St Thomas More Catholic Upper School

St Thomas More Catholic Upper School is a Roman Catholic school located in Bedford, England.

The school is located on Tyne Crescent in the Brickhill area of north Bedford. 'Tommy More' (as the school is affectionately known by staff and pupils) is the only Catholic upper school in Bedford. The school has no specific catchment area, but attracts students from all over Bedford and the surrounding villages.

History

Following the 1967 Plowden Report, Bedfordshire LEA decided to implement the three-tier education system of lower, middle and upper schools in the county. This created a need for a new catholic upper school in Bedford.

St Thomas More Catholic Upper School was formally opened in 1979 by Baroness Shirley Williams (then Secretary of State for Education and Science). The dedication Mass was conducted by Bishop Charles Alexander Grant (then Bishop of Northampton).

When St Bedes Middle school closed in 2006, academic years 7 and 8 were transferred to St Thomas More School, along with some of the teaching staff. In July 2008 the school was awarded specialist status in the area of Humanities, and became a Humanities College.

The name of the school is derived from St Thomas More, an elder statesman from the sixteenth century. He is mainly remembered for his principled refusal to accept King Henry VIII's claim to be the supreme head of the Church of England, which decision ended his political career and led to his execution as a traitor. He was canonized by the Catholic Church under Pope Pius XI in 1935, and was later declared the patron saint of lawyers and statesmen.

The school today

 

St Thomas More Upper School currently serves children aged 13-19 from all over Bedford Borough. The school is part of a federation of catholic schools in Bedford, under the guidance of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton. The other schools within this federation are St Gregory's RC Middle School, St Joseph's Lower School, and St John Rigby Lower School.

The school currently achieves the highest levels of improvement by pupils between the ages of 11 and 16 of any state school in Bedfordshire.

As a Humanities College, St Thomas More School has a reputation for innovative practice and excellence. English is the lead department where results in 2007 placed the school in the top two per cent nationally. The schools humanities provision offers a range of courses, including specialist literature, media and drama options. Students' work is regularly displayed locally and has won national awards, with articles being published in The Times newspaper.

In July 2011, the school become one of the first in the country to be granted teaching school status – a new designation entitling it to lead the training and professional development of staff.