George Dixon Academy

Last updated

George Dixon Academy
Location
George Dixon Academy
Portland Road

Birmingham
,
West Midlands
,
B16 9GD

England
Coordinates 52°28′39″N1°57′20″W / 52.47743°N 1.9556°W / 52.47743; -1.9556
Information
Type Academy
MottoA Posse ad Esse
Established1906
Founder George Dixon
Local authority Birmingham
Department for Education URN 138695 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Head teacherClaire Bernard and David Horner
Staff100 (approx.)
GenderMixed
Age11to 18
Enrolment1000+
Colour(s)  
Website https://www.georgedixonacademy.com/

George Dixon Academy is a secondary school located on Portland Road in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. Former names of the school include George Dixon Higher Grade School, George Dixon Grammar School, George Dixon Community School, George Dixon Grant Maintained School and George Dixon International School. The school operates under a co-headship with Claire Bernard and David Horner serving as co-headteachers since September 2025. Former heads include Tutvinder Mann, Robert Dowling and Anthony Hamilton, a double gold medal paralympian.

Contents

History

George Dixon George Dixon MP.jpg
George Dixon

George Dixon (1820–1898) was a councillor, mayor, and MP in Birmingham. [1] One of his first actions after being elected mayor in 1866 was to hold a conference to discuss the lack of education for children. This led to the formation of the Birmingham Education Society in 1867, and the National Education League, which he chaired, in 1869. The League in turn was instrumental in the creation of the Elementary Education Act 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) (Forster's Act), leading to the formation of the first school boards in England and Wales.

In 1884, Dixon created Bridge Street Technical School. He bought the old Cadbury's premises, and converted it to a school at his own expense. It taught science and mechanics to 400 boys for two years beyond normal school-leaving age. In 1888 the school was moved to occupy the Oozells Street Board School building, renamed George Dixon Higher Grade School in 1888, and began to include girls. [2] [3] In 1906 the school was rebuilt [4] and renamed once again as George Dixon School after its founder. [5] [6] The new school building included a gymnasium. [7]

In 2002, headteacher Sir Robert Dowling was knighted for "services to special needs education". [8]

The school was re-modelled using funds from the Birmingham City Council's Building Schools for the Future Programme.[ citation needed ] In September 2012 the school converted to academy status and was renamed George Dixon Academy.

The police officer George Dixon in the television series Dixon of Dock Green (1955–1976) was named after George Dixon. The character first appeared in the film The Blue Lamp (1950), produced by a former pupil of the school, Michael Balcon. [2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Journal of Education. W. Stewart & Company. 1912.
  2. 1 2 History of the Academy: Who was George Dixon? at official website. Accessed 4 August 2015
  3. ↑ Patricia Potts (18 October 2013). Inclusion in the City: Selection, Schooling and Community. Taylor & Francis. pp. 23–. ISBN   978-1-136-45248-2.
  4. ↑ Michael Balcon (1969). Michael Balcon presents ... a lifetime of films. Hutchinson.
  5. ↑ School Government Chronicle and Education Authorities' Gazette: An Educational Record and Review. 1907.
  6. ↑ The Westminster Review. Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. 1911.
  7. ↑ Thierry Terret; J. A. Mangan (13 September 2013). Sport, Militarism and the Great War - Terret: Martial Manliness and Armageddon. Routledge. pp. 271–. ISBN   978-1-135-76088-5.
  8. ↑ Head 'bowled over' by top honour. BBC News, 14 June 2002. Accessed 4 August 2015

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.