St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy (formerly St Philip Howard Catholic School) is a

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 located in

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

in northern

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

Description

St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy is a small

co-education 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 ...

al, three form entry, 11–16 Catholic

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 ...

that has traditionally provided secondary education for Catholic school children in the

Glossopdale Glossopdale is the area around Glossop, Derbyshire, England, the valley of the Glossop Brook. It includes Glossop, Hadfield, Charlesworth, Dinting, Dinting Vale, Higher Dinting, Padfield, Old Glossop, Whitfield, Derbyshire and Gamesley See als ...

and

Longdendale Longdendale is a valley in the Peak District of England, north of Glossop and southwest of Holmfirth. The name means "long wooded valley" and the valley is mostly in the counties of Derbyshire and Greater Manchester. Geography The eastern part ...

valleys. The school attracts applications from a wide variety of backgrounds and other primary schools in

. The current headteacher is Louisa Morris. The school attends a religious service at the nearby St Mary's Catholic Church at least once a term. The school welcomes applications from all students, but makes clear that Catholic children come first in the selection process. Students come from Catholic primary schools around Glossop,

Gamesley Gamesley is a residential area within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England, west of Glossop and close to the River Etherow which forms the boundary with Tameside in Greater Manchester. Gamesley is a ward of the High Peak Borough C ...

, Hadfield and

Old Glossop Old Glossop is a parish village and the original part of the town of Glossop in the High Peak area of Derbyshire, England, about 15 miles east of Manchester and 23 miles west of Sheffield. The village is on the very edge of the Peak District ...

and some join the school from other non-religious schools in Glossop,

Tintwistle Tintwistle is a village and civil parish in the High Peak district of the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England. Historically in Cheshire, according to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,401, reducing marginally to 1,400 ...

and the

and

Tameside The Metropolitan Borough of Tameside is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in England. It is named after the River Tame, Greater Manchester, River Tame, which flows through the borough, and includes the towns of Ashton-under-Lyne, Aud ...

areas. * All Saints Catholic Primary School, Old Glossop * St Margarets Catholic Primary School, Glossop * St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Glossop * St Charles Catholic Primary School, Hadfield

Governance

Previously it was 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

Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire, England. It has 64 councillors representing 61 divisions, with three divisions having two members each. They are Glossop and Charlesworth, ...

. St Philip Howard Catholic School converted to academy status in September 2015 and was renamed St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy. It joined the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust in 2018. The school retains a relationship with the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham The Diocese of Nottingham, England, is a Roman Catholic diocese of the Latin Rite and a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Diocese of Westminster. The diocese covers an area of , taking in the English counties of Not ...

Curriculum

Students enter the school in

Year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 in the United ...

with a wide variety of traditional subjects on offer. The emphasis is on English, Maths and Science. The school is a specialist

sports college Sports Colleges are senior secondary schools which promote sports alongside secondary education. United Kingdom Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist schools programme, Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdo ...

with English as the second specialist subject. The school offers three separate sciences at

GCSE 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 ...

for those deemed capable.

Key Stage 3

At Key Stage 3, the school aims to deliver broad and balanced curriculum, developing a "thirst for learning" in the students. They need this prior learning and new skills and knowledge, so they can benefit from the more focused work in Key Stage 4. Over a two-week timetable totalling 50 hours they will study English 8 hours, Maths 8 hours, History and Geography for 3 hours each, Science for 6 hours, Technology for 2 hours and a Modern Foreign Language for 4 hours. Religious Education gets 5, PHSE 1, Art, Computing, and Music get 2. Physical Education has two, two-hour slots. In year 9, students start to specialise, they take three subjects alongside the core subjects of English, Maths, Science and RE. This personalised curriculum allows students to study at greater depth developing a deeper knowledge and understanding of the chosen subjects, and have support in choosing the correct pathway for their future careers.

Key Stage 4

Students continue to study their three subjects whilst continuing with English, Maths and Science, Religious Education and Physical Education. All of the traditional subjects are on offer. Students can choose to do Physical Education at GCSE and will therefore increase their time in this subject. The school has introduced a broad range of

vocational qualifications Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...

which allows students to attend a separate college one day a week to study extra courses.

Buildings

The school has two main areas, known as "The Main Building" and "Campion House". The latter was named after the Catholic martyr

Edmund Campion Edmund Campion, SJ (25 January 15401 December 1581) was an English Jesuit priest and martyr. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Anglican England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason, he was ...

(1540–1581), who was executed in the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

. Three new classrooms have recently been built, added to the lower part of Campion House.

Results

GCSE Results August 2011 73% achieved 5 or more A* to C Results including Maths and English. 88% achieved 5 or more A* to C's. The results are above average compared to similar schools nationally, and have improved year on year. However based on the new

English Baccalaureate The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is a school performance indicator in England linked to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results. It measures students' attainment by calculating an average score from specified subject grades. ...

introduced by the Conservative Education Secretary

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...

in 2011, only 13% of students achieved 5 A*-C grades.

References

External links

Saint Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy Secondary schools in Derbyshire Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Nottingham Educational institutions established in 1961 1961 establishments in England Glossop Academies in Derbyshire