Harrogate High School - History

History

The school was founded in 1973 as Harrogate Granby High School by the amalgamation of the previous Harrogate High School with Granby Park Secondary Modern School. Both schools had been founded in the 1960s, Granby Park by the amalgamation of New Park Secondary School and Starbeck Secondary School in 1964. Granby was dropped from the current school's name only in September 2005.

The new school took over the buildings and grounds of the neighbouring St. John Fisher Catholic High School (which had relocated to its current site in parkland on the south side of Harrogate), creating a 13 -hectare (32 acre) campus bounded by residential housing to the west, the Harrogate Line to the north, Kingsley Drive to the south, and Kingsley Road to the east. The first head of the new school was Mr. F. W. Kimber, previously head of the old Harrogate High School. At that time the school had over 2000 students on roll.

The school now has 720 students on roll. Its 2008 Ofsted Inspection Report found that the school is satisfactory with good capacity to improve. It also found that the extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community, and adopt healthy lifestyles and safe practices, is good. In 2009, its pass rate for five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C was 99.3%. . In 2010 the school was monitored by Ofsted who has deemed the school of making good progress in making improvements and good progress in demonstrating a better capacity for sustained improvement.

In December 2010 the renowned actor and gay rights champion Sir Ian McKellen visited Harrogate High School as part of his national campaign to tackle homophobic discrimination and bullying in Britain’s schools.

On 1 June 2012 Harrogate High School converted to an academy.

Harrogate High School announced it is one of 261 schools nationwide to be chosen for the Priority School Building Programme. The new school is expected to open in two to three years time.

Harrogate Hockey Club, a club with a team in the National League of the English Hockey League (EHL) have a clubhouse and artificial pitch located within the boundaries of the school.

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