Cockshut Hill Technology College
| Type | Comprehensive community school |
|---|---|
| Location | Cockshut Hill Yardley Birmingham West Midlands B26 2HX England Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Local authority | Birmingham |
| DfE URN | 103513 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | 1,477 |
| Gender | CO EDUCATIONAL |
| Ages | 11–19 |
| Website | School website |
Cockshut Hill College is a secondary school in the Yardley area of Birmingham, England. The Principal of the school is Mrs Sian Hartle who took over from Mary Wilkie in 2014.
The school is built on the site of Cockshut Hill Council School which opened in 1937 for juniors and infants. Senior Boys and Senior Girls Departments opened in 1941 and these became separate schools in 1945. The Junior and Infants Department was divided into two departments in 1943. The Infant Department closed in 1957 and the Junior Mixed Department closed in 1958. The former Senior Boys and Senior Girls Departments later became the Cockshut Hill Technology College.
Cockshut Hill is a fully developed nine-form entry 11-19 mixed comprehensive situated to the southeast of Birmingham in a residential area near the border with Solihull. It serves mainly the Yardley, Sheldon and Acocks Green wards of the city. The college admits 270 pupils each year and has nearly 200 in the sixth form. The teaching staff is in excess of 90 and the large non-teaching staff includes campus personnel, finance officer, clerical staff, technicians, first-aider and lunchtime supervisors.
The buildings are situated on one site in Cockshut Hill, with on-site tennis courts and a grass games area that is used for rugby during the winter and athletics during the summer. Local off site facilities are used for a wider variety of sporting activities. The college has its own extensive playing fields in Sedgmere Road and shares the use of the local Sedgmere Club facilities.
The teaching accommodation comprises a main two storey block, a single storey block and several additional groups of buildings. Recent additions include a £500,000 science centre, refurbishment to the technology suite and a new sixth form centre. Departments are generally situated with their own specialist resources. The school has been granted Technology College status, enabling the school to equip itself with technological equipment.
Ofsted, in their most recent report of the school (March 2013) deem it to 'require improvement' overall. This is explained to be due to there not being "good enough teaching to ensure students make rapid gains in their learning", lessons "failing to stimulate and engage students" and also due to the fact "leaders have not effectively evaluated the impact of development work and initiatives".
Cockshut has perpetuated from a satisfactory school, to a school requiring improvement. This has been down to mainly the "leadership and pastoral team requiring improvement as they are not fully aware as to the scope of needed improvement" (Ofsted report 2013).
As of 2014, with an all-time low in terms of student examination results, the school has deteriorated academically to such an extent it was placed under special measures by Ofsted and was proclaimed to be one of the worst schools in Birmingham, and the Midlands. Mary Wilkie resigned from her post as headteacher, with the governors of Cockshut allocating the vice principal of the neighboring Ninestiles Academy - Sian Hartle, as acting headteacher.
From May 2014, Cockshut scrapped A-Levels from its curriculum. In a statement on behalf of principal Sian Hartle and the governing body, the school said: “After significant discussion the governing body of Cockshut Hill College made the difficult but necessary decision not to offer A-Level provision to Year 11 moving into post-16 education in September 2014.
“The school will still offer BTEC provision in a range of subjects across Years 12 and 13 and we are committed to continuing A-Level provision for the current Year 12 moving into Year 13. We will ensure the very best outcomes for this cohort.
“The decision was communicated to students and parents as soon as the school realised it would not be able to provide the courses it had originally planned.
“The school is working closely with Solihull Sixth Form College and other providers to ensure that all Year 11 students affected by the change have access to the right courses.
“The leadership of the school are meetings with students and their parents to plan support over the coming weeks.”
Alumni
- Lee Carsley - Coventry City and Republic of Ireland midfielder.
- Mat Sadler - Walsall left-back and former England U-16 and U-17 captain.
- Ben Turner - Coventry City central defender.
- Andrew Whing - Oxford United full back.
- Craig Gardner - Sunderland central midfielder.
- Andy Gallinagh - Cheltenham Town defender.
- Gareth Thomas - Cornerback and Kick Returner for the Birmingham Bulls.
