Alexandra High School and Sixth Form Centre
Encyclopedia
Alexandra High School and Sixth Form Centre is a secondary school in Tipton
Tipton
Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....

, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Admissions

It mainly serves children aged 11-18 years living in the Great Bridge
Great Bridge, West Midlands
Great Bridge is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell. It is situated in Tipton, near the border of West Bromwich, and it is within the metropolitan county of the West Midlands.-Origins and history:...

, Tibbington
Tibbington
Tibbington is a residential area of Tipton, a town in the West Midlands of England. It takes its name from the original 11th century name of Tipton - Tibbingtone....

, Horseley Heath
Horseley Heath
Horseley Heath is a residential area of Tipton, in the West Midlands of England. It is situated around the main A461 road which links the major townships of Dudley and Walsall, and stands on the banks of the River Tame....

 and Tipton Green
Tipton Green
Tipton Green is the central area of Tipton, a town in the West Midlands of England. It was heavily developed for industry during the 19th century, as Tipton was one of the most significant towns during the Industrial Revolution. Tipton Green is one of three electoral wards covering Tipton for...

 areas of the town.

It is situated on Alexandra Road (B4517) towards Toll End
Toll End
-Toll End:Toll End is a residential area of Tipton in the West Midlands of England. It was developed during the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution which saw previously rural Tipton developed as one of the most prolific manufacturing and mining towns in the country...

 (and West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...

) and near the crossroads with Church Lane (B4163) and the fire station. It is about a mile from the A41
A41 road
The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...

/A461
A461 road
The A461 is a main road in Great Britain that links Lichfield in Staffordshire, with Stourbridge, West Midlands, passing through Walsall & Dudley.-Places along the route:* Lichfield* Walsall* M6 motorway * Wednesbury* Tipton* Great Bridge...

 roundabout at Great Bridge, and about a half-mile north of Dudley Port railway station
Dudley Port railway station
-History:There was a Low Level Station on the former South Staffordshire line that had opened in 1850. The line had reasonable passenger usage until about the early 1880s, when it began to slump at several stations, leading to the line becoming a largely freight only operation in 1887...

.

Grammar school

The school was opened in 1927 as Tipton Central School. It served the local area as a grammar school for boys and girls, and its title was soon altered to Tipton County Grammar School, situated on Alexandra Road. It was administered by the South-West Divisional Executive of Staffordshire Education Committee (based in Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...

), then West Bromwich Education Committee with around 700 boys and girls. The buildings were expanded in 1962 to include a new school hall, kitchen, dining hall, swimming pool, gymnasium and Science classrooms.

Comprehensive

Tipton Grammar merged with nearby Park Lane Secondary School in Queens Road in September 1969 and became a comprehensive school. It took the title of Alexandra High School at this time. 'O' Level and 'A' Level pupils were educated at the original site in Alexandra Road, while the younger pupils attended the Park Lane buildings (which dated back to 1904).

New buildings were added to the Alexandra Road site in about 1980, giving younger pupils a chance to have three days a week at the main site, although they still used the Park Lane site twice a week until it closed in July 1990, being demolished the following year. Since 1990, the school has also lost its popularity with children living in the Tipton Green
Tipton Green
Tipton Green is the central area of Tipton, a town in the West Midlands of England. It was heavily developed for industry during the 19th century, as Tipton was one of the most significant towns during the Industrial Revolution. Tipton Green is one of three electoral wards covering Tipton for...

 area of the town, with a significant percentage of children in this area selecting High Arcal School
High Arcal School
High Arcal School is a comprehensive secondary school situated in Sedgley, West Midlands, England. It was opened in 1961 as a grammar school and became comprehensive in 1975. The school holds Specialist Science College status...

 in Sedgley
Sedgley
Sedgley is an urban village within the West Midlands county of England. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Sedgley was formerly an ancient manor composed of several smaller villages, including Gornal, Gospel End, Woodsetton, Ettingshall, Coseley and Brierley...

 as their destination for secondary school following the reduction in the Dudley borough's
Metropolitan Borough of Dudley
The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It was created in 1974, and is made up of the towns of Dudley , Stourbridge , Halesowen, Brierley Hill, Amblecote, Sedgley and Coseley...

 secondary transfer age from 12 to 11, bringing it into line with Sandwell and the rest of the region.

A new sixth form centre was built in 1995.

Alex In Wonderland

In 2005 the school released the album 'Alex In Wonderland' locally to raise funds and raise the profile of the school. It featured songs written and performed by pupils and staff and was featured in the Express and Star newspaper and on radio stations including BBC WM.

Academic performance

In 2006, 25% of GCSE students attained 5 grades at 'C' or above. This placed Alexandra at 13th out of 18 schools in Sandwell
Sandwell
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,...

.

By 2009, it had progressed further with 38% of pupils achieving similar results - placing it as joint eighth of the 17 school's in the borough. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/09/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/333_gcse_lea.stm This is well under the England average, similar to most schools in Sandwell: only two schools get GCSE results above average.
At A level, results are low, similar again to most schools in Sandwell that offer A levels.

Alumni

  • Shafiq Rasul
    Shafiq Rasul
    Shafiq Rasul is best known for being a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay by the United States, which treated him an unlawful combatant. His detainee ID number was 86....

    , Asif Iqbal and Ruhal Ahmed
    Ruhal Ahmed
    Ruhal Ahmed is a British citizen. He was detained without trial for over two years by the United States government, first in Afghanistan, and then in Camp Delta, the United States prison for people it describes as suspects in its "War on Terror", at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, Cuba...

    , who were incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay detention camp after being accused of fighting for the Taleban in Afghanistan
    Afghanistan
    Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

    . They were later released without charge.

Tipton Grammar School

  • Philip Bradbourn
    Philip Bradbourn
    Philip Bradbourn OBE MEP is a British politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands, for the Conservative Party...

     OBE, Conservative MEP since 1999 for the West Midlands
    West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)
    West Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elected 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. The constituency will also elect a "virtual MEP" who will be able to sit in the Parliament if the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect...


External links

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