Crossley Heath pupils aiming high

All Saints Catholic College Almondbury Community School Batley Girls High School Batley Grammar School BBG Academy Castle Hall Academy Trust Colne Valley High School Heckmondwike Grammar School Holmfirth High School Honley High School King James's School Manor Croft Academy Moor End Academy Nether Hall Learning Campus High School Newsome High School North Huddersfield Trust School Royds Hall Community School Salendine Nook Academy Trust Shelley College Spen Valley High School St John Fisher Catholic Voluntary Academy The Mirfield Free Grammar Thornhill Community Academy Trust Upper Batley High School Westborough High School Whitcliffe Mount School THE top school in Calderdale is Crossley Heath which takes many pupils from the Huddersfield area.

It’s a selective school so prospective pupils have to take an entrance exam and those with the highest marks are offered places.

The school now has 1,116 students in Years 7-13 with an intake of 180 each year.

The school says it is “heavily oversubscribed” for places each year.

Crossley Heath also has a sixth form and many pupils opt to stay on there, while it also accepts students who have been at other schools.

Headteacher Wendy Moffat said: “The aim of Crossley Heath School is to provide all students with an educational experience which allows them to achieve academic results and provide opportunities for them to grow in confidence and as leaders.

“All students are encouraged to develop skills and qualities to take forward into the future – whatever the future will be.

“Aspirations here are high and we strive to maintain an ethos where all students are encouraged to aim high and develop their talents.

“Our school is a friendly place and one where all students are expected to work hard and achieve their full potential.

“We aim to provide our students with a broad curriculum which will stimulate and challenge them all to achieve their best.”

The school’s history can be traced back to February 1585 when Queen Elizabeth signed the charter establishing “the free grammar school of Queen Elizabeth.”

The magnificent Crossley Heath school building owes its existence to the philanthropy of the Crossley brothers, Joseph.

In 1857 they formulated a scheme for the establishment of a ‘superior college for the district.’

Building work began the same year but by 1861 the brothers had decided to establish an ‘Orphan Home and School for Boys and Girls.’

With the building work complete, the first six orphans, all boys, arrived in June 1864.