| Alder Grange School and Sixth Form Centre | |
| Coordinates: | 53.7084°N -2.2832°W |
| Motto: | ‘Once an Alder Granger always an Alder Granger’ [1] |
| Type: | Community school |
| Head Label: | Headteacher |
| Head: | Joanna Griffiths |
| Address: | Calder Road |
| City: | Rossendale |
| County: | Lancashire |
| Country: | England |
| Postcode: | BB4 8HW |
| Local Authority: | Lancashire |
| Ofsted: | yes |
| Urn: | 119722 |
| Staff: | Simon Varley, Rebecca Chamberlain, Rosanna Hesketh, Karen Norman, Racheal Huddart, Dan Williams, Russel Milnes, Joanna Griffiths, Paul Butterworth, Pauline Mcdonald, Lewis Gaffey[2] |
| Enrolment: | 830[3] |
| Gender: | Coeducational |
| Lower Age: | 11 |
| Upper Age: | 18 |
| Houses: | Cribden, Whinberry and Swinshaw (Red, Green and Blue) |
| Colours: | Light blue, dark blue [4] |
Alder Grange School is a secondary school and sixth form located in the east Lancashire town of Rawtenstall, England.
The school's sporting facilities include a gymnasium, a 3G pitch with astroturf, and Alder Grange Sports Centre - a fitness room with sports hall. The sports hall opened in 2008 which includes various facilities which include badminton courts, table tennis tables, outdoor football space and basketball courts.
Elsewhere, the school has one cafeteria, five science labs, four specialised technology rooms including a kitchen for food technology, a music room and one IT suite.[5]
The school is closely linked to school technology provider Promethean and has taken part in trials of new products, as well as frequently using current ones in day-to-day lessons. Many products that were tested were the Promethean ActivBoard pens and ActiVote units. At this current moment of time, Alder Grange have stopped taking part in trials for Promethean however, they still utilise their equipment in the classroom.
It previously held special school status as a Technology College (since 1993) and a second award in Applied Learning.[6] In 2007 it was designated a High Performing Special School.[7] The special school programme ended in 2013. However, in late 2019, Alder Grange received a Special School recognition award.
Apart from academic work, students at Alder Grange can participate in other activities. These include the Music School (includes extra instrument lessons or taking part in school productions such as a rendition of Grease) and formerly the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme (bronze to silver).[5]
In January 2011, Alder Grange School opened its new sixth form centre for 16- to 18-year-olds, giving its students an easier choice when they carry on full-time education after 16. The building had a construction cost of £6 million, and offers around 100 student places per academic year.[8]
Facilities at the new ag6 building includes a catering kitchen and café, media studio and PC computers with professional-spec camera equipment, one science laboratory, a student social area with library, staff lounge and horticulture equipment.[5]
At ag6, students can take academic A levels, vocational BTEC (or similar) qualifications, or a mixture of both. Courses available include classic academic courses such as English literature, mathematics, sociology, the law, to vocational ones such as performing arts and creative media.[8]
Alderbeat Records was launched in February 2012 after the school purchased high-end radio equipment. As part of the project, a school station called Alderbeat was broadcast on 87.9FM and was played in the school via a number of speakers around the school including classrooms. The station manager was an Alder Grange student.[9] Alderbeat was discontinued in March 2017.