Selby High School is a

co-educational 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) ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. Its main catchment area is the town of

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse, with a population at the 2011 census of 14,731. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until ...

and villages from the Selby District, including

Thorpe Willoughby Thorpe Willoughby is a village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England. The village is situated just off the A1238 (a primary road, previously designated A63 prior to the construction of the Selby Bypass) and is in ...

, Hambleton,

Monk Fryston Monk Fryston is a small village and civil parish in the Selby (district), Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. The village was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. History and overview The ''Dictionary of Briti ...

Cawood Cawood (other names: ''Carwood'') is a large village (formerly a market town) and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England that is notable as the finding-place of the Cawood sword. It was historically part of the West Ri ...

and Wistow.

History

Selby High School links back to Selby Grammar School, founded in 1908 as an all-girls school as Selby High School. In 1967 this changed to the Selby Grammar School

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 ...

and became coeducational, and in 1979, a mixed

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

. The comprehensive was renamed Selby High School.

Buildings

In 2003 Selby High School began fundraising towards securing specialist school status – the school was awarded specialist status in Performing and Visual Arts in 2005. Following this the school built a dance studio, a 325-seat theatre stand and an all-weather pitch. In September 2010 the school was awarded specialist status in

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

. The school maintains these specialisms in the present day. In January 2013 the school added an ICT suite with new computers. In 2017 it added the Eckersley Centre, A building named after the previous headmaster, Paul Eckersley.

House system

In 2005 the school introduced a new house system with pupils from all year groups equally distributed into forms. The houses are named after significant Yorkshire people:

Lesley Garrett Lesley Garrett, Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 10 April 1955) is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality. She is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music". Early life Garrett was born in the ...

(Garrett);

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

(Hockney); James Mason (Mason); and

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries. Palin w ...

(Palin). These houses have been in the school for a long time now, with 1 of each group in every year. In each year group there are 2 classes per house, so about 50–60 people per house. In total there is about 250 students a house. Selby High School - geograph

Notable former pupils

Nigel Adams Nigel Adams (born 30 November 1966) is a British politician who served as Minister of State without Portfolio at the Cabinet Office from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Selby and Ains ...

– MP for Selby and Ainsty (attended the school 1978–84) *

Gareth Ellis Gareth Ellis (born 3 May 1981) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the Super League and the NRL, and England and Great Britain at international level. He played at club level for the Wakefield Tr ...

– rugby league England international who currently plays for

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

Gerard Jones Gerard Jones (born July 10, 1957) is an American writer, known primarily for his non-fiction work about American entertainment media, and his comic book scripting, which includes co-creating the superhero Prime for Malibu Comics, and writing for ...

– professional football coach and entrepreneur (attended the school 2000-05) *

Matthew Warchus Matthew Warchus (born 24 October 1966) is a British theatre director, filmmaker, lyricist, and playwright. He has been the Artistic Director of London's The Old Vic since September 2015. Personal life Warchus is married to American actress Lau ...

– theatre and film director (attended the school 1978–84)

Selby Grammar School

* Dianne Bevan (''nee'' Roe), Chief Operating Officer from 2007–12 of the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...

* Sir John Arthur Townsley – Executive Principal, Gorse Academies Trust (attended the school 1976–1982) * Geoff Wilkinson, music producer of Us3

Selby Girls' High School

* Prof Judy Armitage FRS, Professor of Biochemistry since 1996 at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ch ...

)

Former teachers

* Mary Blake, Headmistress from 1975–83 of

Manchester High School for Girls Manchester High School for Girls is an English independent day school for girls and a member of the Girls School Association. It is situated in Fallowfield, Manchester. The head mistress is Helen Jeys who took up the position in September 2020 ...

(head teacher of the girls' high school from 1960–68, and the grammar school from 1968–75) and the first President of the

Secondary Heads Association The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), formerly the Secondary Heads Association (SHA), is a UK professional association for leaders of schools and colleges. History The Association of Head Mistresses (AHM) was founded in 1874. The ...

in 1978 * Joan Firth CB, Chair of Bradford Health Authority from 1998–2000 (Head of Science from 1960–62 at the girls' high school) * Brian Sherratt, Head of Religious Studies at the grammar school from 1967–70

References

External links

"Selby High School Specialist School for the Arts and Science"
Ofsted reports 2001–13 {{authority control Community schools in North Yorkshire Educational institutions established in 1908 Secondary schools in North Yorkshire Selby 1908 establishments in England Specialist science colleges in England Specialist arts colleges in England