Great Sankey High School
Encyclopedia
Great Sankey High School (GSHS) is a secondary school located in Warrington
, Cheshire
. The school is a state school, built in the 1970s and extensions have included a mathematics
& humanities
block and theatre. The school also has a linking leisure centre
and arts theatre. GSHS has been awarded, and retained, an Artsmark Gold award, the highest award for the Arts.
A new purpose-built sixth-form college has recently been opened on the school site in September 2011 by Alan Yates (former Headteacher) and Simon Moran (Managing Director of SJM Concerts).
GSHS is partnered with South Peninsula High School
in Cape Town
, South Africa
.
In 2010, GSHS was classifed as an Outstanding school by Ofsted.
and has since increased the provision of Engineering throughout the curriculum. GSHS is now one of the many schools in the United Kingdom with this status. The school also operates a Young Apprentice sceme, where Year 10 students have the opportunity to start a two year course and earn an NVQ level 2 with the school.
In a partnership with the RAC
, the school has recently built an RAC automotive engineering skills centre. This allows students studying engineering and automotive engineering, access to facilities that few other engineering colleges possess, whilst also providing facilities for other schools and businesses in the local community.
, hockey
, netball
, basketball
, cricket
, badminton
, athletics
and Handball
. http://www.ourkidssports.com/Leagues/profile/id/16/agegroups/show http://www.therfl.co.uk/championschools/fixturesearch.php?gender=Boys®ion=National&age=11&season=07/08
The 2003-2008 Rugby League Team retained the Warrington Cup all years. In Year 10 they won the Regional Final and Progressed to the national where they lost by one point to St John Fisher of Wigan. In Year 11 they again won the regional final and progressed to the national final where this time they beat St Wilfreds from Wakefield 16-14 to claim the national title. The 2004-2009 team were also successful as they reached the regional final in both Year 10 and 11, winning it the second time round. They also reached the national final both years but were beaten on both attempts.
). In the past, the Concert Band has achieved a silver medal at international level competing against some of the best school and college bands from all around the world. More recently, the Concert Band has achieved a gold award at the regional seris of the National Concert Band Festival (2008), held at GSHS, and were invited to play at the 2009 national finals in Cardiff
where they achieved a highly commended bronze award. The Swing Band competed in Warwick at the national finals last year after gaining a gold medal at the regional seris in 2007.
Both bands performed by formal invitation on the Fantasy Festival Stage at Disneyland Park
, Paris, in summer 2008. GSHS also has 2 choirs (Sankey Singers & Show Choir). Sankey Singers have performed for the past two years in the regional rounds of the National Festival of Music for Youth. The music department also hold an open music event, The Great 'S' Factor, each year and several smaller casual bands, performing a wide variety of music.
in the academic year beginning September 2007 to ease the strain on the heads of years, who previously had been allocated one year of students and had to manage all these students throughout their 5 year attendance at Great Sankey High School. It was decided that each house would have two forms from each year, and there would be twelve forms for each year group. Each head of house would then only have to manage 10 forms instead of 12, and each would only have to manage two year 11 forms at one time, instead of a head of year looking after all year 11 forms. Learners gain House Points for attending extra-curricular activities and going above and beyond the call of duty in lessons.
Members of each house can be identified by their ties, featuring their house colours. The new ties, which have been designed by learners, are being implemented from September 2009. Students are issued with house coloured planners and attend "House Assemblies". Sports day and other interhouse competitions are regularly organised each term, and at the end of the year, the house with the most House Points wins a trip to Alton Towers
.
The school has six houses, each with their own colours, named after people who have been influential and excelled at what they have done:
- (Jane) AUSTEN, Light Blue
- (Roger) BANNISTER, Dark Blue
- (Sir Isaac) NEWTON, Red
- (Rosa) PARKS, Purple
- (George) STEPHENSON, Yellow
- (Baroness Tanni) Grey-THOMPSON, Orange
Each year, two year eleven students are chosen as House Captains and help in the running and organization of their house.
- Warrington Wolves RL (2010 - present)
Gareth O'Brien - Warrington Wolves RL (2010 - present)
Andrew Gower - RADA-trained actor
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. The school is a state school, built in the 1970s and extensions have included a mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
& humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
block and theatre. The school also has a linking leisure centre
Leisure centre
A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...
and arts theatre. GSHS has been awarded, and retained, an Artsmark Gold award, the highest award for the Arts.
A new purpose-built sixth-form college has recently been opened on the school site in September 2011 by Alan Yates (former Headteacher) and Simon Moran (Managing Director of SJM Concerts).
GSHS is partnered with South Peninsula High School
South Peninsula High School
South Peninsula High School is a secondary school in Diep River, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. it had 999 students. The school celebrates it's 60th anniversary in 2010, after opening in 1950....
in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
In 2010, GSHS was classifed as an Outstanding school by Ofsted.
Specialisms
In 2004, the school was awarded specialist schools status in the field of EngineeringEngineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and has since increased the provision of Engineering throughout the curriculum. GSHS is now one of the many schools in the United Kingdom with this status. The school also operates a Young Apprentice sceme, where Year 10 students have the opportunity to start a two year course and earn an NVQ level 2 with the school.
In a partnership with the RAC
RAC
-Companies:* Rent-A-Center, an American public furniture and electronics rent to own company* Royal Automobile Club, a private club in Pall Mall, London* RAC plc, a breakdown company in the United Kingdom...
, the school has recently built an RAC automotive engineering skills centre. This allows students studying engineering and automotive engineering, access to facilities that few other engineering colleges possess, whilst also providing facilities for other schools and businesses in the local community.
College
The school has had a sixth-form college for many years. However, after a multi-million pound grant, a new sixth form college has been built. This is located at the back of the school and makes the school look extraordinary.Sport
The school has many teams participating in sports such as football, rugby leagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
, hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
, netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, athletics
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
and Handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
. http://www.ourkidssports.com/Leagues/profile/id/16/agegroups/show http://www.therfl.co.uk/championschools/fixturesearch.php?gender=Boys®ion=National&age=11&season=07/08
The 2003-2008 Rugby League Team retained the Warrington Cup all years. In Year 10 they won the Regional Final and Progressed to the national where they lost by one point to St John Fisher of Wigan. In Year 11 they again won the regional final and progressed to the national final where this time they beat St Wilfreds from Wakefield 16-14 to claim the national title. The 2004-2009 team were also successful as they reached the regional final in both Year 10 and 11, winning it the second time round. They also reached the national final both years but were beaten on both attempts.
Music
The school has two main bands that perform regularly in the local area and abroad, in locations such as Italy, France, Spain and Germany and have played in the UK in London (Covent Garden) and Warrington train station (where they played for the Duke of EdinburghDuke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...
). In the past, the Concert Band has achieved a silver medal at international level competing against some of the best school and college bands from all around the world. More recently, the Concert Band has achieved a gold award at the regional seris of the National Concert Band Festival (2008), held at GSHS, and were invited to play at the 2009 national finals in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
where they achieved a highly commended bronze award. The Swing Band competed in Warwick at the national finals last year after gaining a gold medal at the regional seris in 2007.
Both bands performed by formal invitation on the Fantasy Festival Stage at Disneyland Park
Disneyland Park (Paris)
Disneyland Park is a theme park at Disneyland Paris, a resort complex just outside of Paris, in the new town of Marne-la-Vallée, France. The first of two parks built at the resort, it opened as Euro Disneyland on 12 April, 1992...
, Paris, in summer 2008. GSHS also has 2 choirs (Sankey Singers & Show Choir). Sankey Singers have performed for the past two years in the regional rounds of the National Festival of Music for Youth. The music department also hold an open music event, The Great 'S' Factor, each year and several smaller casual bands, performing a wide variety of music.
House system
The school implemented a house systemHouse system
The house system is a traditional feature of British schools, and schools in the Commonwealth. Historically, it was associated with established public schools, where a 'house' refers to a boarding house or dormitory of a boarding school...
in the academic year beginning September 2007 to ease the strain on the heads of years, who previously had been allocated one year of students and had to manage all these students throughout their 5 year attendance at Great Sankey High School. It was decided that each house would have two forms from each year, and there would be twelve forms for each year group. Each head of house would then only have to manage 10 forms instead of 12, and each would only have to manage two year 11 forms at one time, instead of a head of year looking after all year 11 forms. Learners gain House Points for attending extra-curricular activities and going above and beyond the call of duty in lessons.
Members of each house can be identified by their ties, featuring their house colours. The new ties, which have been designed by learners, are being implemented from September 2009. Students are issued with house coloured planners and attend "House Assemblies". Sports day and other interhouse competitions are regularly organised each term, and at the end of the year, the house with the most House Points wins a trip to Alton Towers
Alton Towers
Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England. It attracts around 2.7 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom. Alton Towers is also the 9th most visited theme park in Europe...
.
The school has six houses, each with their own colours, named after people who have been influential and excelled at what they have done:
- (Jane) AUSTEN, Light Blue
- (Roger) BANNISTER, Dark Blue
- (Sir Isaac) NEWTON, Red
- (Rosa) PARKS, Purple
- (George) STEPHENSON, Yellow
- (Baroness Tanni) Grey-THOMPSON, Orange
Each year, two year eleven students are chosen as House Captains and help in the running and organization of their house.
Notable Alumni
Rhys EvansRhys Evans (rugby league)
Rhys Evans is a Welsh professional rugby league player for the Warrington Wolves in Super League. His position is centre though he can play wing or fullback...
- Warrington Wolves RL (2010 - present)
Gareth O'Brien - Warrington Wolves RL (2010 - present)
Andrew Gower - RADA-trained actor