Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls

Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls is a selective grammar school and sixth form for girls in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is a specialist science college and a Leadership Partner School, a title it received in September 2004 (science) and 2009 (Leadership), and a Beacon School. On 1 June 2011 the school became an academy.

History

It was opened on September 18, 1929 as Sutton Coldfield High School. Plans for a school had begun in 1906 with sites behind Sutton Coldfield Town Hall, in Sutton Park and Rectory Park all being considered before a 6-acre (24,000 m²) field behind Beeches Walk was selected. It became Sutton Coldfield Girls School in 1962 and then changed its name to Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls in the late 1990s. It is a partner school to Bishop Vesey's Grammar School which was founded in 1527. The two schools regularly partner in events such as drama and operatic productions, with the 2009 production "Iolanthe," a successful performance.

In September 1972, there was no intake to the school as its entry age was increased from 11 to 12. However, the entry age was reverted to 11 from September 1992, when two year groups (11- and 12-year-olds) were admitted to the school.

Academic performance

Upon the OfSTED inspection of September 2004, the schools had a 1,004 pupils on roll. The 2007 examination results were well above the national average in both GCSEs and A-levels.The School received outstanding in the 2007/2008 inspection.

Subjects

The school has a wide variety of subject choices. English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, History, Geography, French, Music, PE, RE, ICT, Art, D&T and Food Technology are all compulsory in year 7. In year 8 the students must study Spanish. At GCSE the students have a choice of 4 subjects alongside the compulsory English, Maths, Sciences and RE, with one of these four choices being an available language on option, French or Spanish. At A Level, new subjects such as Sociology, Psychology and Critical Thinking are offered. General Studies, Critical Thinking and Cambridge Global Perspectives are offered to all 6th form students.

Houses

The school currently has five houses: Arden, Nevil, Tudor, Vesey, and Warwick. The colours are white, red, blue, yellow, and green respectively. Girls will be assigned a house at the start of Year 7, which they will stay in throughout their school life, including Sixth Form. Their forms are their houses, so if one was in the Vesey house, they would be in 7V, then 8V, and so on. In the Sixth Form girls keep their houses but are split from their forms into six colour groups: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange, and Purple.

Notable former pupils

Deborah Greenspan (née Scriven). Professor-Emerita of Oral Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. President, International Association for Dental Research 2006-2007.

• Comdt Marjorie Fletcher CBE, Director of the Women's Royal Naval Service (disbanded in 1993) from 1986-8
• Jane Rossington, actress
• Laura Unsworth, hockey player who has been named in the 2012 Team GB Women's Hockey Sq­.
• Louise Botting CBE, broadcaster and company director
• Louise Latimer, former British No. 1 women's tennis player
• Sarah Thane CBE, Chair of the Royal Television Society from May 2000- June 2002

References

• The school's examination performance
• School website
• Sixty Years of Sutton Coldfield Girls' School 1929 - 1989, Jane Thompson, 1989
• EduBase