# The Nelson Thomlinson School

The Nelson Thomlinson School is a comprehensive coeducational secondary school located in the market town of Wigton, Cumbria, England. The school's motto is the Latin phrase Fide et Operis, "Faith and Works". The position of Headteacher has been occupied by David Samuel Northwood since September 2011, after the former head, Janet Downes, retired at the end of the previous academic year.

## Students

As with many older British Secondary schools, The Nelson Thomlinson School has a prefect system drawn from the Sixth Form. However, instead of one Head Prefect or a Head Boy & Girl pair, there are five Head Prefects who each take charge on a particular day of the week. Former pupils of the school include TV presenter Melvyn Bragg and BBC newsreader Anna Ford.
There were approximately 1400 pupils aged 11–18 attending Nelson Thomlinson as of the 2014-15 academic year.

### Catchment area

Most pupils at Nelson Thomlinson are from Wigton and the smaller communities within a few miles of the town which fall within its catchment area. However, some pupils come from further afield, including smaller settlements like Allonby, Bowness-on-Solway, Hesket Newmarket, and Mawbray, and also from larger towns such as Aspatria, Maryport, Silloth, and the city of Carlisle, which all have their own secondary schools. Prices for the 2014-15 academic year on a bus from Carlisle to Nelson Thomlinson we £16.50 per week, and from Dalston the price was £13.50 per week.

## The Sixth Form

Since 1997 their results have placed them in the top fifty comprehensive school Sixth Forms in the country and 5 times have been in the top 10.

## Achievements

The school enters students in the GCSE and A-Level examinations. Around 70% of pupils achieve 5 or more A*-Cs each year in GCSE examinations, and in terms of A-Level results, the school has been rated in the country's top 40 comprehensive school since 1997. In a 2006 Ofsted inspection the school was judged to be an "Outstanding" school. In May 2013 the school was deemed "outstanding".Most recently in October 2023 the school's grading was downgraded and deemed "good" by Ofsted

## Productions

In 2016 the school organized its own production of Charles Dickens "Oliver Twist", directed by drama teacher Mrs. R. Carroll. The play included a full cast and a small orchestra (Musical Director: Ms. R. Raven).

## History

In 1714 the Wigton Free Grammar School was established. As was custom at that time, this was a boys' school. School benefactors were John and Robert Thomlinson of Aikhead. The Thomlinson Girls’ School was founded in 1899 (at Westmorland House owned by Isaac Pattinson and named after the Thomlinson brothers, and now the site of the Thomlinson Junior School). The Nelson School for Boys (at Floshfirld House and sponsored by Joseph Nelson), a grammar school merged with the Thomlinson school in 1953 to form a coeducational Nelson Thomlinson Grammar School. This school subsequently merged with Wigton Secondary School (a secondary modern school) in 1969 to form the Nelson Thomlinson Comprehensive School, now simply called the Nelson Thomlinson School.

### Controversies

In 2004, anti-social behaviour in the town centre by under-18s, many of whom were pupils at Nelson Thominson School, prompted authorities to impose a curfew on youths in Wigton. The curfew ran through the 2004 Easter holidays and prohibited any unaccompanied children under the age of 16 from being out on the streets between 21:00 and 06:00. During the curfew, instances of anti-social behaviour, such as intimidation and broken shop windows, dropped by as much as 75%. However, the curfew was not repeated after 2004.
In 2014, Hayley Southwell, a teacher at Nelson Thomlinson, was arrested and pleaded guilty to charges of having sexual activity with a girl aged between 16 and 18 while in a position of trust. Her victim was a pupil at the school, and the crimes took place between May 2013 and January 2014. She was handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence and had to sign the sex offenders register for a period of ten years. During sentencing, the judge said that Southwell's relationship with her victim showed "a degree of grooming".

### Headteachers

* Peter M. Ireland (1988–2007)
* Janet Downes (2007–2012)
* David S. Northwood (2012–Present)

## Notable former pupils

* Melvyn Bragg - British broadcaster.
* Sheila Fell - Artist
* Anna Ford - British newsreader.
* Thomas Holliday - Rugby union and rugby league footballer of the 1920s
* Sir John Jones - Director General of MI5
* Helen Housby - Current England Netball Player.
* Jarrad Branthwaite - Everton footballer