Cockburn School (formerly Cockburn High 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 ...

located in the Beeston 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 original school on this site was Parkside secondary modern, which was an all-boys school. The headmaster for much of the time was Mr C Wadsworth. It was previously a

foundation school In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the school governor, governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in Community school (England and Wales), community schools. Foundation schools ...

administered by

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Leeds has had a council since 1626, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the ...

and The Learning Trust (South Leeds). The Learning trust also includes Beeston Primary School, Clapgate Primary School, Hugh Gaitskell Primary School, Lane End Primary School, Middleton Primary School, Middleton St Mary's CE Primary School, St Philip's RC Primary School and Westwood Primary School. However, Cockburn School was converted to academy status in February 2016. The school is now part of a multi-academy trust, and hopes that other schools within The Learning Trust (South Leeds) will convert to academy status and join the trust, whilst continuing to work closely with the partner schools. Cockburn School offers

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils. The school also has a specialism in the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

History

Cockburn School was opened on 17 July 1902, on land near the corner of Dewsbury Road and Burton Road. The site had previously housed Southern Higher Grade School. Cockburn School was named after Sir George Cockburn, a former chairman of the Leeds School Board. In the 1980s, the school moved to the former Parkside County Secondary School on Gipsy Lane. The original location of the school eventually became the site of Hunslet Moor Primary School. The school underwent a full refurbishment in 2010 under the

Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. Around half of the work was procured under the private finance initiative. The deli ...

scheme, allowing 210 students per year group to be accommodated. Cockburn School announced plans to become an academy in October 2015; the conversion was completed in February 2016, under the

Academies Act 2010 The Academies Act 2010 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It aims to make it possible for all publicly funded schools in England to become academies, still publicly funded but with a vastly increased degree of autonomy in issues ...

. In June 2016, the school became the founding member of the Cockburn Multi-Academy Trust.

School life

Cockburn School contains a business known as The Glassroom, developed by Education Leeds, in which students recycle unwanted glass to make new products. The Glassroom produces a product each year to be presented at the

White Rose Centre The White Rose Centre is a shopping centre in the Beeston area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It spans two floors and is near the M621 motorway. It takes its name from the White Rose of York, the traditional symbol of Yorkshire. Mos ...

Community Awards.

Awards and recognition

In October 2019, the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

awarded Cockburn School the Platinum level

Artsmark Artsmark is the quality standard for culture and creativity in schools and education settings, awarded by Arts Council England. The Artsmark award provides a clear framework for teachers and education professionals to plan, develop and evaluat ...

Notable former pupils

Norman Ackroyd Norman Ackroyd (26 March 1938 – 16 September 2024) was an English visual artist known primarily for his etchings and work with aquatint. He lived and was based in Bermondsey, London. Background Ackroyd was born on 26 March 1938 in Leeds, Yo ...

, Artist * Jordan Baldwinson, rugby league player *

Mandip Gill Mandip Kaur Gill (born 5 January 1988) is an English actress and narrator. Her first television role came in 2012 when she was cast as Phoebe McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. After departing the series in 2015, Gill went on to ...

, actor * Willis Hall, playwright *

Richard Hoggart Herbert Richard Hoggart (24 September 1918 – 10 April 2014) was an English academic whose career covered the fields of sociology, English literature and cultural studies, with emphasis on British popular culture. Early life Hoggart was bor ...

, academic * Harry Jepson, rugby league administrator * Manasse Mampala, professional footballer * Geoffrey Warnes, RAF squadron leader

References

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