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History and LocationDedicated to St Ambrose Barlow, a local Martyr and Saint, the school was established in 1985 as a result of an amalgamation of the Hollies RC High School for Girls and St Marks RC High School for Boys. The school is situated on a pleasant site in Didsbury, a suburb of Manchester and is easily accessible from the new A34 bypass and the M56 and M60 local motorway networks. Facilities The school has excellent facilities. These include; seven science laboratories, six maths rooms and six IT rooms, three Art rooms, two dining areas, a sports hall and gym, a purpose built drama hall, seven design technology rooms, a Learning Resource Centre and a library. Our classrooms have recently been upgraded to offer interactive technology which allows pupils access to a wealth of 21st century resources. Admission Details The school admits children from the contributory parishes of St Ambrose, St Bernadette (to the east of Princess Parkway), St Bernard, St Catherine and St Cuthbert and from the associated primary schools of St Ambrose, St Bernard, St Catherine and St Cuthbert. These parishes and primary schools serve the areas of Burnage, Barlow Moor, Didsbury, Fallowfield, Old Moat and Withington. The school is always heavily over-subscribed. At present 33% of pupils are entitled to free school meals. The intake of the school, therefore, is truly comprehensive with children of all abilities and aptitudes. In 2006 56% of children achieved 5 or more GCSE's at A*-C, an increase of 7% on the previous year. Teaching InformationThe school currently has 60 teaching staff. All staff are particularly dedicated to the children, school and community. Teaching is recognised as a significant strength of the school, as is the commitment to provide extra curricular activities for the children. AttainmentPupil profile on entry indicates most pupils join us with attainment at, or above, the national average. At the end of Key Stages 3 and 4 however, attainment is in line with the national average and significantly above the LEA average. School DevelopmentThe current School Development plan has been devised to enable the school to focus upon and further improve the raising of achievement as a priority and to achieve this through improvements in the school curriculum, Staff Development and Information Technology as a curricular and administrative tool. Pastoral DetailsThe school has a strong pastoral provision with Pupil Learning Coordinator and Form Tutors for each year group. The academic structure is based on eleven Faculties each having a Faculty Leader and Deputy Faculty Leader. Generally, the teaching areas allocated to each Faculty are grouped together. |