Millom 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 ...
secondary school and
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 ...
located in
Millom
Millom is a town and civil parish on the north shore of the estuary of the River Duddon in southwest Cumbria, historically part of Cumberland, England. It is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, about north of Barrow-in-Furnes ...
in the
English county of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...
.
The school today
It is a
comprehensive community school administered by
Cumberland Council
Cumberland Council is the local authority for Cumberland in England. It is a unitary authority, the structural change order names the new Cumberland Council as only a district council. It will operate as a shadow authority until taking up its pow ...
. There is an all weather sports pitch (not 4G) and the "
Melvyn Bragg Drama Studio" which was opened in 2005.
Millom 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, while students in the sixth form have the option to study from a range of
A-levels and further BTECs.
The school's catchment area has "serious socio-economic problems due mainly to the demise of the mining industry".
Academic performance and school inspections
In 2001 the school won the
National Science Challenge Award, and in 2002 a teacher at the school was awarded the
BP Award for Science Year.
In 2014 the school was inspected by
Ofsted and judged Good.
It was inspected again in 2018 and judged to Require Improvement; as of 2020 this is the most recent inspection.
In 2019, pupils' progress at
GCSE was average.
A level
The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...
results in 2019 were below average.
History
The school has its roots in a Pupil-Teacher Centre, which formally became a secondary school in 1905.
The school therefore celebrated its centenary in 2005.
It was rebuilt in 1938, and at that point
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 ...
provision was added. The school at this time was known as Millom County Secondary School, and was co-educational
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 ...
.
In 1950 the headteacher noted the "local tendency to despise study and to the consequent difficulty of the school-master in getting any sound homework done", especially because of the long journeys some children had to school.
The technical side of the school included a Commercial School teaching secretarial skills.
The school in its current format was opened by
Princess Alexandra in 1959. The school comprises three main teaching blocks with a few specialist classrooms to one side for practical lessons. The three blocks, originally called Lower, Middle and Upper Schools, are now referred as Lonsdale Building, Muncaster Building and Ulpha Building.
Since 1983, several specialist classrooms have been repurposed, losing woodworking and metalwork rooms, a typing room and a technical drawing room. The swimming pool (left to decay until unviable by Cumbria County Council) remains as dug.
The Alexandra Hall, named after Princess Alexandra, is the school's main hall. The 'Melvyn Bragg' studio was added to the rear of the 'Alex Hall' in 2005 as a performing arts educational space.
The 'Ulpha Building' was extended as 'Millom Network Centre', later changing name to Millom Hub, offering space to external organisations. It has been relocated to Millom Work and Skills Centre in the Devonshire Road Industrial Estate. In 2019 the local authority took over responsibility for the network centre, and there were concerns about its future.
Notable former pupils
*
Cliff Addison, chemist
*
Norman Nicholson
Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson (8 January 1914 – 30 May 1987) was an English poet associated with the Cumbrian town of Millom. His poetry is noted for local concerns, straightforward language, and elements of common speech. Although known chief ...
, poet
*
John Satterthwaite, bishop
References
External links
Millom School official websiteSchool pictures from 1927Records at the National Archives
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Secondary schools in Cumberland (unitary authority)
Educational institutions established in 1959
1959 establishments in England
Community schools in Cumberland (unitary authority)
Millom