St John Fisher Catholic 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 ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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

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 ...

. It is located in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

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, and has developed steadily during the past 50 years and has around 1,450 pupils. The school is set in on the south side of Harrogate and skirted by Hookstone Wood.

History

The school buildings were first built in 1903 to hold a Catholic

convent school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

under the

Society of the Holy Child Jesus The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of Roman Catholic sisters founded in England in 1846 by Philadelphia-born Cornelia Connelly. History Born Cornelia Peacock in Philadelphia, she was raised a Presbyterian. In 183 ...

which moved from a building on Clarence Drive near Valley Gardens. The school was founded in 1958 on the site that is now the Area Education Office within the

Harrogate High School Harrogate High School is a comprehensive secondary school in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. It has about 600 pupils on roll and approximately 85 full-time teaching staff. The school was awarded specialist Sports College status. The Academ ...

campus. The school outgrew its facilities and moved to its current site on Hookstone Drive - using the buildings of the convent school although many nuns remained for some time to teach. The sisters of the Order of the Holy Child no longer teach at the school, but do maintain a convent over the road. Leo Gannon (Headmaster 1967-1988) oversaw the move of the school to Hookstone Drive and in 1973, along with fellow headmaster Ken Stott, created the

St Aidan's and St John Fisher Associated Sixth Form The St. Aidan's & St. John Fisher Associated Sixth Form was created in 1973 as a venture in ecumenical education. The two schools, St. Aidan's C of E High School and St. John Fisher Catholic High School are based on the south side of Harroga ...

. Part of the site is made up of the original stone buildings of the convent. The science and technology building (along with the current school hall) was built in 1978 and is of a concrete construction. A sports hall of

breeze block A concrete masonry unit (CMU) is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction. CMUs are some of the most versatile building products available because of the wide variety of appearances that can be achieved using them. Tho ...

construction has since been opened to the rear of the buildings. Because much of the site was not purpose built as a school, many of the main buildings are unsuitable for modern educational use. This has led to a number of

portable buildings A portable, demountable or transportable building is a building designed and built to be movable rather than permanently located. Smaller version of portable buildings are also known as portable cabins. Portable cabins are prefabricated structu ...

and prefabricated cabins being built on the grounds. The school has large playing fields to the rear of the site which back onto Hookstone Woods. The school was ranked 20th in the country for public school GCSE results in 2014. In 2001 the school gained Specialist Arts Status, the first school of its type to gain this status in North Yorkshire. The school then opened the 'Keelan Centre', named after the former headteacher, Terry Keelan, a new building linking the existing school and the school sports hall. This facility included a new dance and drama studio along with a new music block. In September 2016, construction began on a new astro-turf pitch after the school received funding from the FA. This was completed in October 2017. Previously a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In mo ...

administered by

North Yorkshire County Council North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) is the county council governing the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire; an area composing most of North Yorkshire in England. The council currently consists of 90 councillors. The council is current ...

, in December 2021 St John Fisher Catholic High School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by The Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust. The school continues to be under the jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds The Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds is a Catholic diocese of the Latin Rite centred on Leeds Cathedral in the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. It was founded on 20 December 1878, with the splitting of the Diocese of Beverley, which ha ...

Sixth form

The school forms part of an associated sixth form with St. Aidan's Church of England High School.

References

External links

School website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John Fisher Catholic High School, Harrogate Schools in Harrogate Educational institutions established in 1958 Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Leeds Secondary schools in North Yorkshire 1958 establishments in England Academies in North Yorkshire

History

Sixth form

See also

References

External links