St. Cecilia S R.C. High School

ST. CECILIA’S R.C. HIGH SCHOOL Chapel Hill, Longridge, Preston, Lancashire. Telephone: 01772 783074 ______

GENERAL INFORMATION

TRUSTEES: SALFORD DIOCESE

LOCAL AUTHORITY: LANCASHIRE

St. Cecilia’s is pleasantly situated in the rural area of Longridge, seven miles east of Preston in Central Lancashire. Good communications give easy access to the Trough of Bowland, the Fylde Coast, the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. The local primary and high schools have excellent reputations

St. Cecilia’s opened in 1962 as a mixed secondary modern school. It was reorganised in 1979 as a 11-16 high school serving the villages of Ribchester, Chipping, Grimsargh, Goosnargh and Longridge. There are currently 378 pupils on roll.

St. Cecilia’s is a small high school by design. The school has been regularly over-subscribed in the past, however, due to the drop in the birth rate nationally and locally, the school’s roll has dropped accordingly. We are now seeing a gradual rise in pupil numbers. The number of houses being built in the area leads us to be very optimistic that we will be over-subscribed in the near future. We have a budget deficit as a result of the fall in roll but have agreed, with the support of the Local Authority, a three year plan to return to a balanced budget.

Pupil organisation

The school operates on a three form entry, though when numbers allow it has operated on four form entry in the past. A traditional pastoral structure with Heads of year attached to each year group operates. Form groups are mixed ability. Set is based on four sets of ranging ability. Pupils are set for most subjects apart from Art, music and PE. The Key Stage 3 curriculum reflects National Curriculum and Diocesan guidelines in relation to breadth and balance. The current KS4 curriculum sees pupils following GCSE courses in English language, English literature, maths, Science (core and additional - the more able doing separates) RE and three optional subjects. The options choice element includes GCSE courses in: Art, Music, French, German, Geography, Computing, Catering, Electronics, History and PE. BTEC courses are available in Engineering and Sport. A small number of pupils study at Preston's College and at Myerscough College at KS4. Pupils are encouraged to take option subjects that best suit a Progress and Attainment 8 profile. The academic organisation is based upon departments, some being single teacher departments. The timetable is organised on the basis of 50 x 1 hour lessons over a two week timetable.

Accommodation

The school has increased in size considerably since its foundation in 1962. Building extensions were added in 1980, 1990, 1993, 2000, 2005 and 2009. The school has capacity to increase its total intake to over 450. The school facilities include Hall/ Gymnasium, sports hall; Dining Room; four specialist science laboratories; three dedicated ICT classrooms; learning support centre; specialist technology rooms for electronics; food , engineering and design technology. There are specialist classrooms for Art and Music. Most subjects are suited in general teaching classrooms. Recently the school was successful in securing funding, through LCVAP, to replace windows to the front of the school. The grounds are extensive and well kept. There are hard court areas for tennis, netball, five a side and basketball which have just been completely refurbished. There is also extensive grass playing fields for football, athletics and cross-country. The school is a centre of excellence for netball.

Extended Curriculum

Despite its small size the school does very well with the number and variety of extra curricular activities, especially in relation to Music (Choir and band) and PE ( with after school football, netball and basketball clubs). A computing club has recently been established to complement the introduction of GCSE Computing.

A range of residential experiences are offered to pupils both in the UK and overseas, with recent trips to Cyprus, Barcelona, Paris as well as adventure centres in the UK.

As a Catholic school we have a well established spiritual extended curriculum, which includes the Fair trade, Derian House and Cafod support groups as well as the whole range of chaplaincy services expected in a Catholic school.

Staffing

Teaching Staff: 26 Full Time Teachers 2 Part Time Teachers

Support Staff: School Manager (full time) Finance Clerk (part time) School Secretary (full time ) School Administrator (part-time) 6 Learning Support Assistants 1 HLTA 1 Cover Supervisor Examinations Officer/Data Manager School Chaplain

Technicians: 1 Laboratory (full time) Reprographics (part time) 1 ICT/ Network (part time)

Manual Staff: 1 Site Supervisor 3 Cleaners (part-time) Kitchen Manager and 5 Kitchen/Welfare Assistants

Staff Philosophy

We, the staff of St Cecilia’s believe that every child has a right to the best education we can provide. Children will be treated as individuals. As a team we are courteous, committed and highly motivated to providing a high standard of teaching: therefore we undertake to maintain a pleasant and orderly atmosphere which will not detract from our professional standards. We believe our staff should have job satisfaction. They will therefore be able to grow in their professional development through training and experience, and be treated with fairness, trust and respect by the Headteacher and the School Governors.