Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Small Heath School

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Type
  
Foundation school

DfE number
  
330/5401

Headteacher
  
Mr A. Wilson

Small Heath School

Motto
  
'Advancing Knowledge, Transforming Life'

Location
  
Muntz Street Small Heath, Birmingham West Midlands B10 9RX England

Local authority
  
Birmingham City Council

Small Heath School is a secondary school and sixth form on Waverley Road in Small Heath, Birmingham, England. This very large school serves an inner city area of Birmingham. It is a popular choice with parents, with more than two applications for every place available. Almost all students walk to school from the immediate community. The proportion known to be eligible for free school meals is very high, as is the proportion who have special educational needs or disabilities. The great majority of students with special educational needs or disabilities have behavioural or moderate learning difficulties. There are many more boys than there are girls at the school. The large majority of students are of Pakistani heritage, with others coming from a range of different ethnic backgrounds such as Bangladeshi,Somalian and a very small percentage of European origin (Romanian and Swedish).

Contents

The school has been a specialist technology college since 1994, and has been recognised as a High Performing Specialist School. It was awarded Raising Attainment and Pupil Progress mentor status in 2008, which recognises the school's work in raising students' achievement. It holds many other awards including those for its work internationally, with business and industry, and in supporting other schools and school leaders in England. Small Heath School also sponsors a school in Pakistan for which it supplies to, to educate children.

Admissions

Small Heath school has two buildings located on different roads in which students, including study (the other is situated on Muntz Street). The Upper School is on Muntz Street and the Lower School is on Waverley Road.

In Lower School the majority of students are year 7 to 9. Year 10 spend a small amount of their time in this building and year 11 are permanently based in Upper School along with the Sixth formers. Small Heath School is prolific for improving in its inspection reports conducted by Ofsted, the school started as an inadequate school but has steadily worked its way up to being an outstanding school and has maintained that status for 3 years.

In Lower School students mainly study foreign languages, RE, English, Maths, History, Geography, Tutorial and ICT. Eventually these subjects are moved to Upper School building so by the time students reach year 11 they are permanently taught in Upper School.Certain years/groups travel during lunch time between the two buildings depending on their subjects.Year 8 do not travel any more starting from September 2016.Year 9 travelling arrangements are unknown while Year 10 Travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays meaning that Year 10 travel the most.Small heath school has been classed as 'outstanding' by Ofsted 3 years running; 2002, 2006 and 2010. From September 2014 Shanaz Khan was the Principal at small heath school but has been dismissed as the local authority has somehow took control of the leadership due to the Trojan horse crises in Birmingham schools. Although this school has an excellent reputation currently, it in the past and still somewhat in the present is prolific for being one of the most feared schools in Birmingham, sadly due to the inner city violence and 'urban' reputation of the area, the school in a way reflects this. As of April 2015 Mrs Yvonne Wilkinson began a secondment at the school as an interim head office staff until July. Mr Wilson will be the Interim Headteacher for Small Heath school from September 2015.It is also the only Secondary school which is not an academy in Small Heath.

History

It was built as a Birmingham board school in 1892 by architects Martin & Chamberlain and is a Grade II* listed building.

It became the co-educational Waverley Grammar School. The head of Small Heath School was Mr Knight during the 80's and 90's and then after Mr Knight left his deputy Mr Slough took over the school as a head teacher and turned the school in to an 'outstanding school' just as Mr Knight had retained previously. In 2014 Mr Slough said farewell to the school family in to pastures new. Mrs Shanaz Khan was small heath schools head teacher as of September 2014 but the school leadership is somehow been in turmoil recently as Mrs Shanaz Khan has been subjected to be involved in the 'Trojan Horse' scandal from her previous teaching history and many senior teachers have resigned as a result as they doubt Mrs Khan's leadership ofsted Inspectors found “tensions” between the leadership team, directed by new head teacher Shanaz Khan, and longer-serving staff members were “damaging the school’s progress and capacity to improve” so under the local authority control Shanaz Khan has been dismissed and Mrs Yvonne Wilkinson began a secondment at the school as an interim head office staff between April to July 2015. Mr Wilson (the current head of the school) has since pulled the school out of special measurements.

Waverley Grammar School

  • Bill Davis, Managing Director of British Leyland in the early 1970s
  • Frederick Roland Emett, cartoonist
  • Prof Albert Jones, Professor of Chemistry from 1969-87 at the University of Birmingham
  • Barry Pain CBE, Chief Constable from 1974-82 of Kent Police
  • Laurence Picken
  • James Randle, former Chief Engineer of Jaguar Cars from 1980–91, who designed the Jaguar XJ220 and the XJ40
  • Di Trevis, theatre director
  • Sir Arthur Vick OBE, Vice-Chancellor from 1966-76 of Queen's University Belfast, and Director from 1960-4 of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment
  • Ijaz Khan - went on to play for Manchester United John Callaghan 1971-1977. Principal & Chief Executive Solihull College and University Centre 2014-current

    References

    Small Heath School Wikipedia