Cowley International College, formerly ''Cowley Language College'' and originally ''Cowley School'', is an 11-18

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located on Cowley Hill, in Windle, St Helens,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

History

Grammar school

former
part of the school was on ''Cowley Hill Lane''. There were two

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

s, the Cowley Girls' Secondary Grammar School (also known as the Cowley Girls' School) with around 650 girls, and Cowley Boys' Secondary Grammar School (also known as Cowley School) with around 550 boys. In 1965, the St Helens Education Committee council introduced proposals for comprehensive education. The changing rooms at the boys' school, and the gym at the girls' school were used as locations for the film ''

Chariots of Fire ''Chariots of Fire'' is a 1981 British historical sports drama film directed by Hugh Hudson, written by Colin Welland and produced by David Puttnam. It is based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a de ...

'' (1981).

Comprehensive

The comprehensive plans took effect in September 1970 with each school becoming a 13-18 single sex comprehensive school - the Cowley Boys' School and Cowley Girls' School which soon became 11-18 schools in 1974 with around 700 at each school. For a short time from 1976–78, these schools were the Cowley High School for Boys and the Cowley High School for Girls. By 1978 it had become the Cowley High School with around 1,400 boys and girls. In 2001, it gained

Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that successf ...

specialist status and changed its name. In the summer of 2010 the school changed its name once again to Cowley International College.

New building

The school has recently been subject to a £20 million redevelopment, with a new building for the 11-16 site opened in October 2009 by

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exc ...

, Head of Education. The previous site is currently being redeveloped into a state-of-the-art Sixth Form which opened to students in September 2010.

Notable former pupils

Cowley School (Grammar, High and College)

* Sir Hugh Stott Taylor (1890-1974), Professor of Chemistry, Princeton University *

Walter H. Longton Walter Hunt Longton (10 September 1892 – 6 June 1927) was an English flying ace of the First World War, credited with 11 confirmed aerial victories. Most unusually for a British or Commonwealth ace, all his victories resulted in the destr ...

First World War flying ace * George Groves (1901-1976), sound engineer * Winifred Frost (1902-1979), freshwater biologist * Sir Harold Macdonald Steward (1904-1977), consulting engineer and Conservative Party politician * Jack Heaton (1912–1998), rugby player *

Robert Dorning Robert Dorning (13 May 1913 – 21 February 1989) was a musician, dance band vocalist, ballet dancer and stage, film and television actor. He is known to have performed in at least 77 television and film productions between 1940 and 1988. Origin ...

(1913-1989), actor, musician *

Gerry Pickavance Thomas Gerald Pickavance (19 October 1915 – 12 November 1991) was a British nuclear physicist who was a leading authority on the design and use of particle accelerators. He was generally known as Gerry Pickavance. Life and career He was born ...

(1915-1991), director of the Rutherford High Energy Lab *

Theo Barker Theodore Cardwell Barker (19 July 1923 – 22 November 2001), usually known as Theo Barker, was a British social and economic historian. Life Barker was born in St Helens, Lancashire, England on 19 July 1923. After schooling in the area, he stu ...

(1923-2001), professor of economic and social history *

Geoff Duke Geoffrey Ernest Duke (29 March 1923 – 1 May 2015) was a British multiple motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion. Born in St. Helens, Lancashire, after retirement from competition he was a businessman based in the Isle of Man. He r ...

(1923-2015), racing motorcyclist during the 1950s *

Ray French Raymond James French, MBE (born 23 December 1939) is an English former rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. French played at international level in both codes. He won four caps for England in rugby union ...

(born 1939), rugby player and commentator *

Margaret Chapman Eileen Margaret Chapman ( Duxbury; 18 November 1940 – 28 July 2000) was an English illustrator and painter. Born in Darwen, Lancashire, her skill at painting was obvious from an early age, and she studied at Liverpool College of Art al ...

(1940-2000), artist and illustrator *

Geoff Pimblett Geoffrey Pimblett (11 May 1944 – 19 February 2018), also known by the nickname of "Pimmer" was an English professional rugby league and rugby union footballer whose career rose to prominence in the 1970s. He played for St Helens as a goal-k ...

(born 1944), rugby player *

Gary Stretch Gary Stretch (born 4 November 1965) is a British actor, model, and former boxing champion. During his boxing career, Stretch won 29 of his 31 fights, 20 of those by KO. He became the WBC International Super Welterweight Champion. In his modelli ...

(born 1965), boxer *

Tim Jonkers Tim Jonkers (born 3 July 1981) is a former Ireland international rugby league footballer who played as a forward in the 1990s and 2000s. He played his club football with St Helens, with whom he had Challenge Cup and Super League grand final su ...

(born 1981), rugby player *

James Roby James William Mark Roby (born 22 November 1985) is an English professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for St Helens in the Super League, and for Great Britain and England at international level. He has played his ent ...

(born 1985), rugby player * Adam Swift (born 1993), rugby player

Notable masters

Leonard Brockington Leonard Walter Brockington (6 April 1888 – 15 September 1966) was a Canadian lawyer, civil servant, public figure, and the first head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Born in Cardiff, Wales, one of seven children, Brockin ...

(1888-1966), Classics and English Master at the School, later the first head of the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

* Isaac Shapiro (1904-2004), lecturer in English at

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

Watcyn Thomas Watcyn Thomas (16 January 1906 – 10 August 1977) was a Welsh rugby union player who captained Wales in the early 1930s. Thomas was born in Llanelli and educated at Llanelli County School and at University College, Swansea. While still at scho ...

(1906–77), a Welsh rugby union player *

Roland Mathias Roland Glyn Mathias (4 September 1915 – 16 August 2007) was a Welsh writer, known for his poetry and short stories. He was also a literary critic, and responsible with Raymond Garlick for the success of the literary magazine ''Dock Leaves'' (f ...

(1915-2007), poet * Viv Harrison (1921-1989), teacher and rugby player * Derek Norcross (1930-2006), later headmaster of St Paul's Church of England School (East Sussex), Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex *

(born 1939), BBC rugby league commentator, also taught at the school *

Mike Bennett (rugby league) Mike Bennett is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a forward for St Helens in the Super League. Bennett played for St Helens as a forward, scoring a try in their 2002 Super League Grand Final victory agains ...

References

External links

EduBase
{{authority control Secondary schools in St Helens, Merseyside Community schools in St Helens, Merseyside