St John Fisher Catholic High School is a mixed comprehensive secondary school in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, England. It is named after the

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 ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by o ...

Academics

The schools performs well in league tables compared with other local schools. It was among the top five performing schools in the Wigan

LEA Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...

in the 2011 GCSEs.

Sport

The school has been associated with

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 ...

since the 1970s. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, one year's team went unbeaten for five years, earning a place in the Guinness Book of Records. The school has produced notable alumni, including

Shaun Edwards Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 wi ...

, the late Billy Joe Edwards, Sean Gleeson and

Chris Ashton Christopher John Ashton (born 29 March 1987) is an English rugby union and former rugby league player, and one of the few players who have represented England in both rugby codes. A wing or fullback, he joined Leicester Tigers of Premiersh ...

Notable former pupils

, dual-code rugby international *

, former

international *

Owen Farrell Owen Andrew Farrell (born 24 September 1991) is an English professional rugby union player, currently captain of Gallagher Premiership side Saracens. Farrell has played international rugby for England since 2012. Farrell is one of the top poi ...

Sean O'Loughlin Sean O'Loughlin (born 24 November 1982) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a loose forward for and captained the Wigan Warriors in the Super League, and has also played for Great Britain and England at int ...

international *

Sam Tomkins Sam Tomkins (born 23 March 1989) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and occasional for the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League and England at international level. He is the two time and current and r ...

, rugby league international

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John Fisher Catholic High School, Wigan Secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Liverpool Voluntary aided schools in England