ABOUT US

We are a school which is firmly founded in the Christian Faith yet open-minded, and proud of our historic links with Bishop Rawstorne. It was he who laid the foundations for this school, to serve the families of Croston and surrounding communities.

This is clearly laid out in our Mission Statement: At the heart of this rural school community lies the belief that each individual is unique and valuable. The Christian ethos is vibrant and lively, reflecting our spiritual values, encouraging each of us to reach for academic excellence and the highest moral standards.

Students follow the FULL National Curriculum in ALL subjects.

In the pursuit of excellence, students at this Language College have the opportunity to encounter an extra dimension to their curriculum - that of studying a choice of Modern Foreign Languages.

Our aim is that their educational experience will serve to motivate them and broaden their horizons.

This regional Centre of excellence in Initial Teacher Training, was officially opened as a Training School, by the Rt. Hon David Blunkett MP, then Secretary of State for Education and Science.

We are coming to the end of our third year of Training School activity. After outstanding external evaluations we have secured DfES funding for a further four years, which should produce exciting developments.

We were originally selected as the first secondary school in Lancashire to be involved in this initiative because of the high standards of achievement, a long and successful history of Initial Teacher Training and our commitment to continuous professional development for ALL our staff.

We work closely with Lancashire Education Authority and our four principal HEI partners: (St Martin's, Edge Hill, Liverpool John Moores', and Liverpool Hope Univ. College) to share good practice and engage in educational research.

We have found that providing professional development opportunities for our own staff, especially those which relate to the training of others for the teaching profession, has a positive impact on the standards of achievement of our students. The GCSE results speak for themselves!

Over sixty teachers make up a dynamic team. Together we have secured "Investor in People" status, the Charter Mark, the Schools Curriculum Award, the Schools Achievement Award and an outstanding OFSTED report. It is this expertise that we place at the disposal of our profession.

Some students may choose at Key Stage 4 to work at a more flexible and alternative curriculum. Bishop Rawstorne is a major player in the Runshaw College Consortium. On this scheme groups of students in years 10 & 11 follow a reduced timetable at College. At Bishop Rawstorne these students study at least 6 GCSE subjects over three days. They spend the remaining time with a training provider and on work placement. They study for an NVQ qualification.

Other students attend Runshaw College for part of a day to complete the GCSE Engineering course (which is worth two grades). We plan to introduce a Leisure and Tourism course on the same principles.