Plantsbrook School

Last updated

Plantsbrook School
Plantsbrook School Logo.jpg
Address
Plantsbrook School
Upper Holland Road

Sutton Coldfield
,
West Midlands
,
B72 1RB

England
Coordinates 52°33′31″N1°49′07″W / 52.5587°N 1.8187°W / 52.5587; -1.8187
Information
Type Academy
MottoBe The Best That You Can Be [1]
Local authority Birmingham City Council
Department for Education URN 137053 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Chair of GovernorsP Arkinstall
HeadteacherMr Ian Barton (Acting) [2]
Gender Coeducational
Age11to 18
Enrolment1,519
Website http://plantsbrookschool.co.uk
The school in November 2006 Plantsbrook School - geograph.org.uk - 270897.jpg
The school in November 2006

Plantsbrook School, (formerly Riland Bedford High School), is a secondary school with academy status located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. The school achieved an "Outstanding" Ofsted status once in 2012. The most recent rating was “Good” and the preceding one in which it was rated as REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT. [3] The school was a Technology College and a Music College before the Specialist Schools initiative was made defunct.

Contents

The school has recently undergone a £20 million refurbishment with the gradual demolition of the formerly used 1940s building. [4]

History

Built on the land where Holland House in Upper Holland Road once stood, the original Riland Bedford building was constructed in 1939 with later building work being undertaken by American soldiers who were using the school as a base during World War II at the temporary named Holland Road Barracks. After the war, building works on the school were completed and Riland Bedford School was opened in 1946.

When the school first opened, male and female students were kept on different sides of the building. [5] One half was named Riland Bedford High School for Boys and the other, Riland Bedford High School for Girls. The original building's symmetry provided exactly the same facilities and space for both schools.

The school's first incarnation, was so called as a result of the union of the prominent Riland and Bedford families of Sutton Coldfield. The school officially changed its name in 1986, choosing to rename itself Plantsbrook School, from Plants Brook which is a stream that flows through Sutton Coldfield and passes the school.

The school officially adopted academy status on 1 August 2011. Thereby ceasing to be a state comprehensive.

Admissions

The school begins holding open days in the September, the year before students would be starting to attend. The new intake of students begins in early September, with the academic year finishing July of the following year.

The school goes from years 7-11, with the opportunity of joining the school's own sixth form college. Each year is broken down into P,L,A,N,T,S,B,R, and now K, with the entire year group split in three with P,L,A or N,T,S or B,R,K, resulting in different subject scheduling for each third. Students remain in their form groups for the entire 5 years, with only the year changing e.g. 7S will later become 8S and so on. Whole years are under the leadership of an Achievement Co-ordinator and an Assistant Achievement Co-ordinator who deal with both support and discipline within their year, they too remain with the year's intake for the 5 years, often forming close professional bonds. Weekly assemblies and other year events/inter-form competitions involve all 8 form groups.

Subject classes are broken up mainly into ability based subjects such as English, Maths and Science. All other school subjects are taken as a form group, until GCSEs in Year 9-11 when individual subject options are chosen and the eight year groups are then mixed up to find matching timetable patterns.

The school regularly achieves a 100% pass rate at A Level.

Activities

The school hosts a yearly school musical which is the high point of the year for most students and involves the entire Performing Arts faculty.

The student-run radio station, PB Radio, formerly known as PBR FM and Plantsbrook School Radio, was broadcast internally and on the internet [6] from its studio on the site. [7] The station is currently inactive.[ citation needed ]

Rebuild

The school and the surrounding grounds are currently being completely rebuilt as part of the Priority Schools Building Programme. The school was one of only a few select schools to win the highly sought after government grant to completely rebuild the school and its grounds. It was awarded £20 million with the first phase of building work commencing in Summer 2015. At present, the entire former West and East wings of the school have been demolished, with the former vacant areas now being landscaped. The new school building was due to be completed and opened in Easter 2017. The official handover took place in August 2017 predominantly to avoid disruption to students and staff during the summer exam months . At present, the school grounds and a new Sports Hall are aimed for completion by Spring 2019. [8]

On Saturday 11 July 2015, the school held an open day where students and teachers past and present of Riland Bedford and Plantsbrook had the opportunity to have one last look at the existing building before the demolition began in the summer. Classrooms were opened and activities were organised allowing visitors to tour the building they once worked in.

Wednesday 19 July 2017, marked the last official school day in the original school building, with the school closing two days earlier than most local schools in order to allow two days for staff to put all their classroom equipment into storage ready to be transferred to the new school building when it opened in September 2017.

Notable former pupils

Riland Bedford School

Plantsbrook School

Former teachers

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sutton Coldfield</span> Town in West Midlands, England

Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of Lichfield, 7 miles southwest of Tamworth and 7 miles east of Walsall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wylde Green</span> Human settlement in England

Wylde Green is a residential area within the town of Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, England in the West Midlands. It was in the county of Warwickshire. The area is in the Sutton Vesey ward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boldmere</span> Human settlement in England

Boldmere is a suburb and residential area of Sutton Coldfield, City of Birmingham, England. It is bordered by New Oscott, Sutton Park, Wylde Green and Erdington, and is in the ward of Sutton Vesey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lowe (television and radio composer)</span> English composer

David Harry Lowe is an English composer and music producer. His work comprises primarily of music for television, radio, commercials and idents. Lowe is best known for his extensive work on theme tunes for bulletins and programmes for BBC News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Vesey</span>

John Vesey or Veysey was Bishop of Exeter from 1519 until his death in 1554, having been briefly deposed 1551–3 by King Edward VI for his opposition to the Reformation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maney</span>

Maney is an area of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. It is situated close to the town centre of Sutton Coldfield and is also near Wylde Green and Walmley. The main thoroughfare is Birmingham Road, which runs through Maney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sutton Coldfield Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England

Sutton Coldfield Town Hall is a former hotel and council building in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. The building is Grade A locally listed.

John Willmott School is a coeducational secondary school located in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England. It is part of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, a successful local Multi Academy Trust.

Holland Park School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Holland Park, London, England. Opened in 1958, the school was considered a flagship for comprehensive education, nicknamed 'the socialist Eton', and at one time had over 2,000 students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tresham College of Further and Higher Education</span> Public fe school in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England

Tresham College of Further and Higher Education is a number of further education colleges in the East Midlands of England. Specifically located within Northamptonshire, the main campus is located within the town of Kettering, alongside other campuses included within Corby and Wellingborough. Bedford College and Tresham College merged in 2017 to form the Bedford College Group.

The Arthur Terry School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status in the Four Oaks area of Sutton Coldfield, England. It is Ofsted Good and was an Arts College before the Specialist Schools initiative was made defunct. The school's headteacher is Samantha Kibble. It is part of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership.

Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls is an 11–18 girls secondary grammar school and sixth form with academy status in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is a specialist Science College and a Leadership Partner School which it received in September 2004 and 2009 respectively, as well as a Beacon School. It became an academy in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Good Hope Hospital</span> Hospital in Birmingham, England

Good Hope Hospital is a teaching hospital in the Sutton Coldfield area of Birmingham, England. Covering north Birmingham and south east Staffordshire, it is managed by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Highfield School</span> Foundation school in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, England

The Highfield School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. The Highfield School teaches from Year 7 through to Year 12 or 13 The school is part of the Letchworth Sixth Form Consortium with Fearnhill School. It received a with outstanding features OFSTED grade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Metropolitan College</span> College in Birmingham, England

Birmingham Metropolitan College is a further and higher education college with 10 campuses distributed within Birmingham, England. The college was created in 2009 as an amalgamation of Matthew Boulton College and Sutton Coldfield College. The main site is Matthew Boulton College based at Jennens Road in Birmingham City Centre.

Hanson Academy is a co-educational secondary school and sixth-form located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hatch End High School</span> School in London, England

Hatch End High School is an eight-form entry 11–18 co-educational academy school in Harrow, North London, England, in the United Kingdom. It was originally named Blackwell School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Kirkpatrick Riland Bedford</span> English clergyman, author, and cricketer

Rev. William Kirkpatrick Riland Bedford (1826–1905) was an English clergyman and author, known as an antiquary and genealogist, and also as a cricketer.

Erdington Academy is a mixed-sex academy located in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Erdington Academy converted to an academy status in September 2016, joining the Fairfax Multi Academy Trust. The academy had its opening ceremony on 17 October 2016, being officially opened by Labour MP, Jack Dromey. The school is part of the same family of school as Fairfax Academy in Sutton Coldfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Forrest Secondary College</span> School in Australia

John Forrest Secondary College is an Independent Public secondary school in the Perth suburb of Morley, Western Australia.

References

  1. ↑ "Plantsbrook Sixth Form - Be The Best That You Can Be". plantsbrookschool.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  2. ↑ "Plantsbrook School" . Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  3. ↑ "Find an inspection report and registered childcare". 2 January 2021.
  4. ↑ "Plans unveiled for £20 million Sutton Coldfield school rebuild set to open in 2017 | Sutton Coldfield Observer". Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Wilkins, Ena; Kemble, Mike. "Sutton Coldfield - Its History & Images". Mike Kemble. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. ↑ http://198.100.146.224:20026/stream
  7. ↑ "PB Radio - Community radio from Plantsbrook School". 12 July 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  8. ↑ McCarthy, Nick (3 February 2015). "Plantsbrook School reveals £20m rebuild plans". Business Live.
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.