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

End of Term Festive Fun

What a joyful end to the term! The school was filled with festive colour, beaming smiles and true Christmas spirit. Crazy Christmas jumpers and cosy pyjamas set the scene for the Christmas holidays. Lucky ticket holders were treated to a hilarious performance of Cinderella during breaktime (see separate post) and The Friends of WHS provided…

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Packed Hall for Panto

The WHS staff panto was a resoundingly hilarious end to the term. Madame Sledge and her dreadful daughters almost thwarted Cinderella’s opportunity to meet her perfect match – Prince William Howard. The 20-minute multi-media extravaganza featured a filmed chase scene, song, dance and crazy comedy. It was a lot to fit in the short space…

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Open Spaces Christmas Fair

Our ever-productive Open Spaces team, led by Mrs Booker, hosted a Christmas Fair this morning, filled with festive activities and stalls offering wonderful Christmas gift ideas. The fair was open to all staff and students during break time, with Year 7 students also enjoying their own viewing during first or second lesson. Santa made a…

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Auction Assembly Action

A heap of prizes went under the hammer during our end-of-term Achievement Point Auctions this week. There was lots of excited bidding as students used their accumulated Achievement Points to compete for a terrific range of sought-after prizes. These included golf vouchers, doughnuts, football and netball parties, bacon buttie deliveries, vouchers, a film screening, queue…

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Christmas Dinner Delight

Students and staff tucked into tasty Christmas dinners in our canteen today. Our hard-working Student Leadership Team also found time in their busy schedules to come together and enjoy a well-deserved, relaxing meal. A huge THANK YOU to all of the catering staff for their incredible efforts in preparing and serving the hundreds of delicious…

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Presentation Evening 2025

Carlisle Cathedral provided a beautiful and fitting backdrop for our annual Presentation Evening, held last night to celebrate the exam achievements of last summer’s GCSE and A Level students. It was once again an incredibly special occasion for the students, parents and staff who were able to attend. Mr O’Connor, our Deputy Headteacher warmly welcomed…

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Welcome Video