Russells Hall Estate

Russells Hall is a residential area of Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The area was extensively mined for coal during the Industrial Revolution and would remain open for many years, which meant the district had become highly industrialised in the then heyday of the Black Country's industrial past. This process ceased in about 1950 when the local council earmarked the area for housing development.

The land at Russells Hall was then made safe and allowed to settle until house building commenced. The first council house was occupied in 1958 and the whole estate was completed within a decade, with a mix of private and council housing. The estate is served by a primary school, a secondary school and three special schools, as well as being within close proximity of the local hospital.

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The Russells Hall Estate

The Russells Hall Estate is a residential area of Dudley, West Midlands, England. Situated approximately one mile to the west of Dudley town centre, the site was earmarked for development as council housing in around 1950, to rehouse hundreds of families from the dilapidated 19th century terraces which were still standing in the town centre around The Inhedge and Stafford Street.

The site of the Russells Hall Estate had been extensively mined for coal since the late 18th century, and after the land was made level it had to be left to settle for five years before any homes could be built. Local industrialisation had been considerable, as the district had become highly industrialised in the then heyday of the Black Country's industrial past.

The first house was completed and let in 1958, and by 1966 the estate was complete, consisting of several hundred council houses and flats as well as some private houses, mostly situated around Scott’s Green Close on the south side of the estate. Several more private and council properties, including about 30 council bungalows, were added in the 1970s around Middlepark Road.

Primary and special schools

The estate is served by several schools including Russells Hall Primary School [1] on Overfield Road and the Holly Hall School [2] on Scotts Green Close.

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 160 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.[3]

Holly Hall School

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.

It originally had secondary modern status until adopting comprehensive status in September 1975, three years after the entry age was increased from 11 to 12.

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.[4][5][6]

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.[7][8][9]

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 plan also included taking in some pupils from Pensnett High School, which was earmarked for closure with other pupils also transferring to The Crestwood School at Kingswinford.[10][11][12] However, these plans were scrapped by the local council in March 2008 as the school was deemed "too successful" for academy status.[13][14][15]

Local amenities

Russells Hall Hospital.[16]

Parks and recreational areas

A large area of public open space exists around the centre of the estate and in 2005 was earned by Dudley council as a possible site for mass housing development.

References

External links

See also