Ballakermeen High School
Ballakermeen High School | |
---|---|
Address | |
St Catherine's Drive Coeducational | |
Age | 11 to 18 |
Enrolment | 1700+ |
Houses | Conister
Hillary Langness Maughold Patrick |
Colour(s) | Blue Yellow |
Website | https://bhs.sch.im/ |
Ballakermeen High School is a
History
Ballakermeen formed part of
Starting at the age of 16, the cadets who passed through HMS St George received a concentrated 15 months training course in the Seaman, Signal and Wireless Telegraphy Communications branches. A staff of over 300 officers provided the educational background to the practical and technical training for the cadets.[1]
To give breadth to their education, English subjects and Naval history were taught, with lectures additionally being devoted to mathematics and its service application to science and navigation, with emphasis placed on the practical rather than the academical aspects of the subjects. Classroom work at Ballakermeen was supplemented by instructional films and practical experiments. Separate classes were formed for cadets of different branches of the service, with each class consisting of 25-30 cadets under the charge of a qualified Naval Schoolmaster.[1]
The officer in charge of Ballakermeen was Captain A.J. Lowe[3] and by the end of the war 8,677 cadets had passed through the establishment.[1]
HMS St George was
In a letter thanking the Authority Captain Stevens-Guille wrote:
"On behalf of the Royal Navy as a whole, and in particular the Officers and Ratings who have enjoyed the facilities you so willingly placed at our disposal, I should like to express our warmest gratitude for the generous assistance which has been given so unstintingly by the Isle of Man Education Authority. I am glad to recall how friendly have been our relations with the Authority, and with you, the Director of Education, in particular. Your assistance and advice have been invaluable."
— Captain Stevens-Guille. Thursday December 20, 1946.
Current use
The school used to be a Junior High School where pupils attended from the age of 11 to 14 and they would then go to a Senior High School such as St Ninians. Both schools became full high schools.
It currently has 1700+ students aged 11–18, making it the larger of the two secondary schools in Douglas in terms of student numbers and the largest on the island (
The school was used as a location in the 2006 British spy film Stormbreaker.
In November 2014, work began on a new £3.2M three-storey extension to accommodate Ballakermeen's 300 sixth form students.[4]
Performance
As a Manx school, Ballakermeen High School is not subject to inspection by Ofsted.[5] Instead, schools are evaluated using a process called 'school self-review and evaluation'.[6] Ballakermeen High School was most recently evaluated in April 2018, and was mostly found to be either 'effective' or 'very effective'.[7][8]
Notable former pupils
- Mark Cavendish, professional road cyclist
- Bill Henderson, former member of the House of Keys for Douglas North and currently (2020) a member of the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man.
- Joe Locke, actor best known for portraying Charlie Spring in Netflix series Heartstopper
- Minister of Tourism and Leisure in the Isle of Man Government
- Member of the House of Keys
References
- ^ a b c d Mona's Herald, Tuesday, August 28, 1945; Page: 3
- ^ July 17, Peter Cowley Maskell on; Said, 2015 at 16:58 (2 January 2012). "Ballakermeen High School – Better Known As "Balla" | Manx Scenes Photography". Retrieved 9 February 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Ramsey Courier, Friday, August 24, 1945; Page: 5
- ^ "Ballakermeen High School: £3.2m extension opened". BBC News. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ "Teaching Jobs in Demand". www.locate.im. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ "Isle of Man Government - School Self Review and Evaluation reports". www.gov.im. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- ^ Marshall, Howard. "Ballakermeen High School" (PDF).
- ^ Burnett, Adrienne. "SSRE: Ballakermeen High School" (PDF).
- ^ "Quayle, Hon George Martyn MHK Middle". Google Docs. Retrieved 3 October 2011.