The Calder High School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

. It specialises in technology, with technology rooms. It is located in the village of

Mytholmroyd Mytholmroyd ( ) is a large village in the Calderdale district of West Yorkshire, England, east of Hebden Bridge. It lies in the Upper Calder Valley, east of Burnley and west of Halifax. There are than 21 listed buildings in the village. T ...

, in the metropolitan district of

Calderdale Calderdale () is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, which had a population of 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the ...

, in northern England.

Admissions

As of the academic year 2006-7, it had 1,294 pupils. At the start of the 2010-1 term, Calder High had a total of 27 new teachers including the new Head Teacher Mrs. Spillane. From September 2013 the school has a new Head Teacher, Mr Anthony Guise. It i
situated
in the middle of the village, north of the A646.

History

Grammar school

In the early 1950s, the school had around 350 boys and girls

Comprehensive

Calder High opened in May 1952 as one of the first comprehensives in the country, replacing the older Hebden Bridge Grammar school. On 28 December 1969, ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns, worship songs and inspirational performances in churches of varying denominations from around the UK alongside interviews and stories reflecting how Ch ...

'' was shown from the school. By the 1970s it had 1200 boys and girls. Until April 1974, it was administered by the Calder Divisional Executive of West Riding County Council. In November 1994, thirteen-year-old

Lindsay Rimer Lindsay may refer to: People *Clan Lindsay, a Scottish family clan *Lindsay (name), an English surname and given name, derived from the Scottish clan name; variants include Lindsey, Lyndsay, Linsay, Linsey, Lyndsey, Lyndsy, Lynsay, Lynsey Places ...

was murdered, which has not been solved.

Buildings

In 1963, a new science block and bus bays were added. More recently, a new Sixth Form building was added and officially opened on 12 July 2004 by outgoing headteacher David Scott. At the start of the 2007 academic year, the

Ted Hughes Edward James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He wa ...

theatre was opened and named under the consent of

's widow. There was speculation about plans to rebuild the school on the present school field. Chris McCafferty MP said that this would only happen once

Todmorden High School Todmorden High School is a comprehensive school in the town of Todmorden, Calderdale LEA, West Yorkshire, England. Admissions Todmorden High School and Visual Arts College is located in the West Yorkshire town of Todmorden. It is a comprehens ...

was rebuilt. On 11 December 2008, the school was visited by

Nick Gibb Sir Nicolas John Gibb (born 3 September 1960) is a British politician who served as Minister of State for Schools from 2010 to 2012; 2014 to 2021 and from 2022 to 2023. He has served at the Department for Education under Conservative Prime Mini ...

MP (then shadow minister for schools) to discuss its rebuilding in the near future. During his visit, he became involved in a heated debate with a small group of students who challenged his negative views regarding comprehensive education and his advocation of a private sector role in schools. In April 2019, the school car park just off Brier Hey Lane became decommissioned to become the ground for the new English teaching block containing nine classrooms. This project was completed in August 2019 and was opened ready for the 2019-2020 academic year in September 2019.

Activities

In October 2006, the school obtained a license to run a week-long radio station, broadcast directly from the school. The radio was named Royd FM. The success of this project led to Royd FM broadcasting again in December 2007. Each year, since 1952, students of Calder High put on the Easter-time performance of the

Pace Egg Play The Pace Egg plays are an Easter custom in rural Northern England in the tradition of the medieval mystery plays. The practice was once common throughout Northern England, but largely died out in the nineteenth century before being revived in so ...

in the surrounding area. In both 1974 and 1975 students from the school appeared on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

All-through school

Calder High School is federated with Calder Primary School under the title of The Calder Learning Trust. This means that technically it is an

all-through school An all-through school (also known as an integrated school) educates young people throughout multiple educational stages, generally throughout childhood and adolescence. Definition The term "all-through" can be legitimately applied to establis ...

educating pupils aged 4 to 16. However, while management and administration is shared, both schools continue to operate with separate identities.

Alumni

Josh Fenton-Glynn Joshua Fenton-Glynn is a British Labour Party politician who has been Member of Parliament for Calder Valley since 2024. He gained the seat from the Conservatives. Early life Born and raised in Hebden Bridge, he attended Calder High School ...

, Member of Parliament *

Kirk Barker Kirk Barker (born 26 April 1983) is an English actor. Beginning his career in stage productions of pantomime, Shakespeare, and musical theatre, he moved on to television work and finally to leading roles in feature films. Life Barker grew up in ...

, actor *

Dario Coates Dario Coates (born 25 April 1992) is an English actor. He is known for portraying Alex Neeson in the television ITV soap ''Coronation Street'' (2007–2008). Biography Coates attended Calder High School and Calderdale Theatre School. He acte ...

, actor *

Geoff Crowther Geoff Crowther (15 March 1944 – 13 April 2021) was a British travel writer who wrote for BIT and Lonely Planet. Life Early life Crowther was born in West Yorkshire on 15 March 1944. His parents worked in a cotton mill. He attended Calder H ...

, guidebook writer *

Stuart Fielden Stuart Fielden (born 14 September 1979) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He was formerly an assistant coach for the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League, and now is a Persona ...

, former professional rugby league footballer * Jessica Harris, actress *

Thomas Nelstrop Thomas Nelstrop (born 29 July 1980) is an English actor, comedian, and voiceover artist. He plays Julian in the NBC series ''Brave New World''. In 2007, he played Ben Wainright in the ''Doctor Who'' episode "Blink" has appeared in ''The Crown'', ...

, actor, comedian, and voiceover artist *

, victim of unsolved murder in 1994 * Robert Scott, professional cyclist and former u23 British Champion

Hebden Bridge Grammar School

Paul Barker Paul Gordon Barker (born February 8, 1959), also referred to as Hermes Pan, is an American musician, best known as the former bass guitarist, producer and engineer for industrial metal band Ministry from 1986 to 2003. Prior to Ministry, he pr ...

, broadcaster, editor from 1968-86 of ''

New Society ''New Society'' was a weekly magazine of social inquiry and social and cultural comment, published in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1988. It drew on the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, social history and s ...

'' * Walter Beaumont, flying ace with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War * Sir

Bernard Ingham Sir Bernard Ingham (21 June 1932 – 24 February 2023) was a British journalist and civil servant. He was Margaret Thatcher's chief press secretary throughout her time as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. Background Ingha ...

, journalist and former civil servant * Graham Richardson, former British bobsleigh pilot, former Canadian bobsleigh driver coach, head coach of the British Bobsleigh team

Accreditation

* Technology College * Training School

References

External links

Calder Learning Trust website

News items

Teacher suspended in 2009

Radio Five Live July 2009
{{authority control Secondary schools in Calderdale Educational institutions established in 1952 Foundation schools in Calderdale 1952 establishments in England Specialist technology colleges in England Mytholmroyd