Silcoates Senior School

Welcome to the Silcoates School Foundation website.  The Foundation consists of three schools:

Silcoates School, for boys and girls from 7 to 18 (Junior School from 7-11 and Senior School from 11-18) on one self-contained site in Wrenthorpe, near Wakefield;

Sunny Hill House School, for boys and girls from 2-7, just down the road from Silcoates School;

St. Hilda's School, for boys from 0-7 (from 0-11 from September 2010) and girls from 0-11, housed in a former convent at Horbury, just four miles from Silcoates.

All three schools share the same Board of Governors and, as Principal of the Foundation as well as Headmaster of Silcoates itself, I have the job of ensuring that all the Foundation schools deliver an effective and consistent education.

I took up this post on 1^st September 2008.  My aim is to build on the current success of the School, maintaining areas where we already do things well but also focusing on those areas we identify as needing development, so that we can provide a first class all-round education with an academic edge. 

My wife, Fiona, my daughter, Isabel, and I are delighted to be part of the Silcoates community.  Isabel is a pupil in Year 4 in the Junior School, so Fiona and I are also parents at the School.   We have been delighted with the way Isabel has settled in and the progress she has made, both socially and academically, not to mention the many extra-curricular activities in which she has had the chance to participate. 

Silcoates is a happy and successful school, with a long tradition of providing a positive educational experience.  The staff and pupils are justifiably proud of the School and we have been most impressed by the warmth of the welcome we have received and the open, friendly attitude of everyone we have met. 

This website should hopefully be able to answer most of your questions about the Silcoates School Foundation.  Please use the various menus and links to access the information you need, but I would strongly recommend you look at the News section, where we aim to highlight the huge variety and extent of educational experiences we offer our pupils.

Websites are helpful, but they can only ever tell part of the story.  The highlight of Silcoates is its people.  I would therefore be delighted to welcome any prospective parents to see us in action, either on one of our regular Open Mornings or on a normal working day, when you can have a tour of the School with some of our students and discuss with me how we might best be able to meet your needs for your child's education.

Best wishes

Darryl Wideman

Headmaster