Honley High School


Honley High School is a secondary school situated on the edge of the village of Honley in the Holme Valley, West Yorkshire, England. The catchment area includes the neighbouring villages of Brockholes, Honley and Meltham. Honley High has around 1,250 pupils aged 11-16. The school houses the specialist autism provision for young people with ASD from the South Kirklees area.

History

Grammar school

The school was established in September 1932. Sir James Hinchliffe LL.D, chairman of the West Riding County Council, officially opened the school at a ceremony held on Saturday 29 April 1933 at which the Bishop of Wakefield, Dr J Buchanan Seaton offered a prayer of dedication.
The building was designed by architect H. Wormald, A.R.I.B.A. It was extended in the 1950s with the addition of new classrooms, including a geography room, biology lab, music room, dining room and kitchen, in the original style.
At the time of the opening the school had a teaching staff of 14 and could accommodate 480 pupils.

Comprehensive school

In 1973 Holme Valley Grammar School became Honley High School and a new complex of modern buildings accompanied the changeover to a comprehensive education. These included a sports hall, gymnasium, music rooms, drama studio, and art and craft rooms and workshops.
In the jubilee year of 1982 the school had a teaching staff of 82 and a pupil population of approximately 1,300.
In February 2000 Honley High featured in a list of only 29 schools that Ofsted announced had "excellent" improvement since the first round of inspections. The 2005 Ofsted report described the school as 'good', complimenting its headteacher, pupils, teaching and value for money, with reservations over the I.T. department, marking procedures and information to parents. Subsequent reports in 2008 and 2011 judged the school as Grade 2 "Good" for overall effectiveness. The 2013 report gave the school an overall Grade 3 "Requires improvement" judgment, with concerns over pupils' progress, inconsistent teaching and lesson planning, and inadequate pupil monitoring. Strengths noted were the good progress of pupils with special needs, good GCSE results, positive pupil involvement, and the focus of governors and leaders.
The school was further extended in 2001-02 providing new facilities for the mathematics and English departments. This new wing was named after alumni Roy Castle, following a poll of pupils.
In January 2014 Paul Greenough became the Headteacher.

Notable former pupils

Holme Valley Grammar School