Rhyddings (formerly Rhyddings High School and then Rhyddings Business and Enterprise 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 ...

Oswaldtwistle Oswaldtwistle ( "ozwel twizzel") is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England, southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning j ...

in the

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

History

A new "hi tech" building for the school opened in March 2003, replacing the annex which had been in use since the 1920s. The former headteacher was Paul Trickett, who replaced Barry Burke. Burke took over from his predecessor, Joyce Moore, in January 1998. She began as headteacher in 1974, being the first woman headteacher at a mixed school in Lancashire. In December 2013, it was reported that a quarter of teachers faced redundancy, due to more schools competing for fewer pupils. In June 2014, Trevor Ainsworth, the deputy headteacher, announced his retirement from the school, after spending his entire teaching career in Rhyddings, starting in 1977. The school was inspected by

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 ...

in 2014 and judged Good. In January 2016, the school was named one of "329 Failing Secondary Schools".. Rhyddings most recent inspection was in 2025. Previously a community school administered by

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashire is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Blackburn with Dar ...

, in June 2022 Rhyddings converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the LET Education Trust.

Academics

Rhyddings 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.

Notable former pupils

Vicky Entwistle Victoria Entwistle (born 15 September 1968) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Janice Battersby in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life Entwistle grew up in Accrington; her father owned a newsagen ...

, actress * Paul Manning, undercover police officer and whistleblower * Jay Slater, a 19-year-old man who disappeared in Tenerife and was later found dead in a ravine by police

References

External links

Rhyddings official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Lancashire Academies in Lancashire Schools in Hyndburn Oswaldtwistle