St Wilfrid's Catholic School, Crawley

Infobox UK school
name = St Wilfrid's Catholic School

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size = 200px
latitude = 51.1097
longitude = -0.2031
dms =
motto = In Omnibus Labora ("Labour in all things")
motto_pl =
established = 1953
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = Voluntary Aided Comprehensive
religion = Catholic
president =
head_label =
head = Mr J Morris
r_head_label = Lay Chaplain
r_head = Mr Jack Regan
chair_label =
chair =
founder =
founder_pl =
specialist = Business & Enterprise with ethics
specialist_pl =
street = Old Horsham Road
city = Crawley
county = West Sussex
country = Englandflagicon|England
postcode = RH11 8PG
LEA = West Sussex County Council
ofsted = 126095
staff =
enrollment = 900
gender = Mixed
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours = Navy color box|navy
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.stwilfrids.com/
website_name = www.stwilfrids.com

St Wilfrid's Catholic School is a voluntary aided comprehensive Catholic secondary school in Crawley, West Sussex, England for pupils aged 11 to 18. It caters for around 900 pupils in years 7 to 13, including around 100 in its sixth form. It is now a Business & Enterprise Specialist School With Ethics

History

St Wilfrid's Roman Catholic (Aided) modern school opened in 1953 on its current campus in Crawley New Town to provide catholic secondary education for the children of the town. At first, based in an old manor house, additional buildings were developed over the next ten years to accommodate increasing numbers. In 1967, the school became comprehensive.cite book | last = Hudson | first = T.P. (ed.) | title = A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 3: Bramber Rape (North-Eastern Part) including Crawley New Town | origyear = 1987 | url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=68 | accessdate = 2007-01-04 | publisher = Institute of Historical Research by Oxford University Press | location = Oxford | isbn = 0197227686 | pages = pp93-95 | chapter = Crawley New Town: Education | chapterurl = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=18425]

Further increases in numbers on roll led to changes in 1970 which saw the school change to become an upper school providing education for pupils aged 13 to 18, with younger pupils attending one of the two newly-opened middle schools in the town: Holy Cross Intermediate School and Notre Dame Intermediate School. This arrangement continued until 1996, when falling rolls led to a return to the school becoming a full secondary accepting pupils aged 11+.

As of 2007, preparations are underway for a complete re-build of the school on its existing campus which is due to open in 2008. [cite web | title =St Wilfrid’s new school building to open in September 2008 | work = St Wilfrid's Catholic School website | publisher = St Wilfrid's Catholic School | url =http://www.stwilfrids.com/Overview/NewSchool.php | accessdate = 2007-01-06]

Campus

The campus for the school is based around the original school building, named "Oakwood" which lies alongside Goffs Park. The residence was purchased by the diocese in 1952 to provide a catholic secondary school in the new town. It was accompanied by 21 acres of land which makes up the modern campus. [cite web | title =History of St Wilfrid's | work = St Wilfrid's Catholic School website | publisher = St Wilfrid's Catholic School | url =http://www.stwilfrids.com/Overview/History.php | accessdate = 2007-01-06]

The school continues to use 'Oakwood' as one of its main buildings, alongside other purpose-built blocks added between 1958 and 1970. However, these are expected to be demolished when a new building for the school opens in 2008.

tudents

The schools is comprehensive, providing education for around 900 pupils aged between 11 and 18 of all abilities. It sets its own admissions criteria in line with other voluntary aided schools. It provides education for pupils from Crawley, and the nearby towns of Horsham and East Grinstead and their surrounding villages.

Notable alumni

The school is noted for its musical alumni, boasting that it once educated Robert Smith, the lead singer for The Cure in the 1970s, and more recently three members of the band The Feeling, namely drummer Paul Stuart, guitarist Kevin Jeremiah , and keyboard player Ciaran Jeremiah.cite news |title=Feeling Their Way to Number One |url=http://www.thisiscrawley.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=252665&command=displayContent&sourceNode=252664&contentPK=19921336&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch |format= |work=Crawley News |publisher=East Surrey and Sussex News and Media |location=Reigate, Surrey |id=ISSN|0961-4800 |page=10 |date=2008-02-20 |accessdate=2008-02-20 ] It is also the claimed school of vocalist 2D of the virtual band Gorillaz.

External links

* [http://www.stwilfrids.com/ School website]

References