Hillcrest School is a

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

for girls (and mixed

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

) in the

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

area of

Bartley Green Bartley Green is a residential suburban area and electoral ward in Birmingham, England, south west of the city centre. The ward is part of the Birmingham Edgbaston constituency and is represented in parliament by Labour Co-operative MP Preet Gil ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

of England.

History

It was established as Bartley Green

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

for Girls on 7 September 1954, although the official opening by Sir Wilfred Martineau did not take place until 13 July 1955. The sixth form was opened by the end of the 1950s. The school was considerably extended and expanded in the 1970s to accommodate with the increase in pupil intake. The school was renamed Hillcrest School in September 1983 and became a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

. Boys were allowed to join the sixth form during the 1980s. Following further work at the school in 1998, the school became a Certified

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

Networking Academy in 1999. The school also became a specialist

Maths and Computing College Mathematics and Computing Colleges were introduced in England in 2002 and Northern Ireland in 2006 as part of the Government's Specialist Schools programme which was designed to raise standards in secondary education. Specialist schools focus on ...

. Previously a community school administered by Birmingham City Council, Hillcrest School converted to academy status in June 2013. However the school continues to coordinate with Birmingham City Council for admissions. In 2013

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

rated the school as 'good' with 'outstanding behaviour and safety'.

Academics

Hillcrest School GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for girls, while students in the sixth form have the option to study from a range of

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

s and further BTECs. The sixth form provision is offered as part of the ''

Oaks Sixth Form College Oaks Sixth Form College is a consortium of six secondary school sixth forms in South-West Birmingham. The consortium consists of: Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School, Harborne Academy, Hillcrest School and Sixth Form Centre, Lordswood Sixth Form C ...

'', a consortium of 7 secondary schools in South-West Birmingham.

Notable former pupils

Bartley Green Grammar School for Girls

* Lynne Jones, Labour Party politician *

References

External links

Hillcrest School official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in Birmingham, West Midlands Girls' schools in the West Midlands (county) Educational institutions established in 1954 1954 establishments in England Academies in Birmingham, West Midlands