Lathom High School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

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) ...

and

specialist Specialist may refer to: Occupations * Specialist (rank), a military rank ** Specialist (Singapore) * Specialist (arena football) * Specialist degree, in academia * Specialty (medicine) * Designated market maker, in the American stock market * ...

technology college In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 59 ...

located in Skelmersdale in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. Following an amalgamation of two former schools Tawd Vale and West Bank High, Lathom High was officially opened in November 1988 by Jack Straw MP. It is a

foundation school In England and Wales, a foundation school is a state-funded school in which the governing body has greater freedom in the running of the school than in community schools. Foundation schools were set up under the School Standards and Framework A ...

administered by

Lancashire County Council Lancashire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Lancashire, England. It consists of 84 councillors. Since the 2017 election, the council has been under Conservative control. Prior to the 2009 La ...

. The school offers GCSEs, OCR Nationals and

NVQs National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved through assessment and training. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by the ...

as programmes of study for pupils.

History

Lathom High School was founded in September 1988 following the closure of Tawd Vale High School in August 1988, at which point the school was renamed as Lathom High School, residing on the same site. The decision to close the former schools was made in November 1986 by Lancashire's District Education Liaison Committee, in a move that was expected to anger parents, particularly those closer to Ormskirk. Headteacher of Tawd Vale, Geoff Burnett, presented his own case study which suggested that it was not viable to have three county secondary schools in Skelmerdale, noting that teachers at both schools had accepted the idea of a merger. It was recommended that further protection was needed by way of restricting the intake of schools in Ormskirk and

Up Holland Up Holland (or Upholland) is a village close to Skelmersdale and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the West Lancashire district, in the county of Lancashire, England, 4 miles west of Wigan. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2 ...

to a five-form entry of 150 pupils, down from 180. The new school opened following the merger between Tawd Vale and West Bank High School, with the amalgamation approved in February 1988 by Education Secretary Kenneth Baker due to falling pupil numbers across both schools. Prior to opening, improvement works totalling £250,000 were carried out. The naming of the school was approved by the governing body in March 1988. The official opening took place on 10 November 1988 by Jack Straw MP, then Shadow Secretary of State for Education.

Notable alumni

* Ian Armstrong, former Port Vale footballer

References

External links

Lathom High School official website
Secondary schools in Lancashire Schools in the Borough of West Lancashire Foundation schools in Lancashire Skelmersdale Specialist technology colleges in England {{Lancashire-school-stub