St Joseph's Catholic and Anglican High School
Coordinates: 53°02′06″N 2°59′38″W / 53.035°N 2.994°W
St Joseph's Catholic and Anglican High School is a secondary school in Wrexham, Wales, located on Sontley Road and situated on the edge of the Erdigg estate. The school is opposite the Bishop of Wrexham's residence. It is currently the only shared Church school in Wales. The two Bishops of the Catholic Dioceses of Wrexham and the Anglican Church in Wales Diocese of St. Asaph have a shared responsibility for the school.
History
St Joseph's was opened in 1912 as St Joseph's Catholic Secondary Modern School. Headmaster - Mr Martin Cleary. In 1972 St Joseph's became a Comprehensive High School. It joined up with the Anglican church in 2006.
Originally there were three forms, or 'houses': Bishops, Abbots and Gwyns (named for the martyr St Richard Gwyn). Eventually these were renamed and expanded and for many years there were four forms: Hannon, Mostyn, Petit and Vaughan. When the school gained joint church school status, the pupils were asked to vote for the new form names, based on contemporary religious icons. The following five names were chosen: Romero (after Oscar Romero), Cassidy (after Sheila Cassidy), Devereux (after Sean Devereux), Kolbe (after Maximilian Kolbe), King (after Martin Luther King).
In 2006 St Joseph's became a joint Anglican- Catholic school. The school has never been exclusively Catholic and has always (at least as far back as 1978) admitted non-Catholic students - mainly Anglicans.
Today the school is a vibrant worshipping community which celebrates the richness of the two traditions whilst also acknowledging the distinctive elements of each church. The whole school Eucharists alternate between the two traditions.
The current headteacher is Mrs Maria B Rimmer who has worked tirelessly in raising standards, Andrew building on the successes of the previous headteacher, Mr John Kenworthy. In the year of 2010, Mr R Woods was appointed to become the deputy head, but he was replaced by Mr C Wilkinson in 2013. Both Deputy Headteachers were also R.E specialist teachers.
Academics
The school introduces some new topics that are different from primary school such as French, German, Drama, and various technology subjects.
Academically St Joseph's is one of the most successful schools in the north of Wales. An official Welsh Assembly government inspection in spring 2008 awarded the school the maximum grading possible: seven grade ones.
External links
- "st-joseph.wrexham.sch.uk". School website. Retrieved 2009-11-01.