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Bishop Walsh Catholic School

Bishop Walsh Catholic School is a secondary school located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham in the West Midlands of England.

Introduction

Bishop Walsh Catholic School is a Performing Arts College, Mathematics and Computing College and Sixth Form centre. The school opened in 1966 and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006 with a mass in the school building which was conducted by Vincent Gerard Nichols (Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop of Birmingham).

The school is named after Bishop Thomas Walsh and currently teaches 760 pupils aged 11-16 and around 240 further pupils in VI form. The current head teacher is Mr John B. Farrell,who took over from Mr Mike Moran on 1st September 2008. The school is managed by the senior management and the board of governors, Rt. Rev. Monsignor D. Cousins, is currently the chair of the governors.

Mission statement

The school's mission statement is: "Caring to Learn: Learning to Care". Bishop Walsh aims to be a secure and happy Catholic school where they try to follow the example of Christ, enjoy learning and do their best. They believe in excellence and in developing their talents in a variety of ways.

Specialist Status

In 2006 the school applied to renew its bid as a performing arts college which was successful. It also achieved specialist status as a Mathematics and Computing College. Bishop Walsh now belongs to three of the Specialist Schools Trust's award clubs. The School is enroled in the club for highest performing results, the highest valued scores from SATs (see National Curriculum assessment) to GCSE and the third club is for the most improved schools over the past four years. Only 34 schools in the UK, excluding Walsh belong to all three clubs, placing the school in the top 1.2% of specialist schools in the UK.

Position within the community

As the school is the only establishment for secondary Catholic education in Sutton Coldfield, the school is actively involved in many projects and activities. The school takes part in many sporting events which include; Sutton School's athletics, swimming, hockey, football and the most recent addition, ultimate Frisbee. The school supports local performing arts groups, which include the biggest 'Stagecoach' group in the county of the West Midlands with over 300 pupils attending. Another group that meets at the school is 'The Sutton Coldfield Community Choir', run by music teacher Kryz Weber.

The school is involved with many projects with the Catholic Partnership, which includes the Year 10 young leaders project,sporting competitions and other religious orientated projects and events. The school's local cluster group is The Sutton Central Group The school has with the cluster arranged free dental care for young people in Sutton and an enterprising project, with Year 10 pupils, recycling bikes in the local community.

School management and staffing

From September 2008

Current Headteacher: Mr John Farrell
Acting Deputy Head - i/c/ pupil engagement and well being: Mrs Deirdre Duignan
Deputy Head- i/c Discipline: Miss Mary Casey (Post to be dissolved October 2008)
Assistant Headteacher i/c Post-16 Education: Mr Peter Howes
Assistant Acting Headteacher i/c Teaching & Learning :Mr Henyrk Koryl
Assistant Headteacher i/c Inclusion Special Needs Education (SENCO): Miss Belinda Dunphy
Finance & Admin Manager: Mrs Dawn Knott

Catholic partnership

Bishop Walsh Catholic School is a Member of the Catholic Partnership.

The Core Purpose of the Catholic Partnership is to promote the Common Good, as outlined by the Bishops of England and Wales, in Birmingham's Catholic Secondary schools.

Admission criteria

11-16 education

Bishop Walsh Catholic School is a Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided School serving, in the first instance, the local Roman Catholic Community. Pupils are normally admitted to the school between the ages of 11 and 16 years, the operative date being September 1 of the current school year.

All pupils are expected to take part in Religious Education lessons. All the criteria apply for years 7 - 11 in the school.

To support their application, parents/ guardians will be required to provide evidence that their children are baptised Catholics.

The Governors have adopted Birmingham LEA's definition of brothers and sisters and residency. The Governors have the right to check with Parish Priests that the child's residency lies within the four Sutton Coldfield parish boundaries.

These priorities having been applied, in the event of over-subscription, applications will be admitted in an order of priority within the appropriate category, based upon the proximity of their domicile to the front door of Holy Trinity R.C. Church, measured in a straight line.

In cases of refusal of admission by the Governors, parents have the right of appeal against that decision and, in such a case, an Appeals body will be constituted in accordance with the arrangements laid down by the 1998 Education Act.

Feeder schools

The following schools are feeder schools to Bishop Walsh, pupils in these schools are automatically given a place at Bishop Walsh, parents have the right to turn down the offer of a place.

St. Joseph's, Sutton Coldfield
Holy Cross, Walmley
St. Nicholas, Boldmere

Sixth Form entry

There is a separate Admissions Criteria for the Sixth Form.

Sixth Form entry from 2008

To help raise standards in the Sixth Form and make sure all candidates can cope with A Levels, the governors have changed the entry requirements to study A Level and BTECcourses, for A Levels a point score of 230 is required,which is equivalent to 5 Bs at GCSE, with 5 passes at grade C in separate subjects. Pupils can also be admitted to one year intermediate courses (BTEC) in which they will 4 to 5 GCSEs at grades A* to C, candidates will need a GCSE point score of 112, the equivalent to 4 grade E's at GCSE.

External applicants are required to complete a Governors’ Application form for a Sixth form place and sign to accept the conditions of entry. All candidates will be interviewed and references will be called for from schools currently attended by applicants.External applicants are only accepted if there are available places within. In addition, if more applications are received than there are places available the Governors will allocate places in the following order:

Baptised Catholic students with brothers or sisters already in the school
Baptised Catholic students already attending Catholic Secondary schools
Baptised Catholic students attending non-Catholic Secondary schools
Non-Catholic students with brothers or sisters already in the school
Non-Catholic students attending other Catholic schools
Non-Catholic students

Internal applicants from Year 11 receive a priority if they meet the entry requirements for post-16 courses and who have submitted a Governors' application form. All internal candidates are subject to an interview with the headteacher to discuss future plans and assess suitability for AS/A2 studies.