| Head of Campus | Mr Paul Taylor |
|---|---|
| Location | Tiled House Lane Brierley Hill West Midlands DY5 4LN England |
| Local authority | Dudley |
| DfE URN | 103864 |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 150 |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 14–16 |
| Website | www.pensnett.dudley.gov.uk |
The Pensnett 14-19 Education Campus is a secondary school located in the Pensnett area of Brierley Hill in the West Midlands of England. There are around 150 pupils aged 14–16 on the roll.
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Originally known as the Pensnett Secondary Modern School, it was opened in 1932 to serve pupils aged 11 and above in the expanding Pensnett area of Brierley Hill. The original school building is still in use with the addition of several modern extensions and improvements.
Eric Hancock was the Headmaster of Pensnett Secondary Modern School from 1956 until he retired in 1972. Hancock also purchased the old organ from nearby St Mark's Church for use by the school orchestra.[1] He died in December 1986 at the age of 79.
The retirement of Mr Hancock in 1972 coincided with the redesignation of the school as a 12-16 school in September of that year. September 1975 saw the school follow suit of all other secondary modern (as well as grammar) schools in the Dudley borough (which Brierley Hill became part of in 1966) by converting to comprehensive status. It has retained comprehensive status to this day; however, the age range was reverted to 11-16 in September 1990.
New technology classrooms were added in the early 1990s, with the new department being officially opened in 1993.
In September 2007, the school underwent a name change from Pensnett School of Technology to Pensnett High School.
Three arson attacks at the school in spring 2010 caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.[4]
The school received a somewhat poor Ofsted report in June 2006, that graded the school on point 4, (Unsatisfactory'), on a 4 point scale".[2]
Following a re-inspection in July 2007 Ofsted graded the school on point 3, (Satisfactory), and said "Pensnett is a satisfactory and improving school. It has made good progress since its last inspection and its reputation is getting better."
The 2010 GCSE A* - C (including Maths and English) results represented a 63% improvement on the previous year.
In July 2001, in response to a written question by Peter Ainsworth MP to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell included Pensnett School of Technology in a list of those schools which have benefited from the work of school sports coordinators.[3]
The School successfully experimented with playing music during lessons and found that music can aid learning and improve behaviour.[4]
In April 2007 Wolverhampton Wanderers player Craig Davies opened a £1.3 million community sports hall that can also be used by residents, sports groups and clubs during non-school hours.[5]
Plans were unveiled in December 2007 to merge the school by September 2010 with The Crestwood School, which stands just over Brierley Hill's border in Kingswinford, and to create a new Academy.
However, these plans were scrapped in March 2009 by Dudley Council due to financial technicalities. Dudley Council soon afterwards announced plans to close the school at the end of the 2009/10 academic year. [5] Despite widespread opposition by pupils, staff, parents and members of the local community, the decision to close the school was made on 29 December 2009 with effect from July 2010. However, it will remain open for two years as a learning centre for the oldest two year groups in the school, before completely closing July 2012 and bringing an end to 80 years of education at the site.[6]
Just after the decision to close the school was confirmed, it was revealed that Pensnett High had once again been the lowest ranking school in the borough for pupils studying for GCSEs being completed in summer 2009. However, the total of pupils gaining 5 GCSEs at grade C or above had improved to 19% from 11% the previous year.[7]A new high of 32% was attained in 2010.[8]