Lawnswood School is a mixed

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

located in the

Lawnswood Lawnswood is a small suburb in the north west of the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. As such it is in the north north east of the West Yorkshire Urban Area. The suburb falls within the Adel and Wharfedale Ward of the City of Leeds Coun ...

area of

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. The school was founded in 1972 and had its first comprehensive intake in 1974. Its predecessors were the Leeds Modern School, a boys'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

(founded 1845) attended by

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Socie ...

, and Lawnswood High School for Girls, a girls' grammar school (founded 1854), which moved to the current Lawnswood site in 1932. The sixth form was judged as Grade 2 and "consistently good" in the 2009

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

inspection, but the school as a whole was rated as Grade 4 (Inadequate) for overall effectiveness.Lawnswood School Ofsted Reports
/ref> and consequently placed into

special measures Special measures is a status applied by regulators of public services in Britain to providers who fall short of acceptable standards. In education (England and Wales) Ofsted, the schools inspection agency for England and some British Overseas Ter ...

. During an early 2011 Ofsted visit, the school was judged to be "making good progress in all the key areas,""Alan Bennett: Playwright to return to Leeds school"
'Yorkshire Evening Post'', 12 March 2011 and in July 2011 the school was taken out of special measures. In late 2013, Ofsted rated the school Grade 2 (Good) for overall effectiveness.

Notable former pupils

Mark Ballard Mark Ballard (born 27 June 1971) is a former Scottish Green Party politician. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothians region from 2003 to 2007, and co-convener of the Edinburgh Green Party from 2007 to 2010. He was ...

, former

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

, English playwright, screenwriter and author ( Leeds Modern School) *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

, founder of '' Loaded'' *

Eleanor Catton Eleanor Catton (born 1985) is a New Zealand novelist and screenwriter. Born in Canada, Catton moved to New Zealand as a child and grew up in Christchurch. She completed a master's degree in creative writing at the International Institute of M ...

, 2013

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

winner (foreign exchange) *Stephen Connolly, classical singer best known as bass in

The King's Singers The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the ...

John Craven John Raymond Craven (born 16 August 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, best known for presenting the BBC programmes '' Newsround'', '' Countryfile'' and '' Beat the Brain''. Early life Craven was born in Leeds, West Rid ...

BBC journalist and television presenter (Leeds Modern School) * Stuart Croft, artist * Mark Curry, television presenter *

Bob Peck Robert Peck (23 August 1945 – 4 April 1999) was an English actor who played Ronald Craven in the television serial ''Edge of Darkness'', for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor, BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He ...

, actor ( Leeds Modern School) *Ashfaq Ahmed Malik MBE, Warrant Officer RAF, Military * Jodie Aysha, singer * Gaynor Faye, actor *

Ikram Butt Ikram Butt (born 25 October 1968) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. Of Pakistani descent, he was the first south Asian to play either code of international rugby for England in 1995. H ...

, professional rugby league footballer *

Vince Fawcett Vince Fawcett (born 13 November 1970) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played at club level for Leeds, Workington Town, the Parramatta Eels, Oldham Bears, the Warrington Wolves and ...

, professional rugby league footballer *

Noel Whelan Noel David Whelan (; born 30 December 1974) is an English football coach, former professional footballer and radio co-commentator. As a player, he was a striker (association football), striker who notably played in the Premier League for Leeds ...

, professional Premier League footballer * Jane Wynne, paediatrician

References

External links

School website

Ofsted reports

DFES statistics

{{authority control Secondary schools in Leeds Educational institutions established in 1972 1972 establishments in England Community schools in Leeds

Notable former pupils

See also

References

External links