St Michael's Catholic School is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

all-through school All-through schools educate young people throughout multiple stages of their education, generally throughout childhood and adolescence. Definition The term "all-through" can be legitimately applied to establishments in many different circumstan ...

located in

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

, Buckinghamshire, England. In 2023 the school had 1930 pupils. It enrols children aged 3 through 19. The school's catchment area for many years has included Aylesbury and surrounding areas, which has a high proportion of baptised Catholics.

History

The school was founded in 1973 as ''St Bernard's Catholic School'' as a satellite of

St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School (formerly St Bernard's Convent School) is an academically selective Roman Catholic state grammar school on Langley Road, Slough. It was previously designated as a Humanities College. The student body is div ...

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

. According to the BBC's Domesday Project, in 1986 the school had 840 pupils between the ages of 11 and 16. The buildings were reported to have been 10 years old at the time, in front of extensive playing fields on a site of 17 acres. In September 2008, St Bernard's Catholic School was awarded

specialist school Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialis ...

status as a

Science College Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathematics. Schools that suc ...

, by the

Department for Children, Schools and Families Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was replac ...

(DCSF). In 2011, the school amalgamated with neighbouring Catholic primary school St Augustine's Catholic Primary, creating an

called ''St Augustine's and St Bernard's Catholic School''. In the same year, the school was among 494 schools nationwide praised by the

Specialist Schools and Academies Trust SSAT (The Schools Network) Limited (branded as SSAT, the Schools, Students and Teachers network) is a UK-based, independent educational membership organisation working with primary, secondary, special and free schools, academies and UTCs. It ...

for its fast improvement of GCSE results. The number of pupils receiving five A* – C grades, including in English and Maths, increased from 42 per cent in 2009 to 64 per cent in 2011. From September 2012, the school stopped being called ''St Augustine's and St Bernard's Catholic School'' and is now known by its current name. In February 2017, it was announced that the school was proposing the creation of a satellite school at the Aylesbury Vale Academy's former site due to lack of space and population increase predictions. At the time the proposals were made, the school was expected to open in September 2018 with a Year 7 intake of 120 students. In September 2019, the new buildings were opened, with students relocating to the facility. 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

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier local authority for the administrative county and later the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888 ...

, in April 2023 St Michael's Catholic School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the St Thomas Catholic Academies Trust, but continues to be under the jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton The Diocese of Northampton is one of the 22 Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales and a Latin Rite suffragan diocese of Westminster. Its see is in Northampton. The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate and St Thomas of Canterbury is the mothe ...

Houses

The school has five houses, named after five

Apostles An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

References

External links

*
Department for Education Performance Tables 2011
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael's Catholic School, High Wycombe Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Northampton Secondary schools in Buckinghamshire Academies in Buckinghamshire High Wycombe Educational institutions established in 1973 1973 establishments in England Catholic primary schools in the Diocese of Northampton Primary schools in Buckinghamshire