St. Nicholas Catholic High School - History

History

St Nicholas Catholic High School opened as a secondary modern on 6 September 1965, with Michael O'Connor as its first head teacher, and Father R.Velarde, Parish Priest of St. Wilfrid's, Northwich as the first Chairman of Governors. It was the first Catholic secondary school in mid-Cheshire. The initial building programme cost £160,000, 71.2% of which came from the local Catholic communities, with the remainder being provided by the LEA.

In 1972, the school became a comprehensive, and changed its name to St Nicholas High School. At the same time, a new science and languages block was built to the side of the original building. In 1979, a new sixth form block was opened by Mark Carlisle, the Secretary of State for education. Remodelled science laboratories followed in 1989, and a music suite and additional science laboratories in 1992.

In 1995, O'Connor retired after 30 years as headmaster, and was replaced by Gerard Boyle. In 2003, the school was awarded Business and Enterprise status. The school also holds the eco-schools green flag, Healthy Schools status and the Inclusion Quality Mark.

St Nicholas has extended and refurbished the originally standing sports hall with science and language rooms at the rear at a total cost of ₤11.5 million as well as a refurbished Sixth Form Centre and new Geography rooms.

Gerard Boyle retired at the end of the 2009 term; his replacement is Kieran Kelly.

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