Aldridge School

Aldridge School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in Aldridge, in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. The other secondary school in Aldridge is St Francis of Assisi Catholic Technology College. Although not officially recognised as such, it has the unofficial status of a Specialist Music College,^[2] as the school does offer a music scholarship to around 20 students per year. The school is also recognised as a Science College. The current headmaster is Mr David Mountney. Each student is assigned a House upon entering the school which helps to build confidence and offers care and competition opportunities.^[3]

History

The school was formed in 1975 by merging Aldridge Grammar School with Tynings County Secondary Modern School, which were based in adjacent buildings on the same campus.

Aldridge Grammar School opened in September 1959 and was an 11-18 selective school. The Headmaster until his retirement in 1974 was E I E (Eric Ioan Emlyn) Whitman, BSc (1909-1990) who had previously played first class cricket for Glamorgan in 1932.^[4]

In September 2003, Aldridge School became a Science College.^[5][6] Since then, it has invested heavily in science equipment for each subject, as well as a biology block. The school has 15 laboratories with prep rooms and technical support, available for all three of the sciences.^[7]

House system

When a pupil joins the school, they are placed in a tutor group which is assigned to one of the four houses - Barr, Daniels, Linley and Scott - each of which houses around 360 pupils.^[8] Each academic year, through a series of inter-house events,^[8] mainly sports (e.g. football and cricket), each house may earn points depending on their respective positions in the event (1st place = 4 points, descending so that 4th place = 1 point).

Music Scholarship

Aldridge School offers a music scholarship for prospective students who wish to join the school in Year 7. To be eligible, one must play an instrument and undertake a selection process, completing two parts, namely the instrumental audition where one plays two pieces of their own choice and the theory part, similar to a normal music theory paper. Unlike normal selection where one must fall within a 3-mile radius of the school's location to apply, the scholarship process allows anyone to apply, with students coming from as far as Great Barr, West Bromwich and other places around the Birmingham/Staffordshire area. Aldridge has a large music department with over 50 pupils studying music at A-level.

References