Windsor High School (Halesowen)

Infobox UK school
name = Windsor High School


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motto = Excelence for mankind
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established =
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closed =
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type = Comprehensive foundation school
religion = Secular
president =
head_label = Headmaster
head = Keith Sorrell
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specialist = Sports College
street = Richmond Street
city = Halesowen
county = West Midlands
country = England
postcode = B63 4BB
LEA = Dudley
ofsted = 103874
staff =
enrollment = 1,369
gender = Co-educational
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 16
houses =
colours = Silver, blue and yellow
publication =
free_label_1 = Coordinates
free_1 = coord|52|27|5.5|N|2|3|31.9|W|display=inline,title
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website = http://www.windsorhighschool.co.uk
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Windsor High School is a Secondary School located on Richmond Street, Halesowen, in England.

The School

Windsor High School is a mixed comprehensive school in Halesowen, West Midlands. It is a large school, catering for 1,369 pupils aged 11 to 16cite web| url=http://www.dfes.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/dfe1x1_05.pl?School=3325404 | title=DFES Website Performance Tables | accessdate=2007-05-15] and is heavily over-subscribedFact|date=May 2007. The number of admissions for the year commencing 1st September 2007 will be 280, which will become the approved admissions numberFact|date=May 2007. The school has been awarded Artsmark Gold and Sportsmark Gold. as well as the National Achievement Award for Improvement in Examinations in recent years.Fact|date=May 2007

Windsor High School is currently one of the top schools in Dudley LEA. It is currently ranked 3rd in Dudley, behind Old Swinford Hospital and Bishop Minor Catholic SchoolFact|date=May 2007. In 2005 65% of pupils at the school achieved 5 A*-C grades in their GCSEs. This was topped further by the following year of students in 2006/2007, where 90% of students achieved an A* grade, this is yet to be achieved by any other academic college, and boosts Windsor's positioning in the Midland school ranking into number 2.

The school was erected during the 1930s by Worcestershire County Council as Halesowen County Secondary Modern Boys School - a secondary modern school. Girls living in the local area attended nearby Halesowen County Secondary Modern Girls School. In the 1970s, the Boys School became "Richmond Boys School" and "Walton Girls School", initially as secondary modern schools. Windsor High School came into existence in September 1985 when these two schools merged into one mixed comprehensive. The new school existed entirely on the site of the boys school, though with substantial extensions. In the 1980s, Windsor High became one of the first Grant Maintained schools in the country under its visionary head, Don Newton (Now Retired)

The old girls school was taken over by Halesowen College who retained it for 18 years, when it was sold off for redevelopment by Barrett Homes (site now occupied by Cavalier Drive) as family housing.

Sports College status

The School was designated a specialist Sports College in 2002 which enables the school to have extra funds which has helped build a Dance block, new music rooms, a new Science block and new and extra equipment which has helped many of the students at Windsor. Further facilities include an AstroTurf,(approx convert|1|acre|m2|sing=on of land), a facility which enables students to part take in Sports such as Hockey, Football and Short Tennis. These funds have subsequently allowed the school to invest in a new, state of the art Dance block, this accompanies other sporting facilities such as Basketball courts, Football pitches, two indoor gyms, and changing rooms. The school now sets its sights on a future of increasing afluence with its new status as a science college in addition to the afformentioned sports college status.

The Library

Windsor's library enables students to study, with necessary resources for each academic subject including Maths, English, Science, Geography, History, Religious studies, amongst many other subjects. There is also a wide range of fictional learning material, including great works by classic writers such as Shakespeare as well as more recent authors such as J.K.Rowling.

The Careers Library

The careers library, run by Mr. Bolton and his assistant, is a resource which aims to provide careers opportunities, ideas, inspirations for all students who are either: uncertain about their career aspects, want to further their understanding of the working world, or want to gather information concerning subjects such as job interviews, application forms or CV writing. An extensive contact list means work experience can be organized for any student, to further understanding of the work place, and working with customers etc.

Physical Education

The school is currently inputing reasonable amounts of funding into its physical education department with the aim of promoting a healthy lifestyle to all students within the school. The funding has allowed the department to expand its horizons to out of school activities such as squash and swimming, which are done at the local leisure centre.

Pathfinder Trust

Windsor High School was granted the Pathfinder Trust last year. This enables the School to hopefully extend the curriculum of 11-16 to 11-19. This will make Windsor High School a Sixth Form.

Windsor High School is working with Colleges and Universities in the Pathfinder Trust, and hopes to lead in the development of ICT, Health and Social Care and Creative Media. The Pathfinder Trust also hopes to develop Halesowen as a learning village with direct access to the University of Wolverhampton.

The Two Nations Tournament

The Two Nations Tournament is an International Competition held annually between England and Germany.

Four teams of 7 take part, two boys and two girls teams. Each team plays football, basketball, and volleyball against teams from our partner school – Wilhelm-Ganzhorn-Realschule in Straubenhardt on the northern edge of the Black Forest.

The first leg is held at Windsor in July, with the return leg in Europe taking place in October the same year.

References