Archbishop Temple School

Archbishop Temple School welcomed its first pupils in September 1963, as a secondary modern school serving the needs of inner city Preston. It was originally named "William Temple School", after Archbishop William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury 1940-1944. The school is one of the top 10 non-sixth form schools in England at GCSE and was listed as number 2 in the Sunday Times list of best schools without a sixth form in 2014. The school is celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013-2014, and held a series of events to celebrate and raise funds, including a gala dinner held at Barton Grange, attended by the school's former headteacher, Mrs Gillian James. The first 'comprehensive' intake (as opposed to 'secondary modern') was in 1967 and followed the closure of Preston grammar school. The headmaster at this time was Mr. Hattersley and deputy head Mr. Beauchamp. The school houses were originally Manchester, York, Canterbury and Blackburn. Over the course of the next two decades the school abandoned its house system, only to be reinstated and remodelled in 2006 as Winchester, Durham, Canterbury, and York.

In 2017 90% of pupils left Archbishop Temple School with five or more GCSE qualifications (grades A*-C) including English and Maths. Archbishop Temple School is the highest performing (non selective) school in Lancashire. The school achieves these excellent results because it has a very strong pastoral system, which is based on vertical tutoring and a house system. The school has four houses, Canterbury, Durham, Winchester and York. The four houses take part in many competitions including everything from sports day to masterchef. There are also many trips and visits. In 2013 pupils went to Poland to see Auschwitz, as well as visiting Iceland, France, Austria and India Ofsted rated the school as “Outstanding” in 2009. Ofsted again visited the Maths department in 2010 and rated it as “Outstanding”. In January 2010, the school leadership was inspected, and the then headteacher was appointed as a National Leader of Education (one of only 30 at the time). The school also became a National Support School. Ofsted also conducted a Good Practice Visit to the Maths department in 2012. In 2013 97% of pupils left the school with a A*-C GCSE grade in Maths. In 2015 the school became a Teaching School, working within the Preston Teaching School Alliance. In 2017 the school was redesignated as a National Support School, and the current Headteacher became a National Leader of Education.

The school motto is Faith + Nurture + Service

• Listed buildings in Preston, Lancashire

• Archbishop Temple School School website
• OFSTED report - OFSTED's October 2005 inspection
• Faith inspection - a Diocese of Blackburn report of the school, November 2005