Colton Hills Community School

Colton Hills Community School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form situated in the Goldthorn Park area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England.

Admissions

It has over 800 pupils on its roll, including sixth formers.^[1] It is situated halfway between Goldthorn Park and Colton Hills. Park Hill is to the east, and the school is close to the LEA boundary with Dudley (Sedgley). Access is via the A4039, to the north, and is not far from the A449, to the west.

History

Grammar school

Wolverhampton Municipal Grammar School was on Newhampton Road East, run by Wolverhampton Education Committee and was co-educational, when Wolverhampton was in Staffordshire. The building is now the Newhampton Centre of City of Wolverhampton College.^[2] It was known as the Higher Grade School from 1894–1921, and Wolverhampton Municipal Secondary School from 1921-45. From 1977, the building was used by Valley Park School until 1989.

The school was commonly known as the Muni, and its motto was Post Tenebras Lux, which means 'Light after Darkness'.

Comprehensive

Graiseley Secondary School was a coeducational secondary modern school, formed in 1963. It is now Graiseley Primary School on Graiseley Hill. There had been a Graiseley Boys' Secondary School and a Graiseley Girls' Secondary School. Penn Secondary School was on Manor Road in Penn.

Colton Hills School was formed in September 1974 from a merger of Graiseley and Penn secondary modern schools in the Graiseley district of Wolverhampton and Wolverhampton Municipal Grammar School in Whitmore Reans. It initially existed within the buildings of these two schools before relocating to the site at Goldthorn Park during 1975,^[3] on land which Wolverhampton had gained from Sedgley in the local government reorganisation of 1966.^[4]

It was initially known as Colton Hills Upper School, with the Newhampton Road site briefly used. The Lower School, comprising the first 2 years of secondary, was at the Manor Road site until 1990, when these years moved to the main site.

It has had specialist languages designation since 2006 and been a Creative Partnership school since 2008. Its student population is ethnically diverse with the highest proportion having an Indian heritage. There is also a high proportion of students for who speak English as an additional language. The school has a specially resourced provision for special educational needs. Eleven students with physical disabilities have access to this provision, which is managed entirely by the school.

Facilities

The school's facilities including a swimming pool which is also open to public use. It also has a huge fields, an AstroTurf,theatre,sports hall and much more.^[5]

The school's current head teacher is Mr Alberto Otero .^[6]

Notable former pupils

• Kevin Darley, jockey^[7]
• Stacey Mattocks, blogger^[8]

Wolverhampton Municipal Grammar School

• Dennis Birch CBE, Leader from 1967-73 of Wolverhampton County Borough Council
• Howard R. Davies
• John Edwards, Editor from 1969-89 of the Yorkshire Post
• Keith Hodgson OBE, Director from 1990-8 of the Stamp Office at the Inland Revenue
• Ronald Leslie Moore OBE, researcher from 1947-73 at the Road Research Laboratory at Crowthorne, whose work led to many road and traffic regulations such as the introduction of crash helmets

See also

• Wolverhampton Grammar School, co-educational independent school

References

External links

• Colton Hills Community School official website
• EduBase
• WMGS
• History of WMGS
• WMGS history
• Roll of Honour of WMSS
• 1959 former school prospectus

News items

• School girl attack in May 2005