Plant Hill Arts College (formally Plant Hill High School) was an 11-16 community school, serving boys and girls predominantly from the suburb of

Blackley Blackley is a suburban area of Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is approximately north of Manchester city centre, on the River Irk. History The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The name derives from ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. The school had approximately 820 pupils on roll before it was replaced by the Co-operative Academy of Manchester. The school was in close proximity to the

M60 motorway The M60 motorway, Manchester Ring Motorway or Manchester Outer Ring Road is an orbital motorway in North West England. Built over a 40-year period, it passes through most of Greater Manchester's metropolitan boroughs except for Wigan and Bol ...

affording it excellent links, by road, to a wide area. It was also well served by public transport.

Plant Hill as a Specialist Arts College

In September 2005 Plant Hill High School was awarded specialist status and became Plant Hill Arts College. This had a huge impact on student learning by enhancing the curriculum, with additional provision in *''Performing Arts'' –

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

, dance, media studies *''Visual Art'' –

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

, 3D art,

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and drawing *''Media Arts'' – ICT, E-media

Plant Hill becomes Co-operative Academy of Manchester

Plant Hill Arts College, became the Co-operative Academy of Manchester as part of an overhaul of education in the city. Seven new academies in Manchester opened in September 2010 under the scheme. Plans for the Plant Hill site have been reveal as a 900-place high school and 120-place sixth form. The part-private academy, backed by the Co-operative Group, will specialise in finance and business studies. New facilities on the Plant Hill Road site will be made available to the public for sports and adult education outside school hours. see... The Co-operative Academy of Manchester

Exam results

The number of students achieving 5 or more A* - C GCSE grades.

Percentage of pupils achieving 5+ A* - C

*2002 18% *2003 28% *2004 31% *2005 35% *2006 23% *2007 24% *2008 32% *2009 17% *2010 42%
Ofsted Report

Former School facilities

*A purpose built sports hall *A music and drama suite *A swimming pool *5 MFL rooms *Learning support rooms for pupils with special needs *7 Science rooms *6 Technology rooms, including textile and food rooms *5 Humanities rooms *4 Computer rooms *Library and study centre *Careers base *Pastoral base *2 Visual Arts Rooms

Controversy

Truancy

It was one of two schools to register more than one in four pupils in this category with 26.5 per cent, The figures were revealed in a school performance league tables published which list the percentage of pupils persistently truanting for the first time.

Refusing to re-admit a former pupil

Plant Hill refusing to re-admit a former pupil who they claimed was too far behind in his GCSE studies to catch up. Council education bosses looked urgently at finding alternative tuition for the schoolboy 15, who had been sat at home for five months, despite insisting he wants to return to school. The LEA had ordered Plant Hill Arts College to admit the schoolboy after he was refused entry, but the school appealed to the Secretary of State

Alan Johnson Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2006 to 2007, Secretary of State for Health from 2007 to 2009, Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010, and Shadow Chanc ...

, who decided against forcing them to comply.

"Happy Slapping" attack

A schoolgirl of 16 years old was attacked in

and was left unconscious in a vicious "

happy slapping Happy slapping was a fad originating in the United Kingdom around 2005, in which one or more people attack a victim for the purpose of recording the assault (commonly with a camera phone or a smartphone). Though the term usually refers to relativ ...

" attack on 9 May 2005. Footage of the attack was circulated on pupils' mobile phones. The child's angry mother contacted national and local journalists in response to her daughter's attack. The child's mother commented that Plant Hill High had not taken tough action, even though the attack was a series of bullying incidents she had reported to the school. A request for an assembly to confiscate the mobile phones had been refused. At the time of going to national and local press, Plant Hill High School had refused to comment.

Notable former pupils

Hasney Aljofree Hasney Aljofree (born 11 July 1978) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. He began his career with Manchester United, during which time he earned one cap for the England U18 side. He joined Bolton Wanderers in 1996 and mad ...

, professional footballer, Oldham Athletic A.F.C. (2010–present)

References

External links

Plant Hill Arts College
{{Coord, 53.530, N, 2.222, W, type:edu, display=title 1960s establishments in England 2010 disestablishments in England Defunct schools in Manchester Educational institutions disestablished in 2010 Educational institutions established in the 1960s