Secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley

There are many minor secondary schools in the Wollaston, Russells Hall Estate, Wren's Nest Estate, Kingswinford, Stourbridge, Pedmore, Coseley, Wordsley, and Dudley districts of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. While their individual histories and roles in society are only minor they have as a whole, like all the more noted local secondary schools, contributed greatly to the general enlightenment of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.

Dudley

Holly Hall Maths and Computing College

Holly Hall Maths and Computing College

Headteacher	Mr Graham Lloyd
Specialism	Maths and Computing College
Location	Scotts Green Close Dudley West Midlands DY1 2DU England
Local authority	Dudley
Students	716
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–16
Website	www.holly-hall.dudley.gov.uk

Holly Hall School is a foundation comprehensive secondary school located in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is situated in Stourbridge Road on the edge of the Russells Hall Estate, by the Scotts Green Close roundabout and was opened in 1966 to replace a smaller building several hundred yards along the road towards Brierley Hill. Most of that building has now been demolished.

Holly Hall School is now independent from Dudley MBC and is grant maintained. The school received Mathematics and Computing College specialist status in September 2002. In the past four years, the school has constructed a £3 million building and had a major refurbishment.

In 2006, 39% of pupils achieved 5 or more A* to C grades in their GCSE examinations.^[1][2][3]

Since reverting to being an 11-16 comprehensive in September 1990 after 18 years as a 12-16 school, it has had pupil numbers in the region of 700.^[1][2][3]

In December 2007, plans were unveiled by Dudley council for the school to be rebuilt and change to Academy status, which would make it the first school of its kind in the borough. Similar schools already exist in nearby boroughs Walsall and Sandwell. The school may also take in some pupils from Pensnett High School, which is set to close in the early 2010s with most pupils being transferred to The Crestwood School at Kingswinford.^[1][2][3] However, these plans were scrapped by the local council in March 2008 as the school was deemed "too successful" for academy status.^[1][2][3]

Bishop Milner Roman Catholic School

Bishop Milner Catholic School

Established	1958
Type	Comprehensive voluntary aided school
Religion	Roman Catholic
Headteacher	Mr Haywood
Location	Burton Road Dudley West Midlands DY1 3BY England
Local authority	Dudley
DfE URN	103868
Ofsted	Reports
Students	770
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–18
Website	www.bmilner.dudley.gov.uk

Bishop Milner Roman Catholic School is a secondary school located in Dudley, West Midlands, England.^[4][5] It was built in 1958 to serve the township of Dudley, and was one of the first Catholic secondary schools in the Midlands. Inevitably, it attracted a large percentage of pupils who lived beyond Dudley's borders, mostly in Sandwell. Well-maintained high standards over the last 48 years have attracted an increasingly high number of non-Catholic pupils. The school is open to pupils aged 11 to 18 years, with the highest two age groups making up the Sixth Form.^[4][5] It is one of the few secondary schools in the Dudley borough to include sixth form facilities, as most of the other sixth forms closed at the turn of the 1990s following the introduction of tertiary education across the area.^[4][5]

Despite its being a Catholic school, many Bishop Milner pupils are non-Catholic and include Muslims and Sikhs.

The school performs well in the local GCSE tables and is regularly among the highest performing schools Dudley borough.

Most of the school buildings were rebuilt between 2002 and 2005 at a cost of £6.5million.

An earlier revamp saw a new classroom block for the teaching of Drama, Music, Dance, ICT, Religious Education and Sixth Form studies was opened in October 1994.^[6][4][5]

The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship

The school has a good record of students attaining places on the prestigious Prime Minister's Global Fellowship programme.^[4][5] The school achieved its first student in the inaugural year of the programme, 2008, and in 2009 had 2 more successful applicants.^[7] The school also won its first football trophy in its history when the schools year 11 won the duncan edwards cup on the 19th of April 2010 winning the match 2-1 this team also reached the final in 2008 but lost in that match.

Pupils

• Asa Hall currently plays for Luton Town football club.
• Reanne Evans, world ladies snooker champion.^[8]

Ofsted report

• DFES: Holly Hall School
• League table results

Wordsley

The Wordsley School

The Wordsley School - Business & Enterprise and Music College

Motto	High Expectations + Challenge = Success
Headteacher	Mr Mike Lambert
Specialisms	Business/Enterprise College, Music College
Location	Brierley Hill Road Stourbridge West Midlands DY8 5SP England
Local authority	Dudley
DfE URN	103858
Ofsted	Reports
Students	755
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–16
Houses	Stuart (Blue), Doulton (Gold/Yellow), Webb (Silver/Grey), Tudor (Red)
Colours	Claret and Blue
Website	www.wordsley.dudley.sch.uk

The Wordsley School is a secondary school located in Wordsley, Stourbridge, in the West Midlands of England.^[9][10]

It opened in September 1972 to serve the community of Wordsley, replacing Audam Secondary School.

Until September 2002, the school was known as the Buckpool School. Its head teacher is Michael Lambert. His tenure has coincided with an improvement in GCSE results. He has been at the school since January 2001, when he took over from Mrs Stephanie Sherwood who moved to the Dormston School in Sedgley. Before his arrival at Wordsley, Mr Lambert was deputy head of the now-closed Cradley High School in Halesowen.^[9][10]

The Wordsley School is the only school in the country with both Business & Enterprise and Music as a combined specialist status.

Murder victim Carl Bridgewater was a third year (equivalent of today's Year 9) pupil at Buckpool School when he died on 19 September 1978.

A front-page article in the Stourbridge News newspaper was run, with Headteacher Mike Lambert slamming Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls after Mr. Balls threatened the school with closure because it was not achieving the target of 30% A* to C GCSE's in Maths and English.^[9][10]

However, the school comfortably exceeded this target in 2009 when 37% of the school's GCSE students gained 5 or more grades at this level, though it was still the fourth lowest ranking school in the borough.^[11]

Coseley

Coseley School and Sports College

The Coseley School and Sports College (also known as Coseley High School or simply Coseley School) is a secondary school in Coseley, West Midlands, England. The school has specialist Sports College status. It is situated in Ivyhouse Lane, just north of Coseley town centre. It was opened in 1968 to partly replace a nearby smaller secondary school, Mount Pleasant Senior School (the buildings of which have housed Dudley MBC's local records office since 1992). Mount Pleasant remained open until 1974, when the remaining pupils were moved to the Coseley School.

Pupils at Coseley School are mostly from Hurst Hill, Manor, Wallbrook and Christ Church primary schools. A smaller number of pupils are from schools including Bramford, Hill Avenue, Lanesfield and Foxyards.

The school opened as an 11+ secondary modern, but was reorganised to a 12-16 secondary school in September 1972; converting to comprehensive status in September 1975. In September 1990, however, it became an 11-16 comprehensive. Further expansion took place at this time when the school took in approximately half of the pupils and staff from Mons Hill School in Dudley, which had closed that summer.

In March 2008, Dudley council's cabinet member for children's services claimed that there was a "50/50 chance" of Coseley School (or possibly either nearby Dormston or High Arcal) closing within the next 10 years. This came after a mere 147 pupils leaving primary school in 2007 put the school as their first choice when it had a maximum of 195 places available. This would leave Coseley without a secondary school for the first time since the 19th century.^[12] However, the council has since stated that no more secondary schools are scheduled for closure in the borough (the only post-1990 secondary school closure has been of Cradley High School at Halesowen in 2008).

Hopes of the school's long term future being secured were given a boost in January 2010 when it was revealed that 39% of the school's GCSE pupils had gained 5 or more grades at C and above the previous summer - the best results achieved by the school since the first GCSE exams were sat in 1988.^[11] A new high of 45% was attained in 2010.^[13]

Pedmore

Pedmore Technology College and Community School

Pedmore Technology College and Community School

Type	Comprehensive
Specialism	Technology
Location	Grange Lane, Pedmore Stourbridge West Midlands DY9 7HS England
DfE URN	103859
Ofsted	Reports
Students	799
Gender	Mixed
Ages	11–16
Website	www.pedmoretc.dudley.sch.uk

Pedmore Technology College and Community School is a secondary school located in Pedmore, Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It adopted its current name in September 2005 upon becoming a specialist technology college.^[14]

The school opened in 1939 as Pedmore Secondary Modern School, and became The Grange School in September 1975 on changing to comprehensive status. This name remained in use for 29 years until the current title was adopted.^[15]

The school was renamed from The Grange to Pedmore Technology College and Community School and expansion took place in 2007 to accommodate pupils transferred from the closing Cradley High School.^[14]

It is the larger of the two schools in Pedmore.

The school's head teacher is David Kemp.^[14]

Features

It has four playgrounds, a hall and five blocks.

Ofsted report

• 2007 performance tables
• 2006 performance tables

Stourbridge

Redhill School

Redhill School

Established	1976
Type	Secondary foundation school
Headteacher	Mr. Stephen Dunster
Specialism	Languages
Location	Junction Road Stourbridge West Midlands DY8 1JX England
Local authority	Dudley
DfE URN	103865
Ofsted	Reports
Students	1166
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–16
Website	Redhill School

Redhill School is an 11-16 comprehensive secondary school located in Stourbridge, West Midlands (formerly Worcestershire), England.

Admissions

It has no sixth form, similar to most schools in Dudley LEA and all schools in Stourbridge. It is situated just east of the single-track Stourbridge Town Branch Line. Red hill is a specilist language collage.

History

It was formed in September 1976, when Stourbridge Boys' Grammar School and Stourbridge Girls' High School in the town centre merged with Lye Secondary Modern School in the Lye area. These former schools were administered by Worcestershire Education Committee until 1974.

The new school was located entirely at the grammar and high school sites on Red Hill near Stourbridge town centre on either side of Junction Road, with the Lye building being converted to a community centre.

The original building is known as ‘A block’ has been extensively refurbished and a number of other buildings added to the site. The Music Centre is known as ‘B block’. The Humanities, and Creative Technology learning areas are on the other side of Junction Road in ‘C block’. Next to this building is the purpose built Science centre, the Sports Development Centre, Sports Hall and Gym. The school now has a common room for the exclusive use of Year 11 pupils during break, lunchtime and before or after school. The common room is run by a committee of pupils.

Academic performance

Redhill is consistently among the highest performing secondary schools in the Dudley borough for GCSE results. The school GCSE results are well above national average with 77% of Year 11 pupils achieving 5A*-C (including English and Maths) grades in 2010.

External links

• EduBase

Kingswinford

Summerhill School

For the famous, pioneering free school of the same name, see Summerhill School.

Summerhill School

Type	Secondary
Specialism	Language
Location	Lodge Lane Kingswinford West Midlands DY6 9XE England
DfE URN	103854
Ofsted	Reports
Students	1013
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–16
Website	School website

The Summerhill School is a secondary school is located in Kingswinford, West Midlands, England. It was built by Brierley Hill Urban District Council in 1961 but was completely rebuilt in the early 2000s. It serves an area of Kingswinford which was mostly developed after the Second World War.

The school has existed on Lodge Lane, Kingswinford, since it opened in September 1961.

The catchment for the school is bounded in the south by Lawnswood Road (Wordsley), in the east by Stream Road and Moss Grove (Kingswinford) and in the north and west by the county boundary between West Midlands and Staffordshire.

The 1961 buildings were becoming increasingly dilapidated during the 1990s, and by September 2003 the entire school had been rebuilt.

One remaining building from the old complex, built in 1993 and known as C Block remained after the demolition of the old school and was the subject of a bid to save it from demolition and reopen as a community arts centre. The plan was developed by local entrepreneur and ex-pupil John Hackett but opposition from Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council prevented the plans from going ahead. C Block remained standing strong for five years until 5 November 2008, when the roof was destroyed in an arson attack. It is scheduled for demolition in October 2010.

Positioning of the county boundary sign on the A4101 in the early 1980s gave the impression that half of the tennis/netball courts and 2/3 of one of the football pitches were in the county of Staffordshire rather than West Midlands. The sign was moved sometime in the 1990s, aligning it with the west edge of the school grounds. Had this not happened, it would have meant that the new school building would have appeared to be in two counties.

The school had a sixth form until July 1991.

It is among the best performing secondary schools in the Dudley borough, with 78% of GCSE students gaining 5 or more A*-C grades in 2010. This placed it higher than any other state school in the borough, only exceeded by Old Swinford Hospital private school.^[16]

The Kingswinford School

The Kingswinford school

Motto	The successful education of the whole child
Headteacher	Mrs B Hedley
Location	Water Street Kingswinford West Midlands DY6 7AD England
Local authority	Dudley
Students	1000
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	11–16
Houses	Hanover (Krypton), Tudor (Argon), Windsor (Neon), Stuart (Helium)
Colours	Black, Blue, Yellow/Orange
Website	Website

The Kingswinford School is a secondary school located in Kingswinford, West Midlands, England.^[17] It was built just before World War II by Brierley Hill Urban District Council. Subsequent local authority mergers meant that the school was later controlled by the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley but it is now grant maintained and independent from the local authority.^[17]

The school has one of the highest GCSE success rates in Dudley borough.

It now has specialist science college status.

After school clubs are on offer to pupils for subjects including Science, exam learning support, Chess, Drama and Christian Union.^[17]

Ofsted report

The 2007 report is here

Russells Hall Estate

The Sutton School

The Sutton School is a special educational needs school in the Russells Hall Estate in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It provides education to pupils aged 11 to 16 years and caters for approximately 120 pupils. The school has been awarded specialist status as a Business and Enterprise College. The current headteacher is Mr D Bishop-Rowe.

The current school buildings were constructed in 1962 and the school underwent a significant expansion in 1997.

Athletics The Sutton School has enjoyed an excellent tennis season in 2009, with a team overall record of 14-2 against valley league opponents.

Sutton School attracted interest in 2000 when Dudley Council wanted to send Andrew Downer, an 11-year old whose parents wanted him to attend Castle High School, to Sutton School. At a subsequent Special Educational Needs Tribunal, his parents were successful and he was allowed to attend Castle High School.^[18]

Wrens Nest Estate

Wrens Nest Primary School

Wrens Nest Primary School has served the Wrens Nest Estate on 14 October 1936, when the estate was still being developed. It was initially two separate schools; a 5-7 infant school and 7-11 junior school. These became a 5-8 first school and 8-12 middle school respectively in September 1972. A nursery unit for pupils aged 3-4 years was later added. The schools were formed in the 1980s to form the current Wrens Nest Primary School, serving pupils aged 3-12 years, with the age range being altered to 5-11 from September 1990.

The school's capacity was strained in September 2006 when it took in some of the pupils from nearby Sycamore Green Primary School upon its closure. Rebuiling of the school began soon afterwards, and the rebuilt Wrens Nest Primary was officially opened on 11 June 2010 by long-serving cleaner and community worker Margaret Lenton.

Mons Hill School

Mons Hill School was a secondary school located on the Wren's Nest Estate in Dudley, England.

It was opened in April 1965 to replace Wolverhampton Street School (which had been open since 1880), and gave education to pupils aged 11 to 16 years (with the starting age rising to 12 after 1972). Construction had started during 1963 with the intention of having the school open for the beginning of the academic year in September 1964, but it missed the target completion date by seven months.

On the introduction of comprehensive education across the Dudley borough in September 1975, it was renamed Mons Hill School.

By the 1980s, Mons Hill was widely regarded as the worst secondary school in the borough, and pupil numbers were falling and O-Level (GCSE from 1988) results were dismal. By early 1989, by which time just over 200 pupils in the four year groups were on the school roll, Dudley council had decided that the school was no longer viable and would close in July 1991. However, the announcement of the school's closure sparked the transfer of many pupils from the school, as well as a smaller than expected number of 12 year olds transferring to the school from primary schools in September 1989, enabling the closure date to be brought forward a year to July 1990, when the remaining pupils and staff were split between Castle High School and the Coseley School.

When the school's closure was confirmed in February 1990, the future of the buildings (still only 25 years old) was uncertain. The Coseley School expressed interest in using it as a temporary annex until adequate classroom space could be created at their Ivyhouse Lane site, and there was also a suggestion that some of the site could be incorporated into Wren's Nest Nature Reserve.

However, in September 1990, it became a campus of Dudley College and a multi-million pound extension with high quality facilities for skilled trades such as construction, hairdressing and motor engineering, was completed in 1993. This replaced a previous annexe of Dudley College on nearby Sedgley Road West.

Sam Allardyce, former manager of Bolton Wanderers Football Club, attended the school from 1966 to 1970.

52°31′37″N 2°05′38″W / 52.527°N 2.094°W / 52.527; -2.094

Wollaston

Ridgewood High School

Ridgewood High School

Motto	Achieving Excellence Together
Type	Comprehensive community school
Religion	Secular
Headteacher	Mr C. Nutting
Specialism	Science College
Location	Park Road West Wollaston West Midlands DY8 3NQ England
DfE URN	103866
Ofsted	Reports
Students	932
Gender	Co-educational
Ages	11–16
Houses	Ash, Maple, Oak, Chestnut
Website	www.ridgewood.dudley.gov.uk

Ridgewood High School is a mixed comprehensive school situated in Wollaston, West Midlands, England.

History

The school opened in September 1990 on the merger of High Park School and Longlands School (former secondary modern schools), and exists within the buildings of High Park School, which were laid out some thirty years earlier.

The reorganisation of schools which saw the creation of Ridgewood was part of borough-wide changes in 1989 and 1990 which saw another new school (Castle High) being created by a merger of two schools as well as two small secondary schools closed down.

In the autumn of 2007, a new building was added which included a dance studio, music rooms, Science lab and ICT suites. This followed the building of an Eco-centre at the rear of the school which is used as a Science lab and a community meeting room.

Academic performance

It gets GCSE results at the England average.^{[citation needed]}

Alumni

• Jordan Fitzpatrick, footballer
• Daniel Nardiello, footballer

External links

• EduBase

See also

• The Crestwood School
• Dormston School
• Castle High School (Dudley)
• Ellowes Hall School
• High Arcal School
• Old Swinford Hospital School
• Old Swinford Hospital
• Pensnett High School
• Thorns Community College
• Elmfield Rudolf Steiner School
• Ellowes Hall School
• Castle High School
• Coseley School
• Cradley High School
• Hillcrest School and Community College
• Leasowes Community College
• Pensnett School of Technology
• Redhill School and Language College
• Ridgewood High School
• Summerhill School
• Coseley School
• The Crestwood School
• Earls High School
• Pedmore Technology College and Community School
• The Holly Hall Maths and Computing College
• The Kingswinford School
• Wordsley School
• Thorns Community College
• Windsor High School

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} http://www.holly-hall.dudley.gov.uk/ School website^{[dead link]}
2. ^ ^{a b c d} DFES: Holly Hall School
3. ^ ^{a b c d} League table results
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Coseley School website^{[dead link]}
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} School website^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Bishop Milner Catholic School, Dudley, West Midlands
7. ^ British Council website "Fellows". Retrieved 10 November 2009.
8. ^ "Reanne is right on cue". Birmingham Evening Mail (England). 13 December 2004. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-126107440.html. Retrieved 3 May 2010. 
9. ^ ^{a b c} The Wordsley School - Business & Enterprise and Music College (Official)
10. ^ ^{a b c} The Wordsley School News Blog (Official)
11. ^ ^{a b} "Secondary schools in Dudley". BBC News. 15 January 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/09/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/332_gcse_lea.stm. 
12. ^ Closure fear for school « Express & Star
13. ^ "Secondary schools and colleges in Dudley". BBC News. 12 January 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/education/school_tables/secondary/10/html/gcse_332.stm?compare=. 
14. ^ ^{a b c} School website
15. ^ "Schools in Dudley", schools.net
16. ^ "BBC News - Secondary schools in Dudley". Bbc.co.uk. 12 January 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/education/school_tables/secondary/10/html/gcse_332.stm?compare=. Retrieved 2011-01-13. 
17. ^ ^{a b c} The Kingswinford School website
18. ^ Andrew Downer v. Dudley Council^{[dead link]}