Former secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley

There are many former secondary schools in the various 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 former secondary schools, contributed greatly to the general enlightenment of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.

• Sir Gilbert Claughton School was a secondary school located on Blowers Green Road in Dudley, England, in the Queen's Cross area of the town. It opened in 1904 and closed in 1990. It opened in 1904 as the Dudley Upper Standard School, but after three years it became the Higher Elementary School. Another name change came in 1929, when it became the Dudley Intermediate School. In December 1957, it adopted the Gilbert Claughton title as the Sir Gilbert Claughton Grammar School. A new classroom block was added in the late 1950s, mostly for the teaching of Science and other practical subjects. The age range was altered from 11-18 to 12-18 in September 1972 and its status changed to comprehensive in September 1975. However, by the mid 1980s numbers were starting to fall and the sixth form centre had been axed, sparking fears that it would close. In 1985, there was talk of The Dudley School being merged with another local secondary school to form The Ednam School, and Sir Gilbert Claughton was one of the schools mentioned in the proposals for this new school. In 1988, there was talk of the school merging with The Blue Coat School on Kates Hill. However, in October 1988 Dudley council decided to merge the Dudley School with Blue Coat to form Castle High (at the main Dudley School site), which opened in September 1989, although Blue Coat would remain open for a year as an annex for the older pupils. In June 1989, just weeks before the end of the academic year, it was announced that all second year (12-13 year old) and third year (13-14 year old) pupils would be transferred from Sir Gilbert Claughton to Castle High or Holly Hall Schools with effect from September - along with the pupils starting secondary school at that time who had originally selected Sir Gilbert Claughton as their destination. However, the oldest remaining year group at the school would remain there until completing their secondary education in July 1990, when the school finally closed after 86 years. It was then turned into offices by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, who designated it as the Claughton Centre.

• The Blue Coat School was a mixed secondary school located in Dudley, England. Its history can be traced back to 19 March 1706, when a school for 50 boys opened in Stepping Stone Lane. It opened to girls in 1802 when moving to a site in Fisher Street, where it remained until 1869 when a building on Bean Road opened. It expanded in September 1970 to take in the buildings of Rosland Secondary School, Beechwood Road, at nearby Kates Hill, but the Bean Road site was still used for some lessons until 1981, when it was finally declared redundant after 112 years and sold to make way for a residential development. The site at Beechwood Road had been built in 1932. Perhaps its most famous pupil was British comedian Lenny Henry, who attended from 1969 until 1974. Robert Hawthorne, the Sky Sports TV commentator, was also a pupil from 1977 to 1981. The school traditionally had an entry age of 11 years, but in September 1972 it was redesignated as a 12-16 school (gaining comprehensive status three years later) and this age range remained in place until the school's closure. The Blue Coat School closed in July 1989 when it merged with The Dudley School to form Castle High School, although the Blue Coat buildings remained in use for the 1989/90 academic year to accommodate the oldest two year groups who had previously been at Blue Coat. By the time the Blue Coat as a separate school closed its doors for the last time on 14 July 1989 after 283 years, just 334 pupils were on the roll (averaging at 83 or 84 pupils per year group) and the closure was deemed necessary as it was too small for modern secondary school standards and the site was too confined for any substantial expansion; the re-opening of Dudley secondary schools to 11 year olds in September 1990 would have created further difficulties in accommodating extra pupils at the school. The doors closed to pupils for the last time in July 1990, when the oldest year group finished their secondary education and the year group below transferred to the main Castle High site for the final year of their secondary education. The school's future had been under threat since December 1985, when Dudley council had considered creating a new school called the Ednam School by a merger between the Dudley School and at least one other smaller secondary school in the town - and the Blue Coat School had been one of the schools mentioned in these plans. However, by the time the 1988/89 academic year began, Blue Coat's future was still uncertain and there was even a suggestion that it could merge with Sir Gilbert Claughton School. However, it was decided in October 1988 that Blue Coat and Dudley School would merge to form a new school. The buildings at Beechwood Road still exist to this day as the base of St Thomas's Community Network.

• Dudley Grammar School was a selective higher education school for boys aged from 11 to 18 years. Originally founded in 1562, it was located in Dudley, Worcestershire, and opened in July 1898 on its final site in St James's Road. 12 years later Dudley Girls High School opened in nearby buildings in Priory Road. The pupils of the two single-sex schools regularly held drama productions together, and a number of teachers taught at both establishments and the pupils of the two schools mixed on occasions for sixth form Physics lessons. In 1966, plans were unveiled for the grammar and high schools to merge and form a mixed comprehensive school, but these took almost a decade to become reality. In September 1972, the age range had changed from 11-18 to 12-18 as part of a reorganisation by Dudley council which saw the entry age for secondary school increased in the towns of Dudley, Sedgley, Coseley and Brierley Hill. Dudley Grammar School closed in July 1975 after 413 years, when it merged with the Girls High School to form The Dudley School with effect from September 1975. The merger also included the smaller, less well known Park Secondary School which was located near the town's Grange Park, the buildings of which were briefly used as an annex to the new school until 1977. After more than a century the buildings of Dudley Grammar School are still in existence; they now house Castle High School, which was formed in September 1989 on the merger of The Dudley School and The Blue Coat School. The grammar school buildings were expanded between 1990 and 1995 as the old High School building was gradually emptied and eventually demolished at the start of 1996. However, the grammar school swimming pool was closed and demolished in 1990 to make way for part of the expansion. The pool had opened in 1951 as a memorial to the former grammar school pupils who had died in the First World War and Second World War. Few schools in Dudley LEA have had a sixth form since July 1990, when the sixth form facilities at Castle High in Dudley town and High Arcal and Ellowes Hall in neighbouring Sedgley were axed. The sixth form facilities at Summerhill and Crestwood Schools in Kingswinford were closed a year later. There have also been no grammar schools since July 1975. However the much-praised King Edward VI College, Stourbridge produces excellent results worthy of a grammar school (as do most sixth form colleges) to allow pupils to reach their full potential at 18. Former pupils of the school are known as Dudleians. They include Roger Cashmore, David Tristram, Hugh Walters and Michael Taylor^{[disambiguation needed ]}.
• The Dudley School was a mixed comprehensive school in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was founded in 1975 on the merger on the town's two single-sex grammar schools, Dudley Girls High School and Dudley Grammar School, and was located on the two sites near Dudley town centre. The formation of the school also involved a merger with a smaller school; Park Secondary School. The Dudley School catered for pupils aged from 12 to 18 years. In 1985, just ten years after the Dudley School's formation, Dudley council unveiled plans for it to merge with at least one smaller secondary school to create The Ednam School. One plan put forward at this time was for the Priory Road buildings (formerly the Girls High School) to be developed as a school for children aged up to 16 years, with the former Boys Grammar School buildings being converted into a sixth form college. In October 1988, it was decided that the Dudley School would merge with The Blue Coat School on Kates Hill with effect from September 1989. The school's pupils voted for the new school to be called Castle High. The plan was for Castle High to exist solely at the Dudley School site, but for the first year it also incorporated the Blue Coat buildings for that school's oldest two year groups as sufficient space was not available at the Dudley School site until new buildings were completed and the sixth form was closed due to falling pupil numbers and a decision by the local authority to relocate most of the borough's sixth form facilities from schools to further education colleges. The last year of sixth form students began their studies at the school in September 1988 and remained there until the sixth form closed in July 1990; there were no admissions to the sixth form at the new school in September 1989. The school's final head teacher was Mr Joseph Kenneth "Ken" West, who was head for the final four years until the merger following the retirement of Mr Alfred "Fred" Austin (born Fredi Stiller as a Jew in Czechoslovakia in 1928; and who became Fred Austin upon his adoption by a British family at the outbreak of World War II) in 1939. Mr Austin had been head since the formation of the Dudley School in 1975 and Mr West was a teacher of Mathematics at the school. Ian Austin, who became Labour Party Member of Parliament for Dudley North in May 2005, was a pupil at the school from 1977 until 1983. He is the adoptive son of the school's former head teacher.^[1]

• Dudley Girls High School was a selective higher education school which provided education for girls aged 11 to 18 years. It was located in Dudley, England, and opened in 1910 near the town centre in Priory Road, 12 years after Dudley Grammar School (for boys) moved to neighbouring premises. Dudley Girls High School served Dudley and its surrounding area for 65 years, before it merged with the grammar school to form The Dudley School in 1975. Plans for a merger had been in the pipeline since 1966, and the age range was changed from 11-18 to 12-18 in 1972. Another merger came in 1989, this time when the Dudley School merged with The Blue Coat School to form Castle High School. The former grammar school buildings were expanded between 1990 and 1995, leaving the high school buildings disused after July 1995, although a sports hall on the site was retained and is still in use now, with a new entrance being built from the old grammar school site to enable the old high school to be demolished. Dudley council had considered using the old high school as council offices, but these plans were scrapped in favour of demolition, which took place in early 1996. The site of the school has been used as a public car park since 1997, though in October 2009 plans were unveiled to build an annexe to Dudley College on the site. Notable alumnae include: Sue Lawley, Dorothy Round, Baroness Jenny Tonge and BBC WM radio presenter Jenny Wilkes.

• High Park School was a secondary school located in Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It was built around 1960 as a secondary modern school to serve the Wollaston area of the town, adopting comprehensive status in September 1975. By the 1980s, pupil numbers at the school were falling and Dudley MBC decided to merge High Park with nearby Longlands School. The merger was completed in September 1990, when Ridgewood High School opened within the High Park buildings. The Longlands School buildings were taken over by Stourbridge College. At the time of Ridgewood's formation, new buildings were added to the High Park site to accommodate the pupils from the old Longlands School.

• Longlands School was a secondary school located in Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It was built during the 1930s to serve the expanding Stourbridge area as a secondary modern school. The school later gained comprehensive status, but by the 1980s, pupil numbers were falling. Dudley MBC decided to merge Longlands with nearby High Park School, and the merger was completed in September 1990 when Ridgewood High School opened within the High Park buildings. The old Longlands School buildings were then taken over by Stourbridge College, who are still using the site as a campus after nearly 20 years, although it is set to close during the 2010s if plans to merge Stourbridge College with Dudley College go ahead.

• Saltwells Secondary School was a secondary school located in Netherton, West Midlands, England. It was b 1962+ to replace Halesowen Road School - known locally as The Iron School due to its corrugated iron construction. The school closed in July 1986 due to falling numbers on the school roll, and most of the remaining pupils and staff were transferred to The Hillcrest School, now the only secondary school in Netherton. The school's status changed from secondary modern to comprehensive in September 1975 as part of a borough wide change to secondary education. The age range changed from 11-15/16 to 12-16 in September 1972, also to fit in with a reorganisation of local education (which was not reverted until 1990). The school buildings remain in use to this day as the site of Saltwells Education Development Centre - the educational development centre which serves the entire Dudley borough.

• Walton Girls School was a girls secondary modern school situated in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. It was built during the 1930s to serve the central area of Halesowen. It remained open for some 50 years, and during the final years of its existence was the only all-girls secondary school in the Dudley borough (which Halesowen became part of in 1974). It was originally a school for girls aged 11 upwards, but was reorganised to a 13-18 comprehensive in September 1972, when three-tier education was introduced in Halesowen. It was reorganised into an 11-16 comprehensive in September 1982, when it gained two younger year groups but lost its sixth form as all of the town's sixth form facilities were relocated to an expanded Halesowen College. Walton finally closed its doors in July 1985 when it merged with nearby Richmond Boys School to form Windsor High School. The new school was located entirely at the Richmond site from its opening in September 1985, and the Walton buildings were taken over by Halesowen College.

• Greenhill Middle School was a 9-13 middle school situated in Halesowen, West Midlands (formerly Worcestershire), England. It opened in September 1972 within the buildings of the former Hill & Cakemore Secondary Modern boys and girls schools situated on Long Lane. Its opening coincided with the reorganisation of schools in Halesowen which saw 5-7 infant, 7-11 junior and 11-16/18 secondary schools replaced by 5-9 first, 9-13 middle and 13-18 secondary schools. The old Hill & Cakemore Secondary Modern School was relocated to a site in Kent Road which became known as Leasowes High School, serving pupils aged 13-18. However, three-tier education in Halesowen was a short lived experiment which lasted only 10 years. It was abolished in July 1982, and for the academic year beginning September 1982 the traditional age ranges were restored. This resulted in Greenhill Middle School being closed, with the lowest year group in the school being transferred to Olive Hill Primary School for a year, while the older three year groups remained at the Greenhill site which was annexed into Leasowes High School. The Greenhill site remained in use until 1987, when extensions were completed at the main Leasowes site to accommodate the younger pupils. The Greenhill buildings fell into disuse and were demolished.

• Cradley High School was a secondary school located in the Cradley area of Halesowen, which is a village in the West Midlands county of England. It is situated in the west end of Halesowen near the borders with Stourbridge and Brierley Hill. As of 2006, the school had 606 pupils on roll.^[2] In 2006, fears were rife that falling numbers on the school's roll might force it to close. In February 2007, Dudley's independent School Organisation Committee approved proposals to close the school with effect from August 31, 2008. The Year 11 pupils left as normal in 2007. Year 10 pupils completed their education at Cradley High and left in 2008. Pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 transfer to other schools in September 2007, with most pupils moving to Pedmore Technology College. The final year of pupils left the school over the summer of 2008, and the school buildings (along with the adjacent leisure centre) are expected to be sold off for redevelopment. It was the first secondary school closure in the Dudley borough for 18 years. The large school fields, however, are to be retained for community use. The Cradley High buildings were completed in the spring of 1992 at the end of a five-year construction project which saw the original buildings gradually replaced by new ones. The official opening took place on 5 June 1992, but tragedy struck when head teacher Mr John Grass died suddenly from a heart attack. His successor was Ms Toni Fowler, who remained at the school until its closure 16 years later. The origins of Cradley High School date back to 1939, when Cradley Secondary Modern School opened to serve pupils aged 11 and above in the expanding community of Cradley. This school closed in July 1972 as part of a reorganisation of schools in the Halesowen area, and was replaced with Cradley Middle School for pupils aged 9-13. However, this system was scrapped after 10 years and the school was redesignated as an 11-16 comprehensive in September 1982, adopting the name Cradley High School. Within 10 years, the whole school had been rebuilt. It achieved mixed success in the local GCSE tables, being the Dudley borough's lowest-scoring school in 2001, but having improved substantially since then.^[3] On April 28, 2008, a technology workshop in the school was damaged by fire and smoke in an arson attack. It is believed that a firework was put into the room which set fire to furniture. The fire was attended to by two crews from Brierley Hill and Cradley Heath fire stations.^[4] The school is due to be demolished over the summer of 2010, having been derelict for two years ([2], [3], [4]).

• Homer Hill Middle School was a 9-13 middle school situated in the Cradley area of Halesowen, West Midlands (formerly Worcestershire), England. It opened in September 1972 when Halesowen Urban District Council abolished the traditional 5-7 infant, 7-11 junior and 11-16/18 secondary schools in favour of 5-9 first, 9-13 middle and 13-16/18 seconary schools. It was situated within the buildings of Cradley Secondary Modern School, which had opened in 1939. In 1974, Halesowen and neighbouring Stourbridge (which had stuck with the traditional school age ranges) were merged into the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, which had adopted 5-8 first, 8-12 middle and 12-16/18 secondary schools in 1972. The first and middle schools in Halesowen were abolished in July 1982, with the traditional age ranges being reinstated with effect from the school year beginning September 1982. The reorganisation of schools in Halesowen saw Homer Hill Middle School close down and re-open as Cradley High School, which was based within its buildings. However, the buildings were unsuitable in the long term as a modern secondary school, and by 1990 they had all been demolished as the new Cradley High buildings were developed in pieces. Cradley High was a short-lived school, closing in July 2008 due to falling pupil numbers. The school buildings were knocked down in 2010.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ OfSTED: Cradley High School
3. ^ Dudley MBC: Cradley High School
4. ^ "Arsonists hit school". Express & Star. 2008-04-29. http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/04/29/arsonists-hit-school. Retrieved 2008-04-29.