Cockburn School (formerly Cockburn High School) is a mixed secondary school located in the Beeston area of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. The original school on this site was Parkside secondary modern, which was an all-boys school. The headmaster for much of the time was Mr C Wadsworth. It was previously a foundation school administered by

Leeds City Council Leeds City Council is the local authority of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of l ...

and The Learning Trust (South Leeds). The Learning trust also includes Beeston Primary School, Clapgate Primary School, Hugh Gaitskell Primary School, Lane End Primary School, Middleton Primary School, Middleton St Mary's CE Primary School, St Philip's RC Primary School and Westwood Primary School. However, Cockburn School was converted to academy status in February 2016. The school is now part of a multi-academy trust, and hopes that other schools within The Learning Trust (South Leeds) will convert to academy status and join the trust, whilst continuing to work closely with the partner schools. Cockburn School offers

GCSEs 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 ...

and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils. The school also has a specialism in the performing arts.

History

Cockburn School was opened on 17 July 1902, on land near the corner of Dewsbury Road and Burton Road. The site had previously housed Southern Higher Grade School. Cockburn School was named after Sir George Cockburn, a former Chairman of the Leeds School Board. In the 1980s, the school moved to the former Parkside County Secondary School on Gipsy Lane. The original location of the school eventually became the site of Hunslet Moor Primary School. The school underwent a full refurbishment in 2010 under the

Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. The programme was ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicia ...

scheme, allowing 210 students per year group to be accommodated. Cockburn School announced plans to become an academy in October 2015; the conversion was completed in February 2016, under the Academies Act 2010. In June 2016, the school became the founding member of the Cockburn Multi-Academy Trust.

School life

Cockburn School contains a business known as The Glassroom, developed by Education Leeds, in which students recycle unwanted glass to make new products. The Glassroom produces a product each year to be presented at the

White Rose Centre The White Rose Centre is a shopping centre in the Beeston area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It spans two floors and is near the M621 motorway. It takes its name from the White Rose of York, the traditional symbol of Yorkshire. Most ...

Community Awards.

Awards and recognition

In October 2019, the Arts Council awarded Cockburn School the Platinum level Artsmark.

Notable former pupils

* Jordan Baldwinson, rugby league player *

Mandip Gill Mandip Kaur Gill (born 5 January 1988) is an English actress. Her first television role came in 2012 when she was cast as Phoebe McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. After departing the series in 2015, Gill went on to have guest r ...

, actor *

Willis Hall Willis Edward Hall (6 April 1929 – 7 March 2005) was an English playwright and radio, television and film writer who drew on his working-class roots in Leeds for much of his writing. Willis formed an extremely prolific partnership with h ...

, playwright *

Richard Hoggart Herbert Richard Hoggart (24 September 1918 – 10 April 2014) was a British academic whose career covered the fields of sociology, English literature and cultural studies, with emphasis on British popular culture. Early life Hoggart was bor ...

, academic * Harry Jepson, rugby league administrator * Manasse Mampala, professional footballer *

Geoffrey Warnes Squadron Leader Geoffrey Berrington Warnes, (22 October 1914 – 22 February 1944) was a British pilot who flew with No. 263 Squadron RAF during the Second World War. He was described by Group Captain Johnnie Johnson as a "gay, cheerful charac ...

, RAF squadron leader

References

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