Sir John Thursby Community College

Sir John Thursby Community College is a mixed 11-16 comprehensive school in Burnley, Lancashire, England. It is named for Sir John Hardy Thursby (1826-1901), a local benefactor. It shares its site with Ridgewood Community High, a special school with places for 90 students.HistoryThe school opened in September 2006 as part of ambitious plan to replace all of the district’s 11-16 schools, funded by a government public–private partnership programme called Building Schools for the Future. It was formed from the merger of the former Barden High School and Walshaw High School, and occupies the former Walshaw site. Elaine Dawson, who had been the head of Walshaw since 2004, became the new school's first head teacher.Former schoolsBarden High School was a boys comprehensive school with only approximately 350 pupils in 2002.Walshaw High School was a girls high school with about 800 pupils and has been described as "a successful and flourishing school".New buildingThe School originally operated from the former Walshaw building, however in 2009 the schools moved a new £33M complex on the same site, with the former Walshaw building subsequently being demolished and new playing fields made in its place. In January 2011, David Burton, a participant of the Future Leaders programme then just 34, replaced Elaine Dawson who took early retirement, as head teacher.