Notre Dame Catholic High School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, was established in the 1850s by the Sisters of Notre Dame, a religious order. It was, for many decades, a fee paying school. It currently has 1400 students, with a 1:17.3 Teacher: Student ratio. Admissions The school has a Catholic ethos and caters for children from all over the city and further afield. The school is co-educational, and has students aged 11–18. History The sisters of Notre Dame set up the school in 1855 in central Sheffield, moving to a site on Cavendish Street in 1862. In 1919, the Sisters moved their living quarters from Cavendish Street to Oakbrook House, a Victorian mansion in Ranmoor built in 1860 for Mark Firth, a steel manufacturer who became Lord Mayor of Sheffield and Master Cutler. In 1935, another secondary school was built in the grounds of Oakbrook House; in 1948 the two schools amalgamated to form a girls' grammar school, Notre Dame High School for Girls, on two sites. The grammar school was converted in 1976 to a mixed comprehensive, still on two sites. The school finally consolidated onto the Oakbrook site in 1988 when the Cavendish site was closed and subsequently demolished. Oakbrook House, which was owned by famous Sheffield steel baron Mark Firth and part of the school since 1919, is now the school's Sixth Form block and has been a listed building since 1973. The main school building is a 1930s building with many architectural features including a main hall, known as the salle, with a high vaulted ceiling. As the school has expanded other buildings have been built that complement the architecture of the site making use of local sandstone or red pantiles depending where the building fits in. The Hallam City Learning Centre which is hosted on site has distinct modern architectural merit and receives a mention in the Pevsner guide to the architecture of Sheffield. The school became an academy in August 2012. Achievements OFSTED described the school as outstanding in every way in 2005 and 2008. School Specialism It has been a Specialist Technology College since 1995 and was awarded a second specialism in 2005 in Humanities and a third as a Leading Edge school supporting a partnership of other schools. The Leading Edge specialism also includes a sub-specialism on sharing good practice with others around issues of educating able, gifted and talented pupils. Awards