John Willmott School
Encyclopedia
John Willmott School is an 11–18 community comprehensive school
located in Sutton Coldfield
, England
and is part of the Birmingham
Local Education Authority. and has been a specialist technology college since September 2001. There are 1,186 students on roll, of whom 230 are in the sixth form. Students from a White British background represent 82% of the school population. Although the school is located in the Falcon Lodge
area of Sutton Coldfield, the school also serves pupils from elsewhere in Birmingham such as Erdington
and Castle Vale
. In 2006 (at the time of the last Ofsted
report) the proportions of students receiving free school meals and students who have special educational needs were reported as being above the national average.
in an award-winning building. The school's last year of selective intake, based on the 12+ test, was 1974. It became a comprehensive and changed its name to John Willmott School in 1975.
for the city of Birmingham.
Since then, the overall results have improved at a rate faster than the national average, with 2009 results reaching a new high with by far the best results in the school's history. The school received its highest GCSE achievement grades, with 70% of pupils getting 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades. The overall A Level pass rate shot up from 90% to 97% - the best A level results since the school was a Grammar School.
The school holds an annual drama production. Recent productions have included Grease, The Boyfriend, Anything Goes, Calamity Jane, South Pacific, We Will Rock You, Back to the Eighties and , most recently, The Little Shop Of Horrors. There are annual fund-raising events organised by students - most notably MADD (Music, Art, Dance and Drama) Marathon and Arts Fest. In addition, there is an annual Art Exhibition of Sixth Form and GCSE art work - in 2011 this will be on 23 June.
Many other sports are offered such as soft ball, tennis, badminton, trampolining, table tennis, volleyball, athletics, dancing and basketball.
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
located in Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...
, 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...
and is part of the Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
Local Education Authority. and has been a specialist technology college since September 2001. There are 1,186 students on roll, of whom 230 are in the sixth form. Students from a White British background represent 82% of the school population. Although the school is located in the Falcon Lodge
Falcon Lodge
Falcon Lodge is the area of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands covered in predominantly council houses forming the Falcon Lodge Estate. It is located between Whitehouse Common and Reddicap Heath. To the west of the estate lies Rectory Park...
area of Sutton Coldfield, the school also serves pupils from elsewhere in Birmingham such as Erdington
Erdington
Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...
and Castle Vale
Castle Vale
Castle Vale is a housing estate located near Erdington currently Castle Vale votes with Tyburn Ward which is part of Erdington constituency, northeast of Birmingham city centre in England...
. In 2006 (at the time of the last Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
report) the proportions of students receiving free school meals and students who have special educational needs were reported as being above the national average.
History
John Willmott Grammar School was founded in the name of Alderman John Willmott. It was opened in 1958 as a co-educational grammar schoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
in an award-winning building. The school's last year of selective intake, based on the 12+ test, was 1974. It became a comprehensive and changed its name to John Willmott School in 1975.
House system
In September 2007, John Willmott re-introduced a house system. At the end of the 2007 Summer Term, a competition was launched to name the individual houses. The competition was judged by staff and the theme "Planets *and the star constellation Orion" won with:| Jupiter | Mercury | Neptune | Orion | Pluto | Saturn | Venus |
Curriculum
The school has been at the forefront of vocational education both locally and nationally. Sixth Form vocational courses have been running since 1991 and currently include Art and Design, Business Studies, Childcare, Leisure and Tourism and Sport and Leisure . In September 2006, the school also introduced a range of vocational courses at GCSE level which are in addition to those already available in the sixth form. It is intended that these vocational courses will complement the traditional GCSE courses already available. The school has been awarded Lead Department status for Business StudiesBusiness studies
Business studies is an academic subject taught at higher level in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom, as well as at university level in many countries...
for the city of Birmingham.
Statistics
When Ofsted inspected the school in March 2006, it graded achievement and standards as Grade 3 (Satisfactory.). The Sixth Form was graded as Good.Since then, the overall results have improved at a rate faster than the national average, with 2009 results reaching a new high with by far the best results in the school's history. The school received its highest GCSE achievement grades, with 70% of pupils getting 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades. The overall A Level pass rate shot up from 90% to 97% - the best A level results since the school was a Grammar School.
Extra-curricular activities
There is a wide range of activities available for students in after-school clubs and societies. Each year group has an Achievement Group which run additional activities including early morning Basketball and gardening. A number of foreign visits are organised by subject departments during the year; these include language exchange trips to France and Germany, skiing trips, RE trip to China, Geography trips to Sicily and Iceland, History trip to Paris and Sixth Form Art trip to Barcelona.The school holds an annual drama production. Recent productions have included Grease, The Boyfriend, Anything Goes, Calamity Jane, South Pacific, We Will Rock You, Back to the Eighties and , most recently, The Little Shop Of Horrors. There are annual fund-raising events organised by students - most notably MADD (Music, Art, Dance and Drama) Marathon and Arts Fest. In addition, there is an annual Art Exhibition of Sixth Form and GCSE art work - in 2011 this will be on 23 June.
Sixth Form
The school has an independent Sixth Form which is part of the Sutton Coldfield Consortium, this involves offering subjects unavailable elsewhere and allowing students to study certain subjects at other schools. The Sixth Form is run by Ms. Richards, who has only recently become Head of Sixth Form. The Sixth Form offers both academic and vocational courses, and provides many opportunities for the students to engage in extra curricular activities and many trips, a group of Sixth Formers are currently fund-raising to go to America and rebuild Ground Zero.Sport
Football has been the main sport at John Willmott School for the later part of its history, overtaking rugby. Rugby started off as the school's predominant sport when John Willmott was a grammar school, however it has become gradually less popular but Rugby is being re-introduced at the school and an effort is being made to create a new team to represent the school. The school football teams have been successful at league and cup level for many years and some of its former pupils have become international players.Many other sports are offered such as soft ball, tennis, badminton, trampolining, table tennis, volleyball, athletics, dancing and basketball.