Wales High School
Encyclopedia
Wales High School is an academy for 11–18 year olds, located in Kiveton, near Rotherham
, South Yorkshire
, England
. Opened in 1970, the school provides education for its many connecting villages. Kiveton Park
, Harthill
, Todwick
, Wales
, Thurcroft
and South Anston are the major villages which rely on Wales High School to educate their children. Despite being located in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham
, the school is sometimes erroneously classed as being in Sheffield
, yet it also has a Worksop
telephone code. There is often confusion around the fact that the school is not in the country of Wales
, nor is it in the small neighbouring village of Wales, South Yorkshire
, which is less than a mile away. It is in fact situated in Kiveton Park
. It specialises in Business and Enterprise and in a recent 2006 Ofsted
inspection gained the accolade of "outstanding", an achievement attained by a minority of the best schools in the country.
Following outstanding ofsted reports the school is now an academy.
received a new white-stone facade
that covers the previous grey stone walls.
In 2006, the Food Studies
department rooms FS1 and FS2 were re-fitted with new appliances and units, bringing the kitchens up-to-date.
Facilities for disabled students are continuously improving, with wheelchair access now provided to almost every part of the school, including the P.E. department, where an elevator
is installed to take passengers up to higher ground, where before it was impossible to do so.
The Sixth Form area has just undergone serious changes, making more space for an extended common room
and renovating the study room across from the library
to include personal, partitioned workspaces.
On 3 July 2010 work began on a mural
of recently deceased popstar Michael Jackson
in the Sixth Form common room as a tribute to his life and music.
Rotherham
Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Opened in 1970, the school provides education for its many connecting villages. Kiveton Park
Kiveton Park
Kiveton Park, informally Kiveton , is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, from the Norman conquest to 1868, Kiveton was a hamlet of the parish of Harthill-with-Woodall...
, Harthill
Harthill, South Yorkshire
Harthill is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham , on the border with Derbyshire. It lies between Killamarsh and Thorpe Salvin, and is located at approximately , at an elevation of around 110 metres above sea level...
, Todwick
Todwick
Todwick is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 1,637, and contains a primary school and a nursery, "Todwick Early Years". Todwick also is home to one pub, The Red Lion, and a church...
, Wales
Wales, South Yorkshire
Wales is a village and a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is on the border of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire...
, Thurcroft
Thurcroft
Thurcroft is a village and civil parish situated southeast of Rotherham in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. From 1902 to 1991, it was a close-knit, mining community. It has a population of 5,296....
and South Anston are the major villages which rely on Wales High School to educate their children. Despite being located in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham
Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham
The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. It is named for its largest town, Rotherham, but also spans the outlying towns of Maltby, Rawmarsh, Swinton, Wath-upon-Dearne, as well as a suburban and rural element composed of hills, escarpments and...
, the school is sometimes erroneously classed as being in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, yet it also has a Worksop
Worksop
Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated to be 39,800...
telephone code. There is often confusion around the fact that the school is not in the country of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, nor is it in the small neighbouring village of Wales, South Yorkshire
Wales, South Yorkshire
Wales is a village and a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is on the border of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire...
, which is less than a mile away. It is in fact situated in Kiveton Park
Kiveton Park
Kiveton Park, informally Kiveton , is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, from the Norman conquest to 1868, Kiveton was a hamlet of the parish of Harthill-with-Woodall...
. It specialises in Business and Enterprise and in a recent 2006 Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
inspection gained the accolade of "outstanding", an achievement attained by a minority of the best schools in the country.
Following outstanding ofsted reports the school is now an academy.
Traditions
Wales High is seen as a school with traditional values, with procedures which take place each year. The following are important aspects of the school:- Every four years the school holds a sponsored walk to try and raise money for the school.
- Full School Assembly: affectionately known as the 'Full School Squash' by students and staff alike. The assembly takes place four times a year with yearly opening and closing assemblies, where the bell is rung to mark the beginning and ending of a school year, as well as an Easter assembly in April and a Christmas assembly. Every member of the school is expected at these formal assemblies, in which important news is delivered, certificatesAcademic certificateAn academic certificate is a document that certifies that a person has received specific education or has passed a test or series of tests.In many countries, certificate is a qualification attained in secondary education. For instance, students in the Republic of Ireland sit the Junior Certificate...
and awards are presented, and special guests are invited. Musical items are often delivered throughout the course of these assemblies.
- The Plough: a model ploughPloughThe plough or plow is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting. It has been a basic instrument for most of recorded history, and represents one of the major advances in agriculture...
held in a glass case, representing Year 7 diligence. Each term, the tutor with the highest diligence score are presented with the plough.
- Houses and the Dragon: Busli (Blue), Mortain (Black), Rollo (White) and Warenne (Yellow). Busli after Roger de BusliRoger de BusliRoger de Busli was a Norman baron who accompanied William the Conqueror on his successful conquest of England in 1066....
, Warenne after William de WarenneWilliam de WarenneWilliam de Warenne may refer to:*William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey *William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey *William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey *William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey...
, Mortain after another of William the Conqueror's Knights, and Rollo was his family name. Each student is assigned a house upon entering the school, which is an important part of the school's community. Students are provided with sports kit with their specific house colours, which is to be worn in P.E.Physical educationPhysical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
lessons and house sporting events. Numerous house events are competed in, such as football, rugbyRugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, cross countryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
and netballNetballNetball 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 ...
, as well as other non-sporting activities such as chessChessChess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
, dramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
and artArtArt is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the Dragon, a golden dragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
statue in a glass case. The dragon is then engraved with the year and the winning houseHouseA house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
respectively.
- The Sixth Form Rugby Match: Each year, the sixth form compete for The Headmasters Trophy. Year 12 play Year 13 annually in a match that is watched by all the school on a Wednesday afternoon during the 2nd term. The 2008 match took place on 19 March, and was won by the Year 13s. The scoreline was 13-0 to the upper sixth, but was not an accurate reflection of how tight a game it was.
Famous pupils
- James ToselandJames ToselandJames Michael Toseland is a former English motorcycle racer. Toseland was the World Superbike Champion on a Ten Kate Honda, who also won the Superbike World Championship on a Ducati. He is one of only two men, the other being Troy Corser, to have won the Superbike World Championship for two...
- The World Superbike Champion, winning the title in both 2004 and 2007. - Ryan SampsonRyan SampsonRyan Oliver Sampson is an English actor best known for playing Alex Venables in the British sitcom After You've Gone, where he played the son of Jimmy Venables, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst....
- In the BBC TV programme After You've Gone as "Alex". Sampson also does theatre and has been involved in other TV work, such as Doctor Who, playing the child genius Luke Rattigan in "The Sontaran StratagemThe Sontaran Stratagem"The Sontaran Stratagem" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 26 April 2008...
" and "The Poison SkyThe Poison Sky"The Poison Sky" is the fifth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was broadcast on BBC One on 3 May 2008. The episode features both former companion Martha Jones and the alien Sontarans...
" in 2008. - Darren BennettDarren Bennett (dancer)Darren Lee Bennett is a professional dancer, as were his parents. With his wife Lilia Kopylova he has a successful career in professional Latin dancing, competing nationally and internationally. Darren's favourite dances are the Samba and the Foxtrot.They teach private lessons in their own studio...
- Features on BBC's Strictly Come DancingStrictly Come DancingStrictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
who partnered with Lynda BellinghamLynda BellinghamLynda Bellingham is a Canadian-born English actress, broadcaster and author, who is known for her distinctive husky voice.-Early life:...
in the latest series. - Rebecca Taylor - Member of the folk-pop band Slow ClubSlow ClubSlow Club is a folk-rock duo from Sheffield, England. The band formed in 2006, after the break-up of Sheffield band The Lonely Hearts.-History:The band is made up of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor...
Recent refurbishment
The school has undergone recent renovation work, costing millions of pounds. The 13 science department laboratories underwent a total revamp in around 2003. Around this time, the tower blockTower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...
received a new white-stone facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
that covers the previous grey stone walls.
In 2006, the Food Studies
Food studies
The term food studies describes the critical examination of food and its contexts within science, art, history, society, and other fields. It is distinctive from other food-related areas of study such as nutrition, agriculture, gastronomy, and culinary arts in that it tends to look beyond the mere...
department rooms FS1 and FS2 were re-fitted with new appliances and units, bringing the kitchens up-to-date.
Facilities for disabled students are continuously improving, with wheelchair access now provided to almost every part of the school, including the P.E. department, where an elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
is installed to take passengers up to higher ground, where before it was impossible to do so.
The Sixth Form area has just undergone serious changes, making more space for an extended common room
Common room
The phrase common room is used especially in British and Canadian English to describe a type of shared lounge, most often found in dormitories, at universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. It is generally connected to several...
and renovating the study room across from the library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
to include personal, partitioned workspaces.
On 3 July 2010 work began on a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
of recently deceased popstar Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
in the Sixth Form common room as a tribute to his life and music.