Bishop Challoner Catholic College is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

secondary school in the Kings Heath area of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. The school has a roll of 1,152 students, including 212

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

students. More than the national average are entitled to

free school meal A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...

s. The school has

Sports College Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist schools programme, Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdo ...

and Science College status as well as being a recognised DfES Training School. It is a member of the

Specialist Schools Trust SSAT (The Schools Network) Limited (branded as SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers network) is a UK-based, independent educational membership organisation working with primary, secondary, special and free schools, academies and UTCs. It p ...

History

Opened in 1953, it was the first Catholic secondary school in Birmingham. In 2000, the school was awarded Sports College status. In May 2002, the Science Department was granted lead department status and was awarded Science specialism status in 2005. The school was named in July 2019 as a computing hub for the

National Centre for Computing Education The National Centre for Computing Education is a government-funded initiative, offering teacher training and resources for computer science. The National Centre is delivered by a consortium of STEM Learning, Raspberry Pi Foundation and British ...

Arts

For the second time, the school has received a Government School Achievement Award for examination results, the National Curriculum Award and

Artsmark Artsmark is the creative quality standard for schools and education settings, awarded by Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is ...

Gold for the provision of drama, music, dance, art and performance in the school. The school's production of ''West Side Story'', ''Beauty and the Beast'', '' Big the Musical'' and '' We Will Rock You'', have won the Columba Trophy for the best school production in Birmingham. The school has had its fair few alumni including Olympic gymnast Dominick Cunningham. The Performing Arts, We Sing Show Choir were given the 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity of performing as part of the choir at the Mass which was taken by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

. The Mass, held at Cofton Park in Longbridge, was the pinnacle of the Pope's visit to Great Britain and was his final visit before returning to the Vatican in Rome. After weeks of rehearsals, the 10 students and 3 teachers joined the 2200 other choristers from across the country and were seated in the Grandstand directly to the left of the Pope as he delivered the Mass. Continuing this success, the Choir secured one of three places in the final of a national search for the UK's best Glee Club. The best club would win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform on the West End stage at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre, home of ''

WICKED Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * ''Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' ser ...

'', in December 2010. The competition was judged by members of the ''WICKED'' cast including Lee Mead (BBC's '' Any Dream Will Do''), Rachel Tucker (BBC's '' I'd Do Anything'') and Louise Dearman at ''WICKED'' Day.

Academic performance

The school has improved since 1998 when 37% of pupils received 5 or more A*-C grades at

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

. In 2008, this figure had risen to over 80% of pupils receiving 5 or more A*-C grades. In March 2009 the school achieved an 'Outstanding' grade in its Section 5 and Section 48 OFSTED inspection reports.

References

* * * * {{authority control 1953 establishments in England Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham Educational institutions established in 1953 Secondary schools in Birmingham, West Midlands Training schools in England Voluntary aided schools in England