The school opened in 2006 as part of ambitious plan to replace all of the district's 11 to 16 schools, funded by a government public–private partnership programme called Building Schools for the Future. It was formed from the merger of St Theodore's Boys High School and St Hilda's Girls' High School and initially occupied split sites of the former St Hilda's and Habergham Sixth Form Centre. Bernadette Bleasdale, who had been the head of St Hilda's since 1992, became the new school's first head teacher.[1]
Former schools
St Theodore's RC High School was a boys' 11 to 16 school with a mixed sixth form.
St Hilda's RC High School was a girls' high school, which originally opened in 1954.[2]
History
Following an inspection by Ofsted in 2008, Blessed Trinity was awarded the status of a "good school, with outstanding elements".[3]
Shortly after Ofsted placed the school in special measures in 2011, Bleasdale announced her retirement.[1] Richard Varey took over as head teacher, and the school exited special measures in 2013.[4]
Following an inspection by Ofsted in 2023, Blessed Trinity was awarded the status of "improvement needed, with issues in the quality of education and leadership/management".[5]
New building
Demolition started on the former St Theodore's site in 2008, and the school moved into a new £24m building in 2010.[6] The new college holds approximately 1,000 students, and will eventually hold a 1,250 capacity.
*Figures for previous school, in this case: St Theodore's (boys) & St Hilda's (girls) RC Schools
In 2007, the school's value-added measure was 1006.7 (national average 1000).[7] In 2010, the school was again the highest performing in the borough in terms of GCSE results.[8]
The DfE figures released in 2011 showed Blessed Trinity to be the only school in Burnley in which more than half the pupils achieved five good passes in their GCSEs, including English and Maths.[9]
