| Established | 1922 as Smethwick College, 1992 as Holly Lodge High School |
|---|---|
| Type | Co-educational secondary comprehensive with specialist Science status |
| Headteacher | Mr Ahson Mohammed |
| Specialism | Science |
| Location | Holly Lane Smethwick West Midlands England |
| Local authority | Sandwell |
| DfE URN | 104018 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1326 |
| Ages | 11–16 |
| Website | www.schools.sandwell.net/hollylodge |
Holly Lodge High School College of Science is a secondary school located in Smethwick, West Midlands, England.
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It is located on Holly Lane on the middle point between Smethwick and Oldbury, near West Smethwick Park and West Park Road less than a mile from the M5. There is also an entrance on Marshall Streetand Forster Street. The school has a large percentage (65%) of pupils from Sikh, Hindu and Islamic communities, as it is situated in the western part of the town where mass immigration from the Commonwealth was concentrated during the 1950s and 1960s. 23% of the school population are white. Recently since 2004, there have been a number of Polish immigrants at the school. There are now more immigrants coming from Eastern Europe.
The school was expanded in September 1992 when it took in the pupils of Smethwick Hall Boys School, which had closed at the end of the school year that July.[1]
The current headteacher is Ahson Mohammed. He started in September 2009 to oversee the remodelling work and to raise standards. Between September 2009 and August 2011, extensive refurbishment and some new build occured on the site as part of the 'Building Schools of the Future' programme. A total of 23 million pounds was spent to enhance the facilities.
It was originally a girls' and boys' grammar school. The girls' grammar school at Holly Lodge opened in 1922, moving to a new building in 1927. The boys' grammar school opened in Holly Lodge, moving to a new building next door to the girls' school in 1932. In 1967, the boys' school was joined with the James Watt Technical School (a boys' school) on Crockett's Lane. The girls' and boys' school were united in 1972 as a high school admitting children of all abilities on the two original sites. A Science and Technology block was built in 1970 prior to the amalgamation of the boys' and girls' schools. In September 1992, Holly Lodge officially began when three schools in West Smethwick merged. Since then, there has been no real development. It was built in about 1900 and has been expanded considerably since then. The school is due to be rebuilt due to the Building Schools for the Future program.
Holly Lodge became a specialist College of Science in the summer of 2004. In 1997, Geoff Hampton received a knighthood for helping turn the school around as headteacher.
In 2010 the school has received a lot of press coverage due to the remodeling and refurbishing of their building which was provided by BSF 'Building Schools For The Future' and has also received attention when Atlantic R&B Singer Lloyd Polite visited during one of their yearly talent shows where he had a session with a year 11 group giving them tips and advice for the music industry.
In 2009, 27% of students gained five GCSEs at grades A* - C including English and mathematics. This was, however, a 12% improvement on 2008 results. The science specialism is working exceptionally well with 65% of the students gaining grades A* to C. This is above the national average. This was acknowledged by Ofsted in June 2010. The school has gone from strength to strength, in the summer examinations in 2010; 39% of the students gained five A*-C grades including English and mathematics. This rose again in 2011; to 50% gaining 5x A*-C grades including English and mathematics.