Welcome to Kettlethorpe High School

Welcome to the Kettlethorpe High School website, that details key information about the working life of the school.

Kettlethorpe High School is a popular and inclusive school where all our pupils matter. The school remains a school of choice and we have pupils who join the school from across the Wakefield, Barnsley and Kirklees areas. Pupils enjoy attending the school and we have attendance figures that are well above the national average.

At the heart of any school is the curriculum, both in terms of lessons and learning, as well as the extra-curricular opportunities and wider life of the school. The teaching curriculum is broad and highly ambitious and our pupils do very well in public examinations. This allows them to move onto Post-16 college and employment opportunities on their terms.

As a school, we are very proud of our extra-curricular offer and the vast range of clubs and activities that are available to pupils. We really do encourage every pupil to get involved, attend every day and enjoy what there is on offer to them. This supports their wider development and Ofsted endorsed the school’s offer in June 2022 in their inspection report that described the work of the school, to support the personal development of pupil as ‘being noteworthy’. We are proud of this, as the character of a person does much to enhance their life chances. In June 2023, the school was awarded the Quality in Careers Standard.

Pupil outcomes are also impressive and the school’s entry figures for the suite of subjects known as the ‘English Baccalaureate’ really are impressive and amongst the very best of any school across the North of England. This year, 2023, we had 77% of our Year 11 enter for the ‘EBacc’ and the results were, for the fourth year running, the best across the Wakefield district by a ‘country mile!’

Across the school we have a well-embedded culture of ‘richer reading’. This involves every pupil reading literature that is age appropriate to develop a ‘love’ of reading and to develop literacy skills that support their learning.

The school community is also very charitable and, over the last ten years, the school community has raised well over £115000 for Children in Need and other local and national charities.

Each year, the school holds an open evening to support families with the move to high school. This year it will be held on Thursday 05 October 2023. If you do have specific questions or concerns, do please email: transition@nullkettlethorpe.wakefield.sch.uk and we will respond, directly, to you.

As a school community, we want all our pupils to feel safe and secure in coming to school. This really does matter to us and the pupils are expected to be kind towards each other. This is promoted through the school’s ‘Kindness Charter’ and our ‘kindness’ ambassadors.

To conclude, Kettlethorpe High School is really a great place to be a pupil and a teacher. We very much look forward to showing you what our school has to offer.

T Griffiths

Headteacher

Headteacher: Mr T Griffiths

Age: 11-16 years

Type: Community School

Number on roll: 1666

Annual Admission Number: Normally 320 pupils. For September 2024, the school has agreed 350 pupils with Wakefield Local Authority.