Holmfirth High School is a mixed comprehensive school for 1300 pupils. It has the capacity to accommodate 260 pupils per year group, recently new years have been made up of the children from our own catchment area, and about sixty pupils from out of catchment. The school was subject to an Ofsted inspection in July 2012.
The outcomes were:
Exam Result standards Outstanding
Teaching and Learning Outstanding
Behaviour & Safety Outstanding
Leadership & Management Outstanding
The overall judgement Outstanding
It is rare for schools to achieve outstanding judgements across the board and it was pleasing to get such affirmation of the quality of our work.
Some quotes from the report follow:
"Achievement is outstanding. All groups of students make progress at better than expected rates and they attain very high standards by the end of Key Stage 4. This is underpinned by the extremely well-developed communication skills they gain throughout their time at the school."
"Leadership and management are excellent at all levels. There is strong drive and ambition, with priorities firmly centred on continuous improvement."
"Students benefit from excellent teaching which develops independence, creativity, innovation and risk taking. They are encouraged to think for themselves and explore ideas through a range of challenging activities and tasks, which move learning forward at a fast pace."
"Behaviour and safety are outstanding. Students engage respectfully with each other and with adults, within a calm orderly environment. Students take responsibility for their own learning and they actively ensure an exceptionally positive, safe climate for learning."
The school has many awards for its work including:
High Performing Specialist School
National Leaders of Education
Sportsmark
National Support School
Artsmark
and also quality marks from:
Calderdale and Kirklees Careers Service for our work on Information, Advice and Guidance
Nurture Group Network for our work with the intensive support we offer pupils
Kirklees Council for our work on Parenting Support
Children enjoy high levels of exam success and the school has been one of the top achieving Kirklees Comprehensive Schools over the last ten years. School league tables report the percentage of pupils achieving at least five A*-C passes at GCSE including English and Maths, but at Holmfirth High the average child achieves 10 GCSE grades at C grade or better, including the academic subjects of English, Maths, Science, and Languages. In fact, 44% of our pupils achieved at least 3 A*/A successes with many getting A*/A passes across the whole spectrum of subjects. The C grade pass rate across all students and subjects over the last five years is 80%.
The Ofsted inspection team described our curriculum as exceptional. Whilst we are a Mathematics, Computing and Applied Learning Specialist school, we ensure a very broad and balanced curriculum. We offer a full range of academic courses but also wide access to vocational options.
We try to ensure pupils are well prepared for work – an illustration of this is that apart from their GCSE qualifications our pupils leave school having had access to courses and qualifications in Food Hygiene, First Aid, E-safety and Health and Safety at work. Our children have access to activities and courses in vocational areas such as Hairdressing, Health and Social Care, Catering and Motor Vehicle Maintenance as well as a full range of GCSE courses including the separate Sciences, three Languages, Geology, Sociology, Dance, Drama, and so many more.
