation

In the city of Manchester and indeed the rest of England, the school is one of the most renowned institutions for sport and the Arts with a strong reputation for excellence which is reflected in the schools motto " 'excellence is our aim' ". In the past, the school has played host to such events as the British U15, U16 and U18 weightlifting championships and played a part in the hosting of the commonwealth games of manchester 2002.

The reputation of Wright robinson College was also boosted in July 2008 when two of the schools students gained a place on the prestigious and newly descoverewd 'Manchester School of Excellence' programme provided by Ben Turney, Director of Venture point, Manchester. The programme gives only a handful of the brightest students from the city of Manchester a chance to experience the world of business and enterprise in practice and help them in terms of goal setting and future ambitions.

Late in 2007, the school was hailed by the Manchester City Council and the Government of the United Kingdom as being ' "the single most improved School or College in the United Kingdom" '. The College, over the past 5-10 years has seen a rise of over 60% in the number of students who gain at least 5 A*-C Grades at GCSE.

Themed Weeks

The school is very well known for its themed weeks. the school dedicates a number of weeks throughout the year to such subjects and issues as; slavery, sport, music, reading, poetry, social awareness, safet, academic achievement and human rights. these weeks are a 'non uniform' period for the students and staff and pupil can be seen wearing brightly coloured themed T-Shirts and other items of clothing during theese periods.

Equality and Diversity

Wright robinson College is noted for being very socially, economically and culturally diverse. The students of the school come from various socio-economic backgrounds and follow a variety of different religions and faiths. The College " 'is very diverse in its pupils and has a wide aree of young people from all backgrounds possible, the way that the college caters for the shere number and diversity of its pupils is outstanding' " (Ofsted 2007). " 'Students in the College are very well educated about religious festvals and events that in one way or another will effect them later in life.' " (Ofsted 2007).

tudent Leadership

The College, as well as the leadership staff, has a system of student prefects and leaders. Every year the school allocates roles to the highest achieving, most punctual and attendant pupils. There is also a Head Boy and Head Girl elected each year. The prefects, Head Boy and Head Girl are voted for by the staff of the school including the Head Teacher and senior staff. When elected, the students hold the title for 1 academic year. The Heads of School, when elected, then take an active role in representing the school at events and also taking part in the administration of the school through the year that they hold the title. The heads of School and prefects are distinguished by the colour of thier school ties. students have been known to wear black ties with the school arms or more recently, bright red ties with the school arms.

Official Opening

In September 2008 the College was officially opened by the First Lord of the Treasury and Prime minister of the United Kingdom, Mr Gordon Brown. The Prime Minister was accompanied by his wife Sarah Macaulay whilst in The city of Manchester for the Annual Labour Party Conference at the Manchester Central (Conference Centre) .The centre, then known as G-Mex, was also the venue for gymnastics, weightlifting, judo and wrestling during the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

notable Alumni

Premiership footballer Shaun Wright Phillips

Premiership footballer Nicky Butt