which provided an extra sport and dance facility (supplementing the two Victorian gymnasia) for students and staff. It also provides a space in which the whole school can congregate. The school converted to academy status in January 2013. In 2015, headteacher Wendy Moffat announced plans for a new sixth form block to replace the existing ageing facilities had been approved and construction was to begin immediately. Construction took just over a year and the building opened to students in early 2016. Today Admission The school entrance examination, administered jointly with North Halifax Grammar School, is the 11 plus, taken by prospective pupils in September of Year 6. The sixth form is not selective but, like other providers, has published entry requirements. School catchment The school has no formal catchment areas and draws pupils from a wide geographical area. Languages The school teaches French and German within a dedicated building. It also offers Mandarin Chinese to students. Technology In 2005 the school built a new technology block with five classrooms to accommodate graphics, electronics, resistant materials, textiles and food technology, and a dedicated music technology IT suite. Sport Sports teams are those for athletics, cross country, hockey, cricket, netball, football and rugby. Houses Students belong to one of four houses; Porter, Savile (derived from the Crossley and Porter School – the houses of Crossley and Standeven were dropped in the merger), Kings and Queens (derived from Heath Grammar School – the houses of Heath and School were dropped in the merger). Competitions between the houses each year include a Sports Day, Swimming Gala, and House Music and House Drama Competitions. Houses and forms also compete to raise money for charities such as Comic Relief, Jeans for Genes and Children in Need. Notable alumni James Ball (journalist) (1996–2004) Leslie Woodhead (1948–?) – documentary film-maker; he almost certainly attended Heath school from 1948 Heath Grammar School Andrew Watson (footballer, born 1856), first black international footballer Sir Frank Watson Dyson, astronomer who introduced the Greenwich Time Signal (1879–1886) Sir Matthew Smith artist (1890–1895) Sir Leonard Bairstow, mathematician (1891–1898) Sir Charles Illingworth CBE, Regius Professor of Surgery, Glasgow from 1939 to 1964 (1910–1917) Professor Oliver Smithies, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2007 (1936–1943) Lindsay Clarke, novelist (1950–1957) Barrie Ingham, actor (1945–1952) Nick Lawrence, BBC presenter Barry Seal Labour MEP for Yorkshire West from 1979 to 1999 (1949–1956) Prof Andrew Wilkinson, President of the