Balshaw's Church of England High School

Balshaw's CE High School is a comprehensive Church of England secondary school located on Church Road in Leyland, England.

Location
It is situated on Church Road in Leyland, England just south of the B5248 in the east of Leyland, close to the West Coast Main Line, and 546 yards (500m) west of the M6.

Foundation
The school was founded by Richard Balshaw in 1782. He established a high school called Golden Hill - until the 1920s that school was the original school for Balshaw's pupils. In 1922 work started on building a new school on a 5-acre site.

Grammar school
Opened in 1931, it was Balshaw's Grammar School until 1972, when after the abolition of the 11 plus exam, it became Balshaw's High School.

Comprehensive
In 1972 the school partnered with Parklands High School opening Runshaw College, joining to combine both the schools' sixth forms. The school later abandoned its Grammar status in favour of comprehensive status in September 1972, becoming Balshaw's High School. In 1994 the school became a Church of England school.

Headteachers
Jo Venn finished her stint as headteacher at the end of the 2014 spring term; having been in the position from 1995 where she took over from Paul Ingram. Venn was the first female headteacher throughout the school's history. From September 2014, Steven Haycocks became headteacher, making him the first new headteacher in 20 years.



Ofsted inspections
The school was formally inspected by the HM Inspectorate of Schools on Thursday 4 June 2009, the previous one being in 2006, and achieved 'Good' status. A further Inspection took place in 2013 where the school was promoted to 'Outstanding' status. However, following the latest inspection which took place on 2 and 3 February 2023, the school was downgraded to a status of ‘Good’ with the report published online on 21 March 2023.

Eco-Schools
Balshaw's is part of the Eco-Schools scheme in Lancashire. This came with a lot of development, by way of recording waste usage, electricity, gas, and how well the school does economically on budgets and the environment. This meant creating new targets and innovating energy use for better sustainability. On 2 July 2009, the first Eco event held was an "Eco-Day", in which the pupils worked with eco-friendly materials and learnt about how to lead environmentally friendly lifestyles. Further Eco events and projects have been held.

Notable former pupils

 * Tisha Merry, actress, currently known for playing Steph Britton in Coronation Street since 2013.
 * Tom Bidwell, TV scriptwriter, nominated for an Academy Award in 2011, for his film Wish 143
 * Marcus Bleasdale, photo journalist
 * Clarke Carlisle footballer for Burnley F.C., achieving 10 A-grades at GCSE
 * Liv Cooke, media personality
 * Bryn Hargreaves, rugby league player
 * Trevor Mather, Chief Executive since 2006 of ThoughtWorks
 * Danny Mayor, footballer
 * Chris Tuson, rugby league player
 * Phil Jones, footballer for Manchester United F.C.(formerly Blackburn Rovers F.C.)
 * Amy Evans, artist

Balshaw's Grammar School

 * John Aldington, physicist who worked at Siemens in Preston on the development of mercury-vapour lamps
 * Ian Bleasdale, TV actor
 * Sir John Lawton CBE, Chief Executive from 1999 to 2005 of the Natural Environment Research Council
 * David Loftus MBE, Chaplain to the Royal Military School of Music
 * Sylvia Mylroie, Baroness Jay of Ewelme, Chair of the Pilgrim Trust, and married to Michael Jay, Baron Jay of Ewelme
 * Sir James Sharples, Chief Constable from 1989 to 1998 of Merseyside Police

Leyland Grammar School

 * Thomas Walker (Australian politician)