ROYDS Hall High is celebrating 90 years of being a school at the heart of the community.

From its humble beginnings as a 69-pupil secondary school in 1921, the school has grown considerably in both size and reputation over the decades.

Today Royds Hall has 842 pupils and is a trust school which embodies the ethical deeds and fair trade ethos of the Co-operative movement.

Teachers from all over the region come to Paddock to see for themselves their highly successful tutoring and curriculum systems, which involve bringing students of varying ages together.

The school is also a specialist college for science and mathematics, which enables Royds Hall to attract extra resources in these fields. Staff believe that this helps them to better prepare students for work or higher education.

They are proud of their record that not a single school leaver last summer was classed as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).

Staff and pupils have already begun celebrating the 90-year milestone. At a recent event at Cathedral House, St Thomas Road, more than 300 students received books and tokens for “excellent achievement” in school and the community.

At another event, some 300 people visited the school to see old photographs and enjoy afternoon tea on the lawn. Headteacher Melanie Williams said: “There are an awful lot of people in the community who came to Royds Hall and regard it with affection.

“The school has been delivering high quality education for 90 years and is very much at the heart of the community.

“We were an early multi-cultural school and currently have 45% of students with multi-cultural backgrounds, representing 30 countries.

“Paddock has always been an area which has attracted immigrants and it is a very vibrant community. Our students understand the importance of harmony and are immensely proud of the school.”

In May of this year, Royds Hall became a Co-operative Trust School. Ms Williams summed up the school’s ethos: “Aspire, learn and achieve in a caring and mutually supporting environment”

The school’s trust partners are Huddersfield New College, Huddersfield Town Football Club, Holmfirth Fair Traders and Sheffield Hallam University Science Centre.

One of the school’s pioneering methods is its “vertical curriculum”. Teachers take classes of option subjects with mixed aged groups, drawn from Years Nine to 11 (13 to 15-year-olds). The subjects are studied more intensively, with two three-hour classes a week, and the scheme has proved highly successful.