Castleford Academy (previously Castleford High School Technology and Sports College, more commonly known as just Castleford High School or Cas High), is a secondary school in

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins th ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for children aged 11–16.

History

It opened in 1906 as Castleford Secondary School, a

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 ...

for both sexes. It aimed to teach girls with male staff and boys with female staff, which was not common for that time. It joined with a

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...

in 1970 to become a comprehensive school. School uniform was abolished at the same time. From 1989, a partnership was developed with Hickson & Welch, a local chemical company and school uniform was re-introduced and the school became a

Technology College In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were ...

. From 1995, a new drama theatre was built. As of September 2007 it officially became known as Castleford High School Technology and Sports College due to success of the rugby, football and netball teams netting them a

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 in the United Kingdom. The programme enabled seco ...

classification. The school's boys and girls

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

teams have been a dominant force in the

Champion Schools The Champion Schools tournament (known as the Carnegie Champion Schools due to sponsorship) is a full contact knock-out rugby league football competition open to every secondary school in England, Scotland and Wales and is the largest rugby leagu ...

competition; in 2009 the school fielded 6 teams in the national finals for the third year in succession. On 1 April 2011, the school became Castleford Academy, a registered charity under the Academies Act 2010, a move that allows the school to set its own curriculum.

Admissions

It is for ages 11 to 16. It is just off th
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on ''

Ferrybridge Ferrybridge is a village in West Yorkshire, England. Ferrybridge lies at a historically important crossing of the River Aire which borders the North Yorkshire village of Brotherton. It is linked to other communities by the A1, which follows t ...

Road'' and just east of the town centre next to Queen's Park. It also has a sixth form for 16 to 18 year olds.

Academic performance

The school gets reasonable results at GCSE for West Yorkshire, well above the England average. There is the sixth form college on site, also NEW College is located nearby, and Castleford Academy now offer a Sports A level. In the sixth form college they offer 3 BTEC Extended Diplomas (at Level 3) in: Performance and Excellence (sport), Health and Social Care and Public Services (uniformed).

Arson

The school has suffered from one incident of arson, with a fire on 4 January 2007 started by three teenagers. It was put out by ten fire engines. It completely gutted the sports hall.

Alumni

Tim Bresnan Timothy Thomas Bresnan (born 28 February 1985) is an English former first-class cricketer, who last played for Warwickshire. He was a fast-medium bowler who had ability with the bat. Bresnan won the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2002 and 2003. I ...

(born 1985),

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

player from 1995–2001

Castleford Grammar School

Nigel Beard Christopher Nigel Beard (10 October 1936 – 31 July 2017) was a British Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexleyheath and Crayford in London from 1997 to 2005. He previously contested several parliamentary constit ...

(1936-2017), Labour MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford from 1997–2005 * J.L. Carr (1912-1994), school teacher, novelist and publisher, from about 1925-1930 * Henry Moore (1898-1986) OM CH, sculptor * Alan Rhodes (born 1947), rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1980s * David Treasure (born 1950), rugby player *

Denzil Webster Denzil Webster (fourth – January 2010) was an English cricketer of the 1940s through to the 1970s, and a rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s. He played club level cricket for Castleford, York and A ...

(c.1933-2010), cricketer of the 1940s through to the 1970s, and rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1950

References

External links

Official Website

EduBase

News items

Arson in January 2007 (with BBC film clip)

Video clips

Fire in 2007
{{authority control Academies in the City of Wakefield Educational institutions established in 1906 Castleford Secondary schools in the City of Wakefield 1906 establishments in England School buildings in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson People educated at Castleford Academy