Wath Comprehensive School
 |
|
| Motto |
Latin: Meliora Spectare (Look to Better Things) |
|---|---|
| Established | 17 September 1923 |
| Type | Foundation school |
| Headteacher | Mr Jon Taylor |
| Deputy Headteachers | Mr Paul McIntosh Mr Rick Powell |
| Chair of Governors | Mrs Irene Hartley MBE |
| Location |
Sandygate Wath-upon-Dearne Rotherham South Yorkshire S63 7NW England Coordinates: 53°29′48″N 1°20′31″W / 53.4967°N 1.3419°W |
| Local authority | Rotherham |
| DfE number | 372/4017 |
| DfE URN | 106954 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Capacity | 1,740 |
| Students | 1,876 as of November 2015[update] |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Houses | Athens, Carthage, Rome, Sparta, Thebes and Troy |
| Colours | Maroon and gold |
| Publication | The Torch |
| Former names | Wath Secondary School (1923–1931) Wath-upon-Dearne Grammar School (1931–1974) |
| Website | School website |
Wath Comprehensive School: A Language College is a mixed secondary school on Sandygate in Wath-upon-Dearne, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.
The school is a specialist Language College, though it is non-selective. It has approximately 1,900 pupils between the ages of 11 and 18 on roll, including around 400 in the sixth form.
There is also a school council, which contributes to the decisions made by the head and speaks on behalf of all the students in all years.
Although the school has links to a seventeenth century school that existed in Wath, the current institution was founded in 1923 as Wath Secondary School. It was located on Park Road, sitting on the site of what is now Wath Central Primary School. The school was controlled by West Riding County Council.
Wath Secondary School rapidly outgrew its original building, which led to lessons taking place in a number of borrowed locations scattered throughout Wath. To rectify this, the school moved into new, purpose-built accommodation on Sandygate in 1930. The institution became known as Wath-upon-Dearne Grammar School in 1931. The school was expanded with many new buildings and extensions in the early 1950s.
In January 1964, with the scrapping of the eleven-plus exam in the area, the school absorbed the neighbouring Park Road Secondary Modern School, although it was some time before it was designated a comprehensive school in 1972 and renamed Wath Comprehensive School in 1974 (which coincided with the school coming under the control of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council). The secondary modern site became the first year wing of the school. Due to expansion, the school also reoccupied a corner of the Wath Central Primary School site for a period, making a total of three sites. The school was awarded language college status in 2001.
Over time, the school's buildings, on all three sites, aged badly. In its 1997 report on the school, Ofsted described the accommodation as 'quite appalling', 'debilitating' and 'some of the worst working conditions the inspection team has seen'. The Inspectors highlighted 'damp seeping through the walls and ceilings', 'decaying door and window fittings', 'areas of crumbling asphalt and potholes' and 'falling plaster', before going on to conclude:
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