Westhoughton High School (WHS) is an 11–16 mixed,

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

secondary school in

Westhoughton Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.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.

History

A new soundproofed music room opened at the school in 1982 as part of a £750,000 extension. In July 2010, Westhoughton High School was revealed as one of 27 schools across Greater Manchester that would no longer be rebuilt or upgraded, following the scrapping of the

Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. The programme was ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicia ...

(BSF) programme by the government. A new 3G all-weather pitch was constructed on an existing shale pitch at the school that was completed in May 2017, and was the first of three new pitches that was being developed as part of

Bolton Council Bolton Council, also called Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is a Metropolitan Borough Council, one of ten in Greater Manchester and one of 36 in ...

's £1.5 million capital funding. The school revised its curriculum from September 2017 to benefit from the new pitch, and be able to offer a programme of fixtures with local schools.

Demand for places and extension

In February 2018, proposals were approved for Bolton Council to work with seven secondary schools in the

Metropolitan Borough of Bolton '')'' , image_skyline =Bolton Town Hall.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Bolton Town Hall, the seat of Bolton Council , image_blank_emblem = Coat of arms of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council.png , blank_emblem_type = Coat of Arms of ...

to increase its capacity due to an increasing demand for places. A six-week public consultation started in June 2018 to increase Westhoughton High's admission number from 230 to 270 in

Year Seven 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 ...

from September 2018, that would see the school's total capacity increase from 1,150 to 1,350. A separate consultation would be held for a building extension with a planning application submitted to the council, and concerns were raised by parents over the lack of outdoor space for current students. In August 2018, it was announced that £2.4 million would be spent on expanding the school, however due to the demand for places the school had already began to admit higher numbers. A proposal was sent to the Executive Cabinet Member for Children Services to authorise the publication of a 'statutory notice' to increase places, and if approved, the admission number increase will take place in September. The funding was approved in August 2018 and the building extension was approved by the council's

planning committee A planning committee in the United Kingdom is a committee of local authority councillors that sit as the local planning authority to determine planning applications. Advice is usually given to the committee by planning officers who provide a reco ...

in December 2018, which involved a new two-storey classroom block being built on a field behind the school, and an existing smaller block being demolished; construction began in 2019. Councillors however warned it would not meet future demands and due to new developments in

Westhoughton Westhoughton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southwest of Bolton, east of Wigan and northwest of Manchester.Maxine Peake Maxine Peake (born 14 July 1974) is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her roles as Twinkle in the BBC One sitcom '' dinnerladies'' (1998–2000), Veronica Ball in the hit Channel 4 comedy drama '' Shameless'' (2004–2007), Mart ...

, actress

Notable staff

* Kristy Turner, former teacher

References

External links

* {{Authority control Westhoughton Secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton Community schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton