About Us
About The School
The Future of Harrop Fold
Arts Council England
Teaching and Learning
The Curriculum and Exam Results
Results
Ofsted
Values and Attributes
What Our Students Think of Us!
Harrop Fold School is an 11 – 16 comprehensive with approximately 1200 students. It predominantly serves the Salford areas.
The school is presently on a split site with Key Stage 3 students catered for on the Hilton Lane site and Key Stage 4 on the Longshaw Drive site.
The school is served well by public transport and is close to the M60 and East Lancashire Road making it accessible from the Greater Manchester area and other surrounding towns and cities.
The forth coming year is an exciting time to be part of Harrop Fold School.
The school and Salford City Council have been successful in obtaining sponsorship for a Private Finance Initiative for a single building on our Hilton Lane site, which will be ready in the year 2008.
This exciting new facility will allow our students access to state of the art equipment and facilities that will enhance their learning experience.
Students have been heavily involved in assisting with the design through consultation, assemblies and the School Council and we have had some lovely ideas that show how responsible and interested our students are.
These include:
- A mini-nature reserve
- Flower beds for a gardening club
- Recycling facilities for all school waste
- “Ginormous drama rooms”
- Sound proofed rooms for revision
- Covered picnic areas so students can eat out “even when it’s rainy”
- Plenty of bins to keep the school tidy
- Plenty of sports facilities so we can play after school
Working with the PFI consortium we are trying to respond to as many of these requests as possible and hope to have a new school building that students will love to come to.
Currently the school, with the support of Salford City Council, have brought in over 200 new computers equating to 1 computer for every 2.5 students. This is well above national average and highlights how important it is for our students to have access to facilities and equipment.
Most of our classrooms have projectors and interactive whiteboards and all curriculum subjects are able to make use of the exciting interactive software now available to support education.
Click here to see images of our exiting new building.
The school has invested heavily in the areas of Drama, Music and Art. We have been successful in achieving the Artsmark Gold for a second time. This has prompted us to build upon our success and bid for specialism in Performing Arts. The outcome to this will be known in 2007.
To herald the launch of our bid to gain Performing Arts’ College status, we invited the Mighty Zulu Nation, a South African Theatre company, to work with students over three days.
The students took inspiration from Zulu culture and enjoyed workshops in Drama, Music, Art and Dance. We look forward to seeing more performances from our students in the future!
We believe that every child has the capacity to learn and has something positive to offer society, we aim:
- To provide a broad, balanced curriculum which students find stimulating and enjoyable, and which provides them with skills, knowledge and understanding relevant to their current and future needs.
- To promote the spiritual, moral, social, cultural, intellectual and physical developments of all students.
- To encourage the pursuit of excellence by developing the talents and abilities of each student to the full.
- To provide for the special needs of all students including those with particular abilities or disabilities.
- To promote, through active involvement, an appreciation of the achievements of different cultures.
- To develop in each student the confidence to face the challenges and responsibilities of adult life.
- To promote physical fitness and healthy living.
The Curriculum and Exam Results
We believe that all students have the right to a broad and balanced curriculum that is suited to their needs.
Year 7 (Hilton Lane Site)
In 2006, Harrop Fold introduced a ‘Foundation Year’ that we felt would ease the transition for students from Primary school to the very different environment of Secondary school. Students have a Form Tutor who delivers 15 out of 25 lessons per week in the same classroom which is the students’ base.
A broad and balanced curriculum is offered at Key Stage 3 which is designed to provide a stimulating and exciting range of experiences. The subjects studied are: English, Maths, Science, Information Communication Technology, Humanities (History, Geography, RE and Citizenship), French or Spanish, Music, Art, Drama and PE.
Years 8 and 9
In years 8 and 9, students will study the same subjects introduced in year 7 but will be taught in the more traditional high school method where students move to specialist rooms for their teaching and learning. This will then help to prepare them for the move to upper school.
Key Stage 4
Upper school – Longshaw Drive
In years 10 and 11, the courses are more specialised offering a wide range of choice. English, Maths, Science, ICT, Key Skills and PE remain compulsory. Towards the end of year 9, however, students are given the opportunity to select optional subjects. These are guided choices made after careful consultation with parents/carers and staff and of course the students themselves. The number of courses available varies each year.
We also offer a range of GCSE, GNVQ, Diplomas and NVQ courses which support the development of individual skills and interests, some of which are offered in partnership with local colleges.
Most students sit between 9 and 11 GCSE (or equivalent) examinations at the end of year 11. Some students have the option of early entry whilst others may have a more vocational programme tailored to their specific needs.
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
|
% 5+ A*-C grades |
25 |
20 |
21 |
44 |
% 5+ A*-C grades (inc. Eng and Maths) |
22 |
15 |
15 |
19 |
% 5+ A*-G grades |
86 |
81 |
77 |
78 |
Since 2003 GCSE results have almost doubled at Harrop Fold. Over the past three years we have seen a steady increase in results: something of which we are all very proud of!
These results have surpassed anything that we have achieved before and highlight that even more success is just around the corner!
2007 is going to be a very exciting time at our school!
Ofsted
The school was last inspected in December 2005.
The report describes the Leadership of the school as: The headteacher's outstanding leadership has transformed the school into a place where students and staff want to be.
Teaching and Learning are also praised: Teaching and learning have improved significantly and are satisfactory with a core of good practice.
Specific comments were:
- The Head Teacher is well supported by senior and middle managers, and all are united around raising standards.
- The majority of students enjoy their learning. They say: 'we enjoy our lessons now because more of us want to learn' and 'The Cyber Caf‚ is brilliant'.
- Most students are keen to learn and determined to succeed, as evidenced by the work of the seven 'Chefs' in Year 11 who have been given apprenticeships.
- Behaviour is good; a very significant improvement since the last inspection. Many students welcomed inspectors and were eager to tell them just how much their school had improved over the last year.
- Students' views are heard and acted upon; this lies at the heart of the rapid and recent improvements within the school.
- the teachers move up a gear as the students achieve, so that students are continuously challenged and learn at a rapid rate.
- The transformation in the school over the last four terms has been remarkable, and there is strong capacity for further improvement. The school's assessment that leadership and management are satisfactory is too modest a view given the degree and rate of change.
- The headteacher provides outstanding leadership, described as inspirational by many staff. He leads by example and is highly visible around the sites. He is an excellent role model and a very strong advocate for the students.
More information can be found at www.ofsted.gov.uk
We believe that children learn their values and attitudes from a range of sources. The most important of these is the homes but the school has a vital part to play, we aim:
- To encourage students to develop responsibility and a positive sense of their own worth based on honesty, reliability and self discipline.
- To encourage a caring attitude, a belief in equality of opportunity, a respect for the rights of others and a capacity for independent thought.
- To develop the ability to work co-operatively whilst providing opportunities for healthy competition.
- To encourage active concern for the environment, locally and world wide.
- To maintain a disciplined and friendly atmosphere within which everyone in the school treats each other with courtesy, respect and tolerance.
What Our Students Think of Us!
The staff at Harrop Fold have been successful in moving the school out of Special Measures to become one of the fastest improving schools in England. A large part of this improvement has been responding to the needs and likes of our students.
Here is what a few said when we asked why they like coming to school…
“You get to learn new things”
“We really like the creative subjects like Art and Drama”
“I want to improve my life and grow up into someone good”
“We have been working on NVQ catering and have both got work placements for next year and apprenticeships for when we leave school”
“I like everything about school”
