Shropshire Star

Historic day for college boarding house

A north Shropshire college has opened another boarding house for sixth form girls and the historic day was marked with a ribbon cutting.

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Brendan Wignall, headmaster and Zoe Fisher, house mother of St Hilda’s and teacher of English.

Ellesmere College has always had one senior girls’ boarding house - St Oswald’s - and two senior boys’ boarding houses but an increase in demand for places has sparked the need for expansion.

The new house - called St Hilda’s - has been converted from an existing building at the college and new residents were welcomed at the beginning of this term. It was officially opened at a special ceremony in September, increasing the capacity for girls into the Sixth Form by 26 places, and for many more day students.

Headmaster Brendan Wignall said: “We are delighted to announce the opening of St Hilda’s and to have welcomed our first students into this new residence - another significant development in the history of Ellesmere College.

“It will be a great asset to us and be of major benefit to our girls at what is an extremely important time in their education, providing them with the best surroundings to enhance their educational, personal and social development.

“Demand has always been high for boarding places at the college and this was the ideal moment to make the move and increase our capacity. It will also benefit our day students through further individual study areas, meaning all our Sixth Form pupils can continue to have personal study space.”

Sixth Form pupils at the college have the opportunity to study A Levels, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma, or BTEC in Sport.