Named after the antiquarian Ralph Thoresby, the comprehensive school accommodates about 1000 pupils aged between 11 and 18. Ralph Thoresby School is part of the North West Leeds Education Partnership Trust with local Primary Schools. At 6th Form Level the school is part of a partnership arrangement with Lawnswood School. The school provides for pupils with severe physical and visual impairment.
History
The original Ralph Thoresby High School was built on Farrar Lane in 1973 and opened for pupils in 1974, as part of the overall development of Holt Park. The school was situated alongside, and saw use of the facilities of Holt Park Leisure Centre; contained a public library, and a large raked auditorium “community” theatre. It was notably lacking a school hall. The shared spaces, such as the theatre, were counted against the notional teaching space surface area meaning that the school rapidly ran out of actual classroom space. Holt Park Middle School sat adjacent, until being absorbed into Ralph Thoresby High School upon its closure on 31/08/1992. Students were divided into four houses named after tree species: Beech, Fir, Larch and Oak. Uniforms consisted of black trousers or skirts, white button down shirt, black shoes, and the school tie, resulting in all students learning how to tie a proper knot. The modern uniform code requires only a clip-on school tie. Physical Education required a reversible rugby shirtin house specific colors; solid on one side, single wide horizontal black stripe over house color on reverse. Two pairs of athletic shorts, white for indoor use and black for outdoor use. Girls had to wear the equivalent in pleated skirts. Lastly a pair of house color knee high boot socks were to be worn. The first Head Teacher was Dawn Lynes with Derek Webber as her Deputy. The original school buildings were demolished in 2007 and replaced with the present day Ralph Thoresby School building which incorporates a community library and community theatre. It is adjacent to the Holt Park Active Centre which opened in 2013.
Ralph Thoresby School was inspected by Ofsted in March 2015. The inspectors rated the school Grade 2 in all areas and for overall effectiveness.
Academic performance
Results at both Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 improved in 2013. At Key Stage 4, 52% of pupils achieved at least 5 grades A*-C including English and Maths ; 87% of students achieved at least 5 A*-C grades in subjects. In A-level, 45% of pupils achieved A*-A grades and 98% of students achieved A-E grades. All A-level applicants successfully managed to gain entry to higher education.
