Bournville School
 | |
| Motto | "Where learning leads to great opportunities." |
|---|---|
| Established | 1954 |
| Type |
Comprehensive High Performing Specialist School |
| Religion | Secular |
| Headteacher | Mr A McMillan |
| Chair of Governors | Mr Rob Derbyshire |
| Specialism |
Sixth Form Centre Music College Business and Enterprise College |
| Location |
Griffins Brook Lane Birmingham B30 1QJ England Coordinates: 52°25′29″N 1°57′16″W / 52.4247°N 1.9544°W |
| DfE URN | 103515 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1,250 |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Ages | 11–19 |
| Houses |
Previously: Belmont, Griffin, Manor and Woodlands |
| Colours | Navy blue, Royal blue and White (and Black or Grey) |
| Former Pupils | Old Griffinians |
| Website | Bournville School Website |
Bournville School and sixth form centre is a coeducational, state comprehensive school, with Specialist Business and Enterprise College and Music College status, for students aged 11–19, in Bournville, Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
Since 2002 Bournville has been classed as a High Performing specialist school and there are around 1,200 pupils currently on the roll, including a sixth form of around 200 students.
Before Bournville became a comprehensive school in the 1970s it was previously two sibling grammar schools: Bournville Girls Grammar School and Bournville Grammar-Technical School For Boys, previously known as Bournville Boys Technical School. The technical school for boys, the city's first technical school, opened in October 1955. The technical school later combined with the girls' grammar school on the same site, and its current full title is Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre: a Business, Enterprise and Music College.
History
Beginnings
Originally designed and built as two separate schools, the first to be opened was Bournville Girls' Grammar School adjacent to the A38 Bristol Road South south of Bournville village in autumn 1954, housed in a modern building.[citation needed]
One year later, in September 1955, Bournville Boys' Technical School was also opened at the top end of the same site, together with the separate and brand new two-storey dining room and a purpose-built technical block between the two school buildings. The twin schools shared the main playing field, with timetables arranged so that activities of the two schools did not clash. The tennis courts were under the control of the girls' school and were not available to the boys' school, except by special arrangement at the weekends.[citation needed]
The establishment of Technical Grammar schools was a government initiative under the Tripartite Educational System, originally mapped out in the Education Act 1944 to encourage the development of the skilled senior and middle management engineers, scientists and technicians then needed by UK industry and science, to replace those lost during World War II. The new specialist schools were intended to form a bridge between the academic and classical learning practised by traditional grammar schools and the more practical and vocational training that formed the basis of the secondary modern schools.
The new school's timetable ensured that through years seven to nine the traditional academic subjects were fully covered, while in years ten onwards academic studies reduced and more time was spent on the more technical subjects of chemistry, physics, woodwork, metalwork and technical drawing. The boys' school forged close ties with local industrial and scientific concerns and, in return for cash sponsorship of materials and occasional teaching support by their specialists and foremen, those engineering businesses enjoyed first call on qualified pupils when they left school. [citation needed]
The boys' school was organised along 'Public School' lines with four houses—Belmont, Griffin, Manor and Woodlands—and each of the three forms were divided equally between the four houses. Later Griffin House was disbanded, leaving Belmont (later in the 1970s, Ashdown), Manor (Sherborne) and Woodlands (Packwood) that also became the names of three forms in each year, from first to fifth. Belmont, Manor and Woodlands were named after three large mansions that stood in the area during the 19th century, and Griffin was named after the nearby brook. The original "house" system was disbanded when the schools combined and became comprehensive and mixed.[citation needed]
Segregation
During the early years there were no female teachers at the boys' school and only two male teachers at the girls' school. Great efforts were made by the teachers of both schools to keep the boys and girls from becoming distracted by interacting with each other. Lunchtime timetables were arranged so that the girls had the first two sittings and the boys were not allowed into the dining room building until it had been vacated. Sports activities on the sports field took place at different times and even at the end of the school day the girls' grammar school was dismissed fifteen minutes earlier. The only joint activities during the 1950s were occasional joint theatrical and musical productions and an after school ballroom dancing society in the boys' school hall, all of which were closely supervised by the teachers. "Club Griffin" school dances in the 1960s and 1970s were mixed and very popular.
Sport and recognition
Boys of all ages were required to wear a school uniform cap when travelling to or from school and on school trips. The wearing of caps was made non-compulsory after summer 1968. Team sports played were rugby and basketball in winter and cricket in summer. Teams competed in the Birmingham grammar school leagues at all age groups. The boys also had a swimming team. The girls' school played netball and hockey in winter and tennis in summer.[citation needed]
Both schools held an annual cross-country race. Entry was compulsory for all pupils, who also had to complete at least three after-school practice runs over the full course in the weeks preceding the race, with teachers placed on every corner to ensure nobody dropped out or took shortcuts.
After school activities
After school there were a large number of school clubs and societies organised and run by both teachers and senior pupils and everybody was encouraged to join at least one or more. Every night of the week the extracurricular activities took place in classrooms all over both schools. There was a historical society, chess club, ballroom dancing society, geography club, film society, drama club, choral society, science club, astronomy society and the poetry club. The girls' grammar additionally had knitting and sewing clubs, cookery club, a small string orchestra and a ballet society.
Two schools become one
Entry to both schools in the early years had been by Eleven plus examination with both schools selecting only those pupils who had achieved the highest scores in the area's feeder schools. However, under government Circular 10/65, implemented by Birmingham's local education authority, the 11+ examination was scrapped along with the tripartite system of grammar, technical grammar and secondary modern schools, to be replaced by a comprehensive system.
The Bournville schools combined and became a joint comprehensive, switching to coeducational mixed education in September 1973. The twin schools' teaching staffs combined under a single management structure with a single head teacher. The original Girls Grammar school building became the 'lower school' facility and the Boys Grammar at the top end of the site became 'upper school'. The combined School has continued to maintain a reputation for excellence in the Selly Oak, Bournville and Northfield catchment areas.
The former Boys School is now the upper school, called The Charlotte Brontë Building, and the former Girls school is now the lower school, called The Edward Elgar Building. There is also an Annex to the Elgar building (previously the Science Annex), housing one Science Lab and a Resistant Materials Workshop. What was previously the Craft Block (for metalwork, pottery, and woodwork) is now called The William Morris Building, while the Dining Hall block is now called The Keynes Building, housing a single story dining hall with the Sixth form centre and ICT classrooms. The Bournville Business Centre is within the Charlotte Bronte Building.
The school today
September 2009 marked the school's 55th anniversary. Bournville School is now a Specialist Business and Enterprise College and took on the second specialism of Music College in 2007. It has established a Sixth Form Centre with from its own separate common room and study areas.[citation needed]
There are some 1,200 pupils.
Since 2004 the school has been classed as a High Performing Specialist School, due to the progress students have made in years seven to eleven.
In May 2011 the head teacher wrote to parents and carers that a sub-group of Governors had been considering becoming an Academy, and that the Governing Body had agreed to move on to the next stage of the Academy process which is to begin talks with the DFE and go to formal consultation with everyone involved.[citation needed]
Following a Governing Body meeting on 12 October 2011 the decision was made not to proceed with Academy Status for the time being as it was felt that the school was not yet ready for such a significant change.[citation needed]
The school was placed into Special measures in late October 2013, following an Ofsted inspection.
OFSTED assessment
"Too many students in Key Stages 3 and 4 underachieve in English, mathematics and some other subjects because the progress they make is too slow.
The majority of teaching is either inadequate or requires improvement. Expectations of what students should achieve are too low and some lessons proceed at a slow pace.." - Ofsted Report September 2013.
School badge
The school's badge depicts a Griffin (or Gryphon) segreant, wearing a mortarboard cap and brandishing a rolled Academic degree and draws its imagery from the school's proximity to the nearby traditional watercourse of Griffin's Brook, sadly now piped underground for most of its length. Griffin was also the name of one of the original Boys School's four houses, as well as being the Boys' School magazine's name. In the Elgar building foyer, a plaque showing the old badge can be seen, the same Griffin, just without the mortar board and scroll.
Old Griffinians
The Old Griffinians alumni association was formed in 1959 when the first boys graduated from the school and continues to this day, together with an active and successful Old Griffinians Rugby Club.[1]
Notable alumni
- Ian Lavender, actor, who notably played Private "Stupid Boy" Pike in the long running BBC TV comedy series Dad's Army, original names: Arthur Ian.
- Jeffrey Skidmore, said to be "one of the country's foremost choral conductors":[2]
- Mike Skinner, better known as The Streets
- Gulliver McGrath, actor, who was recently cast as David Collins in the hit film Dark Shadows (film) alongside Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.