Greenhead College

Greenhead College is a sixth form college, and former grammar school, located in Huddersfield, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The current principal is Mo Bunter. With over 2,700 students, it is a large sixth form college, attracting students from as far afield as Wakefield, Manchester, Barnsley, Bradford, Leeds, Halifax, Wetherby and even Wales. It is located next to Greenhead Park which is one of the largest parks in Huddersfield.

History

Grammar school

Greenhead High School for Girls was founded in 1909. The last O-levels were taken in June 1977. The girls grammar school incrementally became a sixth form college, from September 1973.

Graham Cooksey moved from Thomas Rotherham College to be headmaster from January 1973.

Sixth form college

It was a full sixth form college from September 1977.

Reputation

The college topped both ''The Guardian'' and ''The Independents A level college league tables in 2006. It came fourth in 2007 and sixth in 2008. It was also the ''Sunday Times'''s Sixth Form College of the Year, 2014-15.

Subject choices

Students usually study 3 subjects at A level. There are over 30 different subjects for students to study.

Admissions

Students from partnership feeder schools are given priority for places at the college, and are required to obtain a minimum of GCSE grades 4 in Maths and English language in addition to three GCSE grade 6s to gain a place at the college. Some subjects have more specific entry requirements.

Current partner schools are All Saints Catholic High School, Newsome High School, Almondbury High School and Language College, Colne Valley High School, North Huddersfield Trust School, Holmfirth High School, Honley High School, King James's School, Moor End Technology College, Netherhall Learning Campus, Royds Hall Academy and Salendine Nook High School.

Students from other schools are considered based on their mock GCSE results, a one-to-one interview and the availability of subject places, this after partner school students have been taken into consideration. Students from the Calderdale secondary schools, including The Brooksbank School, The Crossley Heath School and North Halifax Grammar School, can be accepted through the application process. In 2005, then-principal Martin Rostron said he believed the college has been criticised for selecting only the best students, which he denied, saying that Greenhead took those of all abilities.

Campus

The Greenhead College campus is on one site, near the centre of Huddersfield, directly next to Greenhead park.

The college has approximately 8 main buildings, all of which are internally linked. Each building represents a subject or a group of similar subjects. On 26 May 2004, the college officially opened a new building on the campus, the Conway Building. The building was dedicated to the former principal, Dr Kevin Conway.

The college has a small football field on site and a small hockey field. Two tennis courts were replaced in early 2012 to make way for a new maths and science building, opened by the Duke of Kent. Many enrichments (extra curricular activities) offered by the college are done off campus due to the lack of outdoor space owing to the proximity to Huddersfield town centre.

Redevelopment

In 2008 Ryder Architecture were commissioned to draw up plan for a new project with would provide a series of new buildings which were linked to the existing buildings via a central atrium hub. These buildings provided educational classrooms as well as various support and ancillary accommodation. The existing site was constrained with several existing buildings which would have caused a complex phased construction process. It was estimated that the project would cost approximately £15 million.

In December 2008 a report examining the feasibility of the project was approved by the college. An application was submitted to the Learning and Skills Council in July 2009 with construction works commencing January 2010 for a duration of 2 years. Unfortunately LSC funding was not received and the project was placed on hold until alternative funding could be sourced.

In November 2023 the college opened its new 'Hirst' building, named after former alumni and now biological scientist Judy Hirst. The Hirst building is a £25 million project funded by the Department for Education and built in collaboration between construction companies Galliford Try and Mace. Whilst the building is now open, work to connect the main building with the other buildings on site continues, along with construction and landscaping of an outdoor social space which should be complete by late Summer 2025.

The Hirst building provides facilities for the teaching of chemistry, biology, psychology and government and politics. These subjects relocated from the old Langsplain building, which was demolished as a result of the decant. There are also large study and social areas with new catering facilities. The building is also carbon-neutral and features a bio roof and solar panels to generate electricity for the building.

Extracurricular activities

Greenhead is well praised for its enrichment programmes which encourages pupils to partake in extracurricular activities designed to build students character, their personal, sporting and social interests and prepares them more effectively both for higher education and future employment. It was first introduced in 1990. Its most recent praise was from Ofsted in 2011 from their spot check report.

Enrichment is mandatory for student to undertake, this encourages pupils to partake supporting the programs success. There are a huge variety of courses for students to choose form including The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, sports, music and drama, information technology, voluntary services and The World Challenge; additionally students are free to start new courses on the proviso they can gain enough support for them. In 2011 a total of 79 different courses were available to students including 22 different sporting activates such as badminton, basketball, cycling, football (men and women’s), rugby (men and women’s), judo and squash and 9 different music groups. Alongside a variety of enrichment activities offered as part of the college programme, the music department offers annual opportunities for students across Kirklees to perform and compose. In 2018, the Greenhead College 'Carol for Yorkshire' raised over £700 for charity, and 2021 is the inaugural year of the Greenhead New Music Competition. Taster sessions are provided so that students can make informed decisions.

As part of the enrichment program, pupils must take part in the college 'Step Into' programme in their first year. Work shadowing placements include medical, political, scientific and language based jobs, usually at a senior level within the respective companies. If a pupil does not wish to do work shadowing, many projects, from circus skills to mathematical art, are available.

Awards

* Queen's Anniversary Prize in 1996
* The Educational Institution of the Year Award in 1999
* The Beacon College Award in May 1999, and again in September 2004
* The Queen's Anniversary Prize for Excellence in 2000 (for the second time)
* Officially announced as "outstanding" in the May 2004 Ofsted report and again in the 2008 report.
* ''Sunday Times'''s Parent Power Top State Sixth Form College of the Year 2014.
*Music Mark Award

Notable alumni

* Lisa Head, first female bomb disposal officer in the British Army to be killed in operations
* Judy Hirst, FRS FRSC, a British scientist specialising in mitochondrial biology. Prof Hirst is interim director of the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit at the University of Cambridge
* Kieran Hodgson, actor and musician who co-wrote and starred in '' Prince Andrew: The Musical'' in 2022
* Jill Kemp, professional classical recorder player
* Jonathan Le Billon, actor best known for playing Brian Drake in ''Hollyoaks''
* Janine Mellor, actress best known for playing Kelsey Phillips in BBC One's ''Casualty''
* Kearnan Myall, rugby union footballer for London Wasps
*Matt Roberts, television presenter, best known for his work on BBC Sport's Moto GP coverage
* Mona Siddiqui OBE FRSE FRSA, British Muslim academic
*Steven Woodcock, award-winning film director, writer, and producer
* Neil O'Brien OBE, Conservative MP
* Harpreet Uppal, Labour MP, and first female MP representing Huddersfield.

Greenhead High School for Girls

* Catherine Aird
* Julia Annas, philosopher''Huddersfield Examiner'' Friday 12 December 1975, page 5
* Cicely Pearl Blair

References

External links

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Schools in Huddersfield
Educational institutions established in 1980
Learning and Skills Beacons
Sixth form colleges in West Yorkshire
Education in Kirklees
1980 establishments in England
Huddersfield