Trinity Catholic Technology College

Infobox UK school
name = Trinity Catholic School


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latitude = 52.29604
longitude = -1.55169
dms = dms
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established =
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religion = Roman Catholic
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Dr James Ferguson
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specialist = Technology College
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street = Guy's Cliffe Avenue
city = Leamington Spa
county = Warwickshire
country = England
postcode = CV32 6NB
LEA = Warwickshire
ofsted = 125756
staff =
enrollment = 1279
gender = Coeducational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
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Trinity Catholic School is a secondary school in Leamington Spa, England. Trinity is well known for its liberal ethos (started by Peter Hastings), where students call teachers by their first names. Students wore their own clothes until September 2004, when uniform with purple and yellow tie was introduced. The move came after failed attempts in 2001 (see reference 1) to introduce a uniform. In protest, students walked out of lessons to join parents on the school playground. This follows on from a history of involvement by students and parents in influencing the running of the school.

In 1986 there was a mass protest by parents and students when the whole of the board of governors was sacked over the Christmas holidays; the obvious reason being the imminent retirement of the school's maverick 'creator' and head, Peter Hastings. Peter had somehow created a school with a great atmosphere of discipline through responsibility - the manifestation of which involved no uniform, and the addressing of teachers by their first name. This ethos did not suit the ideas of the Catholic diocese in 1986, and they saw a way to appoint the successor of their choice by appointing their own hand-picked governors. The signing of a petition by virtually all parents by January and the strong opinions of teachers, pupils and parents eventually created a truce of sorts, and an agreed successor was appointed, although many missed the slightly idiosyncratic, but inspirational leadership of Peter Hastings.

The school has both Technology and Arts status and had been awarded Arts Mark Gold award. It is known for its superb Special Needs department and has been commended on its excellent modern language teaching. The school has a Sixth Form College on site.

Until recently the School was on two separate sites: Dormer Hall on Myton Road in Warwick, and Bishop Bright Hall/Freeman Hall on Guy's Cliffe Avenue in Leamington Spa. However, in September 2005, after a multi-million pound extension, Trinity moved to a single site at Guy's Cliffe Avenue in Leamington Spa

Notable Alumni

*Sam Troughton - Actor
*Jim Troughton - Professional Cricket Player for Warwickshire Bears
*Luke Concannon - Musician (Nizlopi)
*John Parker - Musician (Nizlopi)
*Naomi Bolster - Musician
*Luella Bartley - Fashion DesignerTony Tobin -Chef

References

1 - * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1588966.stm] 'Pupils Protest Over Uniform'

External links

* [http://www.trinity-school.org.uk/ Trinity School Website]
* [http://www.trinitypta.com/ Trinity PTA Website]