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I have recently revised the navigation buttons at the left of this
page and photos and snippets of information for each decade of the
school's history can now be opened from the menu which appears when
you click on the "Timeline" button. None of the previous
content has been removed, just reorganised, and more material added.
Listed below are some of the key dates in
the history of the school, mainly of the boys' school in the old
edwardian building, which I attended from 1959-66. I have made no
systematic attempt to chronicle the history of the girls' school,
which later became the mixed high school, in the "new"
buildings across the railway track at Congress Mount , although
it does get mentioned in passing.
The key dates prior
to 1957 are taken from the book which was published to mark the
50th anniversary of the school. The later dates are from various
sources. If anyone would like to suggest dates for other important
events, or make corrections, I would be happy to include them.
-JS
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| 1907 |
- The School opened on 7th September 1907
- The school was effectively two schools in one as both Girls
and Boys were kept completely separate from each other.
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| 1909 |
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| 1917 |
- Kindergarten building erected.
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| 1925 |
- Retirement of Christopher Darling and appointment of Thomas
Curzon as Headmaster
- Separate Boys' & Girls' Speech Days introduced
- House System indtroduced
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| 1926 |
- Rugby introduced as the winter game
- Dramatic Society's 1st production " The White Monks of
Kirkstall"
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| 1929 |
- Death of 1st Chairman of Governors Mr J Wormald
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| 1931 |
- Establishment of the Wormald scholarship and the Mrs Gott Travel
scholarship
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| 1939 |
- School evacuated to Retford for 3 months.
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| 1941 |
- Retirement of the last of the original staff- Mr W Osborn.
- Inauguration of the school Cadet Force
- Ouside air-raid shelter completed and basement corridor reinforced
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| 1942 |
- Appointment of the 1st old boy to become Chairman of Governors-Mr
J Hiley
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| 1944 |
- Butler Education Act , establishing free secondary education
for all,abolishing fees and terminating futher admissions to the
kindergarten and junior school
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| 1946 |
- Building of the new Boys' Dining Hall
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| 1949 |
- Retirement of Thomas Curzon and appointment of John Barnshaw
as headmaster
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| 1950 |
- Last members of junior school moved up to the main school
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| 1951 |
- General Cerificate of Education (GCE) replaced School and Higher
School Cerificates
- Boy's Speech day 1st held in Leeds Town Hall
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| 1952 |
- Sharing Laboratory accommodation with girls ceased
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| 1954 |
- The last class to join the Kindergarten (aged 7 in 1943), pass
into the Junior School and then into the main school (after the
11+) left the school.
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| 1955 |
- Building of new "prefab" classroom block
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| 1956 |
- Building of the new Girls' School commenced
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| 1957 |
- School Jubilee (50 years)
- Publication of "West Leeds High School,
A Chronicle History" by Oswald H Harland
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| 1959 |
- the Girls School moved to a new site and formed West Leeds
Girls' High School on the Congress Mount Campus.
- The Boys' school remained in the old building and formed West
Leeds Boys' High School.
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| 1969 |
- Headmaster JS Barnshaw retired; replaced by Mr Nichols
- Boys' and Girls' schools reunited by a footbridge to form a
new Comprehensive School for all new entants.
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| 1974 |
- Transition from grammar school to comprehensive.
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| 1987 |
- The Old School building was Grade II listed.
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| 1992 |
- The
boys' school closed and moved to the new site leaving the old
Edwardian Grade II listed building empty
- In 1993 the Schools finally re-merged to form West Leeds High
School.on the Congress Mount campus
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| 1999 |
- The Boys Campus was sold off and turned into apartments and
sold as 'Old School Lofts'.
- The Grade II listed Edwardian school
was converted into duplex apartments in 1999 by the North British
Housing Association
- The Congress Mount Campus was expanded in 1999 to become the
size it is today.
- The School also merged with Benjamin Gott High School, as the
school had failing results and students on its roll
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| 2004 |
- In 2004 the School applied for the Technology Status and was
achieved to become West Leeds High School Specialist Technology
College.
- The School renovated some of the classrooms and fitted new SmartBoard
Software in Classrooms.
- WLBHS Pictorial History website founded.
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| 2006 |
- In 2006 the school was told that it would be merging with Wortley
High School to form one new school.
- The new school would be built on the West Leeds Congress Mount
Campus and would finally merge in 2009.
- Governemnt rules on affordable housing changed and the "Old
School Lofts" were reconverted into apartments for sale.
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| 2007 |
- School centenary -Sept 7th.
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