Leeds Modern School was founded on 14 July 1845 in Rossington Street as the Mathematical and Commercial School. This building in the centre of Leeds became council offices after the school moved to a site at Lawnswood in 1931.
During the 1960s, pupils over 16 years of age were allowed to travel to school on motor-cycles and scooters and, with special permission, by car.
The school site was shared with a separate but identical sister school, Lawnswood High School for Girls. Boys attended Leeds Modern, Girls, Lawnswood High. The schools were separated by a joint school's swimming pool and separate dining hall building. Mixing of boys and girls was strictly prohibited.
The school buildings were mainly red brick with stone features and large windows, with internal corridors of brickwork walls and oak parquet flooring. The main hall had a stage at one end, used for assembly, and was lined with scholarship boards. Classrooms accommodated about 32 pupils.
School facilities included about 20 permanent classrooms, chemistry, physics and biology laboratories, lecture rooms, library, gymnasium, and rooms for metal and woodworking, art and music.
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(July 2011)
Bernard Atha CBE, Lord Mayor of Leeds and major figure in arts and sport
John Gunnell taught at the school from 1959 to 1962. He was the leader of West Yorkshire County Council from 1981 to 1986, and Labour MP for Morley and Leeds South from 1992 to 1997, and Morley and Rothwell from 1997 to 2001.
Robert Shaw (poet), was head of English, 1964–1968. In addition to his teaching at Leeds Modern, during those years, he was also visiting fellow in English and education at the University of York and part-time tutor in twentieth-century English literature at the University of Leeds. He later lectured at the University of Southampton from 1968 to 1972, resigning to become a full-time poet, critic (including TV and radio) and jazz saxophonist – he was a pioneer of poetry and jazz fusion.
References
^"A Short History". lawnswoodhighschool.com. Retrieved 20 February 2024.