Rhyddings

Rhyddings (formerly Rhyddings High School and then Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School) is a mixed secondary school in Oswaldtwistle in the English county of Lancashire.^[2]

Rhyddings
Address
Haworth Street Oswaldtwistle Accrington , Lancashire , BB5 3EA England
Coordinates	53.74566°N 2.39076°W / 53.74566; -2.39076
Information
Type	Academy
Local authority	Lancashire
Trust	LET Education Trust
Department for Education URN	148921 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Interim Headteacher	Dave Lancaster[1]
Gender	Mixed[1]
Age	11 to 16[1]
Enrolment	642 as of January 2025[update][1]
Capacity	771 as of January 2025[update][1]
Website	www.rhyddings.co.uk

History

A new "hi tech" building for the school opened in March 2003, replacing the annex which had been in use since the 1920s.^[3]

The former headteacher was Paul Trickett, who replaced Barry Burke.^[4] Burke took over from his predecessor, Joyce Moore, in January 1998. She began as headteacher in 1974, being the first woman headteacher at a mixed school in Lancashire.^[5][6]

In December 2013, it was reported that a quarter of teachers faced redundancy, due to more schools competing for fewer pupils.^[7] In June 2014, Trevor Ainsworth, the deputy headteacher, announced his retirement from the school, after spending his entire teaching career in Rhyddings, starting in 1977.^[8]

The school was inspected by Ofsted in 2014 and judged Good.^[9]

In January 2016, the school was named one of "329 Failing Secondary Schools".^{[10][better source needed]}. Rhyddings most recent inspection was in 2025. ^[11]

Previously a community school administered by Lancashire County Council,^[12] in June 2022 Rhyddings converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the LET Education Trust.^[13]

Academics

Rhyddings offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils.^[14]

Notable former pupils

• Vicky Entwistle, actress^{[citation needed]}
• Paul Manning, undercover police officer and whistleblower^{[citation needed]}
• Jay Slater, a 19-year-old man who disappeared in Tenerife and was later found dead in a ravine by police