SUMMERHILL SCHOOL in West Midlands, Kingswinford

Education Centre Information: Summerhill School:

Establishment Type:Community School
Phase of Education: Secondary
Status: Open
Local Authority: Dudley
Boarders: No Boarders
Sixth Form: Does not have a sixth form
Urban/Rural Description: Urban > 10k - less sparse
Special Classes: No Special Classes
Religious Character: Does not apply
Nursery Provider: No Nursery Classes
Total Pupils: 1009
Number of boys: 507
Number of girls: 502
Admissions: Comprehensive
Age Range: 11-16
Gender: Mixed
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Background:

The Summerhill School was opened in 1962, and moved into its new school building in September 2003. The school accommodation was designed so that subject areas are clustered together. This enables collaborative work to take place with subject teams and maximises the use of equipment and resources. On the ground floor there are four Science labs, the learning centre containing 50 computers, drama area, six language classrooms, design and technology rooms offering specialist areas for computer aided design and computer aided manufacture (CAD CAM), wood, metal and graphics and a pottery area. First floor accommodation offers two music rooms, four music practice rooms and ensemble room, two ICT rooms, two art rooms, textiles and electronics, first floor learning centre and classrooms for Additional Educational Needs (AEN), general teaching and business studies. On the second floor there are seven English classrooms, six humanities classrooms and one further ICT classroom. There are a number of offices, the main hall, school shop and Café Summerhill. The school has excellent PE facilities. A large sports hall offers badminton courts and indoor cricket facilities, a full range of court markings for tennis, basketball, netball and football as well as modern gymnastic equipment and multigym. The school also has 25m x 4 lane pool which provides excellent opportunities for Summerhill students. It also enables to offer swimming opportunities for seven local primary schools together with a highly successful Summerhill Swim Scheme offering swimming opportunities for the community. Extensive playing fields offer the opportunity for a wide range of outdoor sporting activities. It is a 'Campaign for Learning' pilot school, a Black Country '14-19 Pathfinder' school, part of 'Leading Edge' partnership for West Dudley schools, and an 'Investor in People'. It has also gained Sportsmark and Silver Artsmark in September 2003. Foreign languages are offered for study at various levels. The school's representative teams in all sports compete in local leagues. Summerhill Choral Society, featuring current and former students, tours regularly at home and abroad. The school motto is 'Success through caring', and this underpins everything that the school does. The school aims to ensure that all its students have an equal chance to make good use of the education that the school offers to enable them to choose their future patterns of life and to take full advantage of their opportunities in society.