Pool Hayes Arts and Community School
| Type | Comprehensive |
|---|---|
| Location |
Castle Drive Willenhall West Midlands WV12 4QZ England  Coordinates: 52°36′04″N 2°03′08″W / 52.6012°N 2.0522°W |
| DfE URN | 104251 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1151 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Ages | 11–18 |
Pool Hayes Arts and Community School is one of the biggest secondary schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall.
It is located on Castle Drive in the Pool Hayes suburb of Willenhall which is part of Walsall Borough in the West Midlands. Construction began in the early 1960s, the predecessing Pool Hayes Farm was levelled and a nearby pool plus Pool Hayes Colliery were filled in to make way for progress. Patricks Lane was renamed 'Pool Hayes Lane' and was redeveloped in 1965. The school itself was opened in 1964 around the same time as construction of the surrounding areas (including housing), was still in progress. The first headteacher was Harold Chamings (who died in December 2005), the current headteacher is Jim Clarke.
During 2006 the school came under partial redevelopment. The original 40-years old wooden windows were removed and replaced by new PVC framed windows. The I.T block was also redeveloped along with the tennis court, plus automatic doors replaced the original 60's wooden ones in the reception area. The maths section was altered as part of the redevelopment, with the two original doors either side being bricked over and replaced with a main door, which faces the grassy area. New signposts and other changes were also added.
In September 2006, Pool Hayes was designated a Specialist Status as an Arts College which brought a big increase in resources to support exciting developments in Drama, Music Technology and Creative Technology in school. This Specialist Status also carries with it the challenge of raising standards in those subjects throughout the school.
Music
Due to the special status, the school has received music as well as other creative subjects that have been greatly improved and focused on.
In the summer of 2007 in July Pool Hayes held its first annual rockfest at the Robin 2 club in Bilston. This is a music festival which is mainly focused around rock and metal. This is done through the school's programme rock school which is based on the movie 'School Of Rock' which starred Jack Black. One of the top performers who came out of the first night was Elliot Morris and his band mate Carl who get their own mention in the Express and Star newspaper for their rendition of snow patrol "Chasing Cars".
The following annual rockfest for Pool Hayes in 2008 was on the 9th of July, it was a huge hit with the community around Pool Hayes and around Bilston. The event is growing ever popular each year and is organised by Mark Rowley. The head of music at Pool Hayes, Mrs. S. Dufty, is also involved in the event. She also organises other musical events for the school such as The French concert, which brings all the school's departments together for a celebration of French culture and traditions. Plus, the Christmas concert always proves to be popular with students and teachers.
Pool Hayes also have their own Concert Band and Choir. Over Christmas 2008 there was a mini-tour organised for the concert band and choir by Mrs. S. Dufty, the purpose of this was to get younger generations more interested in music and instruments. One of the schools they visited was Jane Lane Primary School in Bentley, Willenhall.
Phil Hickman has now taken over post as the Head of music and is keeping previous traditions set in place by Stephany Dufty in place. D&T Teachers: Mr. Carthy.
Head of year 7 is Tom Harris.
In 2013 Jim Clarke retired and was replaced by a new Head Teacher.
External links
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