Cradley High School was a secondary school located in the Cradley area of

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and fro ...

, which is a village in the

West Midlands county West Midlands is a metropolitan county in the West Midlands Region, England, with a 2021 population of 2,919,600, making it the second most populous county in England after Greater London. It was created in 1974 by the Local Government Act ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is situated in the west end of Halesowen near the borders with

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

and

Brierley Hill Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, 2.5 miles south of Dudley and 2 miles north of Stourbridge. Part of the Black Country and in a heavily industrialised area, it has a pop ...

, namely Homer Hill. As of 2006, the school had 606 pupils on roll.

Admissions

In 2006, fears were rife that falling numbers on the school's roll might force it to close. In February 2007,

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

's independent School Organisation Committee approved proposals to close the school with effect from 31 August 2008. The Year 11 pupils left as normal in 2007. Year 10 pupils completed their education at Cradley High and left in 2008. Pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 transfer to other schools in September 2007, with most pupils moving to Pedmore Technology College. The final year of pupils left the school over the summer of 2008, and the school buildings (along with the adjacent leisure centre) are expected to be sold off for redevelopment. The large school fields, however, are to be retained for community use. The Cradley High buildings were completed in the spring of 1992 at the end of a five-year construction project which saw the original buildings gradually replaced by new ones. The official opening took place on 5 June 1992, but tragedy struck when head teacher Mr John Grass died suddenly from a heart attack. His successor was Ms Toni Fowler, who remained at the school until its closure 16 years later. The origins of Cradley High School date back to 1939, when Cradley Secondary Modern School opened to serve pupils aged 11 and above in the expanding community of Cradley. This school closed in July 1972 as part of a reorganisation of schools in the Halesowen area, and was replaced with Cradley Middle School for pupils aged 9–13. However, this system was scrapped after 10 years and the school was redesignated as an 11-16 comprehensive in September 1982, adopting the name Cradley High School. Within 10 years, the whole school had been rebuilt.

Academic performance

It has achieved mixed success in the local GCSE tables, being the Dudley borough's lowest-scoring school in 2001, but having improved substantially since then.

2008 arson attack

On 28 April 2008 a technology workshop in the school was damaged by fire and smoke in an arson attack. It is believed that a firework was put into the room which set fire to furniture. The fire was attended to by two crews from Brierley Hill and Cradley Heath fire stations.

Demolition

The school was demolished over the summer of 2010, having been derelict for two years.

Website Removal

After six years of keeping the website open It was removed in mid-June 2014.

References

External links

School website

EduBase
{{coord, 52.4627, -2.0922, type:edu_region:GB-DUD, display=title Defunct schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley Halesowen Educational institutions established in 1939 1939 establishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 2008 2008 disestablishments in England School buildings in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson Buildings and structures demolished in 2010