The school has high expectations of pupils’ achievement [and] provides an ambitious curriculum (Ofsted 2025)

Pupils quickly develop a strong feeling of belonging to this school. They are united by their understanding of ‘The William Howard Way’ (Ofsted 2025)

The school provides a comprehensive programme of personal development that prepares pupils well for life in modern society (Ofsted 2025)

Every effort is made to ensure that these pupils [with special educational needs] experience all that the school has to offer (Ofsted 2025)

The calm and purposeful learning environment, together with the plethora of extra-curricular opportunities, has helped to achieve a school that pupils want to attend (Ofsted 2025)

Recent News and Events

Students Dive Into Adventure at Ullswater Residential

Our students really have been relishing the various Outward Bound experiences offered this term. This week, a small group of students had an unforgettable time at the OB Centre at Ullswater, filled with adventure, teamwork and personal growth. Over three days, they took part in a wide range of exciting activities including rock jumping, canoeing…

Read more

A Day of Culture at the Brontë Parsonage

Year 8 threw themselves into a brilliant day of culture at the Brontë Parsonage Museum on Wednesday. After an interesting talk about the extraordinary Brontë sisters, the students headed out onto the windswept Moors, channelling their inner Emily as they searched for echoes of Cathy and Heathcliff in the landscape. Back at the museum, they…

Read more

Puzzling Literacy Lessons

Students in Year 7 have been working hard to escape ‘Saturday Detention’, inspired by their current class read, Dread Wood. During their literacy lessons, they worked together to use a variety of reading, mathematical, oracy and logic skills in the hope of escaping a potentially disastrous fate. The pupils completed a series of puzzles before…

Read more

Year 10 and 11 Embrace Outward Bound Challenges in North Wales

A group of Year 10 and 11 students spent an unforgettable week at Ogwen Cottage Outward Bound Centre, taking on mountains, gorges, leadership challenges and plenty of personal growth along the way. Here’s a run-down of the week’s highlights… MONDAY | Settling In & Starting Strong The group arrived early afternoon and settled into rooms…

Read more

A Taste of WHS for Year 5 Pupils

We welcomed Year 5 pupils from our feeder primary schools this morning for a series of WHS taster lessons. Children from Brampton, Castle Carrock, Gilsland, Irthington and Longtown enjoyed hands‑on sessions in History, Geography, Design Technology and Dance. They travelled through time with History teacher Miss Scullian, launched rockets with Mr Brown in DT, learned…

Read more

Welcome Video