Crompton House

Crompton House

Motto	Latin: Sapere Aude ("Dare to be wise")
Established	19 September 1926
Type	Secondary voluntary aided school
Religion	Christian Protestant (Denomination: Church of England)
Head	Mrs S. Calvert
Chairman of Governors	Leon Ashton
Founder	Mary Crompton
Specialism	Arts (Art, Music and Drama)
Location	Rochdale Road Shaw and Crompton Greater Manchester OL2 7HS England
Local authority	Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
DfE URN	105740
Ofsted	Reports
Students	1,300 (approx.)
Gender	Co-educational
Ages	11–18
Houses	Clegg Cocker Crompton Lees Ormerod Ridley Selwyn
Colours	Black & Gold
Website	www.crompton-house.oldham.sch.uk

Coordinates: 53°34′53″N 2°06′27″W / 53.58125°N 2.1074°W / 53.58125; -2.1074

Crompton House Church of England High School^[1] is a mixed gender voluntary aided Church of England secondary school and sixth form for 11–18 year olds, located in the High Crompton area of Shaw and Crompton in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The school has been awarded specialist status as an Arts College.

It was established in 1926 when Crompton House was donated by a prominent local land owner Mary Crompton to the Church of England to be used as a school. The school has expanded over the years as its reputation and achievements have increased along with the size of its intake. The school is now partly state-funded but mainly voluntary funded by donations, events, and some money is provided by the Anglican Diocese of Manchester.

The school is affiliated therefore with the Church of England, and pupils are required to attend the Anglican church in order to be admitted to the school. However this is not the case for the sixth form, admission for which is based on secular grounds.

It currently has approximately 1400 students and 100 teachers, and is made up of a number of 19th century buildings and purpose-built modern extensions. The current Head is Sarah Calvert, who joins the school in January after previous headmistress Elsie Tough retired in July 2011. Until then, Jim Upton will become acting headmaster.

History

Crompton House, much like Crompton Hall, was originally a primary dwelling of the Crompton family — a family who since the Norman Conquest had a majority land ownership of Shaw and Crompton.

Following the death and subsequent dissipation of the Crompton family line, Crompton House was donated in 1926 by Miss Mary Crompton and her cousin, Mrs Anne Ormerod on the grounds it would become a school with a strong Christian ethos.

The then Dean of Manchester, Dr. Hewlett Johnson, declared open the new Higher Grade Church School to be known as Crompton House School on 29 September and the first twenty five pupils were admitted on 1 October. From the beginning its relatively small size enabled the care of every child to be the concern of all the teaching staff.

Now a co-educational, voluntary aided secondary school catering for about 1400 pupils with an established sixth-form, that same care remains the guiding spirit of the school community.

Over the years additions have been made to the original buildings. These include a separate Year 11 block, a modern craft building, new science laboratories and new sixth-form accommodation. A new block of classrooms and science laboratories was officially opened in October 1994, and is colloquially referred to as The new block.

More recently, a block of ten new classrooms has been opened. A drama studio has also been built due to the school's Arts status.

The principal aim of the school is to provide within the context of the Anglican faith an opportunity for all pupils to develop their full potential both in terms of academic achievement and of personal and social development. It is hoped that at the end of their time with the school, the young men and women from Crompton House will take their place in society as well-educated, balanced, creative and caring individuals.

Whilst this is a Church of England school, when available the school will also offer places to children from other Christian denominations, such as Methodists. However, due to the popularity of the school this is increasingly unlikely. The official position of the school is to believe strongly that a Christian school exists to serve the needs of the local, and wider communities.

The school is also a Post-Graduate Teacher Training Centre, and since September 1998 has Beacon status. Crompton House was awarded Specialist School Status in 2005 in Arts (Music, Art and Drama).

Pastoral care

Crompton House uses a Form system to group students. There are 7 forms in years 7-11 which are Clegg, Cocker, Crompton, Lees, Ormerod, Ridley and Selwyn. In Year 10, Ballard is also the name of an extra form, and in the Sixth Form, Milne and Shaw are also the names of two more forms.

These form names have historical significance for Crompton House as they are surnames of individuals who have contributed to the creation of Crompton House as a school.

Subjects

Crompton House offers a broad range of subjects with options available both at GCSE level and again at A-level should a student remain in to the sixth form.

Subject	Years 7-9	GCSE	Notes
English	Compulsory	Compulsory	Combined English Language and Literature is studied until year 10, where it is divided into Literature and Language in preparation for GCSE English and English Literature. The work of William Shakespeare is studied in years 7, 8 and 9; along with a number of literary set texts.
Mathematics	Compulsory	Compulsory	All students are required to take GCSE Mathematics.
Science	Compulsory	Compulsory	For GCSE it is taught separately in lessons by separate teachers as Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Depending on the choice made for GCSE, this is taught either as 'separate sciences' where three GCSEs are gained, one in each science; or 'dual award science', where 2 GCSEs are gained as dual award science as fewer lessons are taken at a lesser depth.
Religious studies	Compulsory	Compulsory	Per the school's Church of England status.
Modern Foreign Languages	Compulsory	Optional	Pupils are taught French, German or Spanish up until year 9 when they have where they have to carry on their language for a GCSE
Geography	Compulsory	Optional	Part of the course can involve trips to countries such as Iceland.
History	Compulsory	Optional	Part of the course can involve trips to places of historical significance, such as the Battlefields of Ypres in Belgium, and Eden Camp in the UK.
Physical Education	Compulsory	Compulsory	Up until year 9 pupils have 4 or 5 sessions a fortnight of P.E. In years 10 and 11 those not choosing it for GCSE have 2 lessons a fortnight.
Music	Compulsory	Optional
Art	Compulsory	Optional
Drama	Compulsory	Optional
Expressive Arts	Compulsory	N/A	Art, Drama and music have to be taken by all Year 7-9 students as a GCSE in the Expressive arts course, as per the schools Arts Specialist status.
Sociology	N/A	Optional
ICT	Compulsory	Optional	These technology subjects are all taught to pupils in years 7-9, and any of these can be chosen for a GCSE qualification. Recently, the school has introduced the OCR National Level 2 qualification for ICT that is studied from year 9, up until year 11, and all pupils must take this exam, but anyone can still choose to take ICT as a GCSE. This is a more in- depth course, and provides a greater range of skills for all candidates.
Textiles
Resistant Materials
Food and Nutrition
Graphics

Musical achievements

The music department of the school has a wide variety of groups, from two orchestras to a swing band, a brass band, and numerous choirs. The senior orchestra played at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of the Schools Proms in 2005,^[2] and the Senior Choir has sung across the country in such places as Manchester Cathedral, York Minster, and Liverpool Cathedral. More recently the choir has sung evensong in Westminster Abbey in London, and the Boys' Choir has sung in St Asaph Cathedral in North Wales.^[3]

On 2nd July 2010, the school orchestra, brass band and all choirs combined their talents to perform Karl Jenkin's The Armed Man at a concert at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Sixth form

Crompton House has its own sixth form, which itself performs at a high national standard. The majority of pupils in the sixth form at Crompton House have continued from the compulsory education there. However, approximately 40 pupils from other schools in the surrounding area join the sixth form each year. Unlike years 7–11, there are no criteria for selection based on religion.

There are a number of subjects available at AS-level and A-level to study at Crompton House. These are: Art and Design, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Design Technology, Economics, English Language, English Language and Literature, English Literature, Food and Nutrition, French, General Studies, Geography, Government and Politics, German, History, ICT, Mathematics, Multimedia, Music, Physical Education, Physics, Psychology, Sociology, Theatre Studies, and Travel and Tourism.

Alumni

• Busby Babe and football manager Ian Greaves.^[4]
• Oldham Athletic footballer Paul Black
• Glamour Model Michelle Marsh.^[5]
• Rochdale born actress Anna Friel.^[6]
• Actor Ben Gerrard, who plays Cameron Clark in TV soap Hollyoaks
• Journalist Wayne Ankers (1988-93), who came to national attention on a radio show due to the play on his first initial and surname "W.Ankers".
• Squash professional, Nick Taylor.

Staff

• Musician John Lees^[7] - Current music technician and also guitarist and vocalist of prog rock band Barclay James Harvest

In the news

In November 2006, Crompton House had a bomb scare when a year 11 pupil took in what appeared to be a First World War hand grenade for a history lesson. Around 200 pupils had to be evacuated from the new block while the rest of the school stayed inside, well away from danger. Greater Manchester Police, along with the bomb disposal unit, confirmed the grenade was inactive and the school was back to normal in the afternoon. The pupil involved was suspended for a fixed term.^[8]

References

1. ^ www.crompton-house.oldham.sch.uk, Official School Website. URL accessed 10 December 2006.
2. ^ www.tda.gov.uk TDA web page URL accessed 14 October 2007
3. ^ www.tes.co.uk Times educational supplement web page URL accessed 14 October 2007
4. ^ Bugby, Tony (2009-01-05). "Rivals unite in grief for popular Greaves". oldham-chronicle.co.uk. http://www.oldham-chronicle.co.uk/news-features/9/sport-news/18193/rivals-unite-in-grief-for-popular-greaves. Retrieved 2009-01-12. 
5. ^ Fitzpatrick, Katie. "Mum-to-be Michelle says ‘I do’ again for TV". menmedia.co.uk. http://menmedia.co.uk/rochdaleobserver/news/s/1202976_mumtobe_michelle_says_i_do_again_for_tv. Retrieved 05/12/2010. 
6. ^ "Anna Friel Biography". flixster.com. http://www.flixster.com/actor/anna-friel/anna-friel-biography. Retrieved 05/12/2010. 
7. ^ "John Lees’ Barclay James Harvest Interview". barclayjamesharvest.com. http://www.barclayjamesharvest.com/interview.htm. Retrieved 05/12/2010. 
8. ^ "Bomb scare boy barred from class". Manchester Evening News. 17 November 2006. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/228/228520_bomb_scare_boy_barred_from_class.html. Retrieved 2006-11-19. 

External links

• Ofsted report
• School Website