Rishworth School is a co-educational

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

in the village of

Rishworth Rishworth is a village in the civil parish of Ripponden, in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a small church, farms and schools, including Rishworth School. In 1931 the parish had a pop ...

, near Halifax, in

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. With Heathfield, its junior school from the ages of 3 to 11, it provides education for pupils aged between 3 and 18 years, with boarding from the age of 11.

History

The school was founded and endowed by John Wheelwright in 1724 and established in a building which is now the school chapel. When the Wheelwright Building was built in 1826 the old building was converted into a chapel for the people of Rishworth, until St John's Church, Rishworth opened at the end of the 19th century. Other school buildings near the Wheelwright building were built in 1930, 1933 and 1950. Today the school extends over with a range of buildings developed to accommodate pupils. More recently, in 1963, a new Music and Drama building was opened, and by 1984, a new teaching block was opened, consisting of four science laboratories, a large assembly hall, and numerous other classrooms hosting Mathematics, English and Modern Languages. An extension to the teaching block was completed in 1988 which saw the addition of a two-storey Design and Technology department, along with workshops. The school is a founder member of the Society of Headmasters & Headmistresses of Independent Schools, established in 1961 through the then

Headmasters' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools an ...

Inspection

Rishworth School was most recently inspected by the Independent Schools' Inspectorate in November 2017. The school received the highest grading of excellent in all categories and more specifically with reference to pupils' academic and personal development.

Boarding

There are five boarding houses with total housing for 150. Each house has study bedrooms, TVs and computers, and provides disabled facilities. Routine in the houses is structured, with fixed times for meals, homework and free time. Bedrooms typically hold two to four boarders, but senior students, especially sixth formers, have their own rooms.

The sixth form

Most pupils seeking entry to higher education take four subjects at AS Level in the Lower Sixth and then specialise in three of these to full

A Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

in the Upper Sixth.

Notable former pupils

Stage, film, television

John Noakes John Noakes (born John Wallace Bottomley; 6 March 1934 – 28 May 2017) was an English television presenter and actor. He co-presented the BBC children's magazine programme '' Blue Peter'' in the 1960s and 1970s and is the show's longest-servin ...

– Blue Peter presenter *

Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in three films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...

, actor

References

External links

Independent Schools' InspectorateSchool website
{{authority control Private schools in Calderdale Educational institutions established in 1724 1724 establishments in England