Bowland High

For the nearby civil parish, see Bowland Forest High.

Bowland High is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Grindleton in Lancashire, England. It educates pupils from ages 11–16, and as of 2022 has approximately 550 pupils.^[1]

Bowland High
Main building (2013)
Location
Riversmead Grindleton , Lancashire , BB7 4QS[1] England
Coordinates	53.9115°N 2.3525°W / 53.9115; -2.3525
Information
Type	Academy
Established	1949 (1949)[2]
Department for Education URN	136997 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Head teacher	Laura Fielden[1]
Gender	Coeducational[1]
Age	11 to 16[1]
Enrolment	550[1]
Capacity	575[1]
Website	bowland.atctrust.org.uk

History

The main building dates from 1865.^[3] It was originally opened as Foxley Bank Hydro, later to become a hotel in the Edwardian era. In 1923, it became a National Children's Home orphanage under the direction of Sister Ella Curnock.^{[4][better source needed]} Later, it was developed into a wartime home for refugee children from Europe, still under the auspices of the National Children's Home organisation.^[4]

In 1989, the refugees had a 50th anniversary reunion at the school and a film, They came to Riversmead, was produced for television to commemorate the event.

View of the school grounds (2015)

The building was opened as a secondary school in 1949.^[3] It was previously known as Grindleton Riversmead Secondary Modern School and then as Bowland County Secondary School.^[5]

The conversion to an academy was resisted by staff in 2011.^[6]

School performance

As of 2020, the school's most recent Ofsted inspection was in 2016, with a judgement of Outstanding.^[7]

Notable former pupils

• Samantha Murray, pentathlete^[8]