Joseph Eastham High School

Joseph Eastham High School was a comprehensive school in Salford, England, built at the end of the 1950s by Lancashire County Council, and following reorganisation arising from the Local Government Act 1972, came under the auspices of Salford City Council. The school served the areas of Little Hulton, Walkden, Worsley and Boothstown, and was named after a well-respected Little Hulton grocer who lived on Hilton Lane where the school was sited, and had a shop on Smithfold Lane. Joseph Eastham was also a Councillor and Alderman who had a keen interest in educational provision and invested in local billiard halls and youth clubs.

The original school buildings were designed by St. Annes architect Tom Mellor as a 450 place secondary modern. The first headteacher was Eric Livesey – "I arrived in 1960 but it wasn't opened until 1961, it was an absolute mess, unfinished chaos. There were workmen and plaster everywhere." The building was enlarged in 1965 to accommodate 720, with further alterations in 1980 and 1990 to cater for 900 pupils, and finally in 1997 to provide for over a thousand pupils.

The school also grew in reputation and became affectionately known as "Joey's". The maroon and blue striped school tie was the mainstay of school uniform. Plain grey pullovers or cardigans, black for fifth years, gave way in the 1990s to maroon jumpers displaying an embroidered school stag. The Joseph Eastham badge was created by the school's first art teacher who 'borrowed' the tongue-pulling stag's head from the crest of local nobleman, Lord Hulton, "Issuant out of a ducal coronet a hart's head and neck argent" and added a Lancashire rose "between two branches of hawthorn proper".

The school operated a five form entry with pupils joining one of three houses Tudor, Stuart and Windsor, later changed to four Houses York, Kent, Cornwall and Edinburgh. – When the school grew to eight form entry in the 1990s, a fifth house, Lancaster, was added. The school had extensive playing fields, and its Soccer, Hockey, Rugby, Rounders, Volleyball, Cricket, Netball and Athletics teams established an enviable reputation in Salford leagues and competitions, many Joseph Eastham pupils representing Salford at national level. The annual Sports Day enabled the Houses to compete against each other watched by cheering crowds freed from lessons for the occasion.

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