History of Christleton High School
The first school in Christleton was the John Sellers Charity School, built on land adjacent to the church in 1779, and was primarily for the education of boys. The same charity built a Girls’ and Infants’ School on land opposite the present High School, and this was extended in 1873.
The structure of schools for local children was established but there were also fee paying schools e.g. Christleton Academy for Young Gentlemen, and a Dame School which was adjacent to where the school stands today. This remained the structure until after World War II, when the building of new homes and private estates led to the need for additional schools.
In the late 1950s, Christleton was situated in the administrative district of Ellesmere Port and Chester Rural, an area stretching from Ellesmere Port to Malpas and skirting the eastern edge of the Chester City boundary. At the age of 11, ‘higher’ ability children would travel to Ellesmere Port Boys’ and Girls’ Grammar Schools for their education and a new school planned for Christleton would cater for the remainder.
This Secondary Modern and Secondary Technical School was designed to cater for the needs of pupils in the developing areas of Vicars Cross, Guilden Sutton, Mickle Trafford, Waverton, Barrow and Christleton, but also took in many other parts of the rural district, an area of 75 sq miles.
At its official opening on Friday 3rd October 1958, Christleton County Secondary Modern School, as it was then called, became the 17th Secondary Modern School and 57th completed new school to open in Cheshire.
The School Crest and Colours
Phil Hodges, Headteacher from 1980-1989 designed the original school crest and chose the colours.
The images of the swan, lions and sheaves represented Christleton, Chester and Cheshire respectively. The school colours were to be navy, red and yellow.
A governor proposed the maxim ‘I learn to serve’.
In more modern times (2003) Christleton High School opted for a skeuomorphic crest design, maintaining the uniqueness of the original crest while updating it to a design language more literate in modern society thus allowing it to be used on uniforms for the first time.
In 2023 Christleton High School further developed the crest to a flatter, more universally used style. By doing so, it not only ensured the school stayed modern but allowed the crest to be employed for a wider variety of uses.
The House System
It was decided to organise staff and pupils into four houses to foster a sense of group identity, cohesion and encourage a sense of team spirit. The names chosen reflected the locality in which the school was built: Badgerette (yellow) was the local name for a small copse on what is now the top field; Bythom (red) and Ketlan (blue) were the names of people who owned land on which the school was built; Lawns (green) was the name of the area of ground on which the school was actually built. Mr G W Jones, the metalwork teacher, researched and suggested the four names.