Beckfoot Upper Heaton (formerly Belle Vue Boys' School) is a

co-educational 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 ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. It is situated near the

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...

factory, not far from Bingley Road ( B6269). Previously a boys' school, Beckfoot Upper Heaton introduced girls starting in Year 7 in September 2016 and moved to new buildings in 2017.

History

The school was founded in 1877 and was officially opened (including the girls' section) on 12 August 1879 by

William Edward Forster William Edward Forster, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Royal Society, FRS (11 July 18185 April 1886) was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party statesman. As a minister in Gladstone's g ...

, the local MP. It moved to the present site in 1964, as a boys secondary grammar school. It was known as Belle Vue High School from 1896. In 1918, the junior and infants section closed, with the buildings being taken over. From 1966 it became a comprehensive. It had four houses – Dunwell, Hirst, Holroyd and Parry. Previously a community school administered by Bradford City Council, Belle Vue Boys' School converted to academy status in September 2015 and was renamed Beckfoot Upper Heaton. The school is now sponsored by the Beckfoot Trust, but continues to coordinate with Bradford City Council for admissions.

Notable former pupils

Belle Vue Boys' School

* Adil Rashid –

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and England cricket player * Marsha Singh 1954– 2012 – Labour MP for

Bradford West Bradford West is a constituency in West Yorkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Naz Shah of the Labour Party. Constituency profile Bradford West covers the Bradford city centre, Manningham, Allerton an ...

(includes the school) 1997 to 2012

Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School

Paul Bayes Paul Bayes (born 1953) is an English Anglican retired bishop. He served as Bishop of Hertford, a suffragan bishop in the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans from 2010 to 2014, and then as Bishop of Liverpool from 2014 to 2022. Early life ...

, Bishop of Liverpool *

Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director, and conductor. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Batt created the novelty pop band T ...

, Composer and music producer *

Kamlesh Patel, Baron Patel of Bradford Kamlesh Kumar Patel, Baron Patel of Bradford, (born 28 September 1960) is a life peer, member of the House of Lords. Having been appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours, he was created a life pee ...

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– politician and member of the

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. * Sir Reginald Bailey CBE – former President of the British Wool Federation * Sir James Birrell FCA – Chief Executive from 1988 to 1993 of the

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* Sydney Burton – Managing Director from 1975 to 1981 of the Gateway Building Society (bought by

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in 1988) and President from 1976 to 1977 of the Building Societies Institute (became the CBSI in 1979 and then became part of the

Chartered Institute of Bankers Walbrook Institute London is a for-profit provider of apprenticeships, degrees and professional qualifications, with students being members of the LIBF professional body. It is one of five bodies in the UK accredited by the Financial Conduct Auth ...

) *

David Butterfield David John Butterfield (born 1 January 1952) is an ordained Minister in the Church of England. Butterfield was educated at Belle Vue Boys’ Grammar School; Royal Holloway College; and St John's College, Nottingham. He was ordained in 1977 b ...

Archdeacon of the East Riding The Archdeacon of the East Riding is a senior ecclesiastical officer of an archdeaconry, or subdivision, of the Church of England Diocese of York in the Province of York. It is named for the East Riding of Yorkshire and consists of the eight rura ...

from 2007 to 2014 * Trevor Croft – Director from 1997 to 2001 of the

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

* Satnam Singh Gill OBE Principal

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London from 1999 *

James Hill (British director) James Hill (1 August 1919 – 7 October 1994) was a British film and television director, screenwriter and producer whose career spanned 52 years between 1937 and 1989, best remembered for his documentaries and short subjects such as '' Giusepp ...

, film director of 1966 ''

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'' *

Philip Hobsbaum Philip Dennis Hobsbaum (29 June 1932 – 28 June 2005) was a British teacher, poet and critic. Life Hobsbaum was born into a Polish Jewish family in London, and brought up in Bradford, Yorkshire, where he attended Belle Vue Boys' Grammar S ...

, poet and literary scholar * Norman Crowther Hunt, Baron Crowther-Hunt of Eccleshill – former Labour education minister from 1974 to 1976, Rector from 1982 to 1987 of

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

* Sir

Robert Yewdall Jennings Sir Robert Yewdall Jennings (19 October 1913 – 4 August 2004) was Whewell Professor of International Law at Cambridge University from 1955 to 1982 and a Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from 1982. He served as Presiden ...

– President from 1991 to 1994 of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

George Layton George Layton (born George Michael William Löwy; 2 March 1942) is a British actor, director, screenwriter and author best known for three television roles – junior doctor Paul Collier in the comedy series ''Doctor in the House'' and its sequ ...

, actor – starred in ''

Confessions of a Driving Instructor ''Confessions of a Driving Instructor'' is a 1976 British sex-farce film directed by Norman Cohen and starring Robin Askwith and Anthony Booth. It was the third instalment of the ''Confessions'' series, based on the novels by Christopher Wood ...

'' * Geoffrey Myers CBE – British Rail executive and chairman from 1987 to 1995 of Transaid * Prof John Needham – Professor of Architecture from 1957 to 1972 at the

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* Maurice Peston, Baron Peston (briefly), economist at

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, and father of

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* J. B. Priestley OM, writer, who wrote ''

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'', and Freeman of the City of Bradford *

Simon Rouse Simon Rouse (born 24 June 1951) is an English actor, known for playing the role of Detective Chief Inspector, later Superintendent, Jack Meadows in the long-running ITV police drama ''The Bill''. Early life Rouse was born in Fagley, Bradford, ...

– actor who played Jack Meadows in ''

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'' * Jack Schofield – former computer editor, ''

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'' * Sydney Smith CBE – chairman from 1956 to 1965 of the

Scottish Gas Board The Scottish Gas Board was a state-owned utility providing gas for light and heat to industries and homes in Scotland. The Board was established on 1 May 1949, and dissolved in 1973 when it became a region of the British Gas Corporation. Probl ...

and from 1952 to 1956 of the East Midlands Gas Board * Prof

Fred Watson Frederick Garnett Watson AM (born 14 December 1944) is an English-born astronomer and popular scientist in Australia. He was appointed as Australia's First Astronomer at Large within the Commonwealth Government of Australia in 2018, relaying ...

AM – astronomer *

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– Labour MP from 1934 to 1935 for Hammersmith North and from 1929 to 1931

Kensington North Kensington North was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Kensington district of west London. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Ki ...

References

External links

Beckfoot Upper Heaton official website

News items

Former school site to open as a Muslim school in May 2004
{{Authority control Schools in Bradford Educational institutions established in 1877 1877 establishments in England Secondary schools in the City of Bradford Academies in the City of Bradford People educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School, Bradford