Castle High School (Dudley)

"For schools of the same name, see Castle High School".

Castle High School is a secondary school located in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It caters for pupils aged from 11 to 16 years. It is also a specialist Arts College.

Castle High is one of the most recently formed schools in the Dudley area, although its buildings are some of the oldest. It was formed in September 1989 on a merger between The Dudley School and The Blue Coat School, and gave education for pupils aged from 12 to 18 years.

After a year, the school opened to 11 year olds following the local authority's decision to reduce the primary school leaving age; at the same time, the sixth form centre was closed and the leaving age for pupils fell to 16. The former sixth form facilities were used as classrooms to accommodate the new younger pupils. 1990 also saw the school take in a large percentage of pupils Mons Hill School and a lower percentage from Sir Gilbert Claughton School, both of which closed due to falling pupil numbers. Several teachers at these schools were also recruited to Castle High.

A new three-storey classroom block was opened in the 1991 summer term.

It is situated in St James's Road, near Dudley town centre, mostly within the buildings of the former Dudley Boys Grammar School (which date back to 1897). An extension was completed in 1995 and the adjoining buildings in Priory Road (formerly Dudley Girls High School) were demolished at the beginning of the following year.

The school suffered a tragedy in February 2001 when 12-year-old pupil Scott Holloway died after being knocked down by a van near his home on the Priory Estate. [http://archive.dudleynews.co.uk/2001/2/22/54458.html] Staff and pupils at Castle High set up a fund in Scott's memory and a total of almost £1,100 was raised for the fund, some of which was raised by bidding for a signed Aston Villa football. [http://archive.dudleynews.co.uk/2001/10/11/44805.html] A local van driver later received a fine and a driving ban for careless driving in connection to Scott's death. [http://archive.dudleynews.co.uk/2002/7/12/35189.html]

History

* September 1989 - Castle High School opens on a merger of The Dudley School and The Blue Coat School, making use of the Dudley School buildings.
* July 1990 - Castle High's sixth form centre closes.
* September 1990 - the school's starting age is reduced from 12 to 11 in accordance with a borough-wide reduction in the transition age between primary and secondary school. Also starting the school are some former pupils of the closed Mons Hill and Sir Gilbert Claughton schools. Construction of a new classroom block is incomplete, meaning that pupils will be taught in mobile classrooms in the meantime.
* June 1991 - a new classroom block is completed at Castle High.
* January 1996 - the former Dudley Girls High School buildings, which until recently were part of Castle High, are demolished and the site re-used as a public car park.
* May 1999 - Mr Harold Hyde, who was deputy head of Castle High for the first three year of its existence and had started teaching Geography at the Grammar and High Schools in 1960, dies of cancer aged 61.
* February 2001 - Pupil Scott Holloway, 12, dies in a road accident on nearby Priory Road.