About Ganton School

Ganton School was first built in Springhead Avenue, Hull and opened in 1978. It was designed to cater for pupils and students from Hull and the East Riding who had severe or complex learning difficulties. Under the leadership of Mr. Jo Waller and the then Humberside County Council the school quickly developed a reputation for good practice and was used extensively by the University of Hull and Hull College as a training ground for their students.

In 1982 Mrs Pat Glover took over as Head Teacher and she developed and expanded the school further, building up a popular Post 16 facility called the ‘Student Centre' to provide ongoing education for pupils over 16 from the whole of the Humberside region. She also sought funding from the then European Economic Community to establish a community flat on Arcon Drive in Hull, which gives students real life opportunities to develop life skills in a domestic setting. The dissolution of Humberside in 1996 found the school under the stewardship of the East Riding Council and for a time a rivalry developed with services in Hull.

In 2004 yet another change of administration confirmed the old adage that ‘there's nothing as consistent as change' when Kingston upon Hull City Council took responsibility for the school, whilst the East Riding remained owners of the land. This was fortunate in many ways because when the dreadful floods devastated the school in June 2007 filling the buildings with almost a metre of water, we had buildings insurance which allowed us to restore the school to its pre- flood condition with minimal fuss.

Following the flood Mrs Glover took the decision to retire and in January 2009 Mr. Ian Simpson became Head Teacher, after several years as Deputy. The school has now benefitted from the spending of public money through the Building Schools for the Future programme and has a wonderfully designed, co-located secondary and Sixth Form alongside Sirius Academy in the west of the city, whilst the primary pupils will be moving in 2012 to a new primary school, co-located with Christopher Pickering Primary, which is a short walk from the secondary site.

The Ganton Secondary and Sixth Form opened for pupils in September 2011 and was formally opened by Mrs. Marion Wrightson MBE on 27th September 2011. Marion has been a long standing friend and Governor of the school and many pupils have benefitted from her support with literacy over the years. The new co-located Ganton Primary phase opened in September 2012 within The Compass building which also houses Christopher Pickering Primary School and The Windmill Children's Centre.

In January 2013 Mrs. Sue Jones took over from the retiring Ian Simpson as Headteacher.