John Willmott School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school and

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 ...

located in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England. There are 1,186 students on roll, of whom 230 are in the sixth form. Students from a White British background represent 82% of the school population. Although the school is located in the

Falcon Lodge Falcon Lodge () is the area of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, covered in predominantly council houses forming the Falcon Lodge Estate. It is located between Whitehouse Common and Reddicap Heath. To the west of the estate ...

area of Sutton Coldfield, it also serves pupils from elsewhere in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

such as

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

and

Castle Vale Castle Vale is a housing estate located between Erdington, Minworth and Castle Bromwich. Currently Castle Vale makes up the Castle Vale Ward of Birmingham City Council which is part of Erdington constituency (having previously been part of Hod ...

. In 2006 the proportions of students receiving

free school meals A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...

and students who have

special educational needs Special educational needs (SEN), also known as special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in the United Kingdom refers to the education of children who require different education provision to the mainstream system. Definition The definiti ...

were reported as being above the national average.

History

John Willmott Grammar School was founded in the name of Alderman John Willmott. It was opened in 1958 as a co-educational

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 ...

in an award-winning building. The school's last year of selective intake, based on the 12+ test, was 1974. It became a comprehensive and changed its name to John Willmott School in 1975. The school was awarded specialist status as a

Technology College In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were ...

in September 2001. Previously a community school administered by

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom ...

, in July 2019 John Willmott School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership.

Curriculum

Sixth Form vocational courses have run since 1991, and currently include Art and Design, Business Studies, Childcare, Leisure and Tourism, and Sport and Leisure. In September 2006, the school introduced a range of vocational courses at GCSE level which are in addition to those already available in the sixth form. These vocational courses are intended to complement the traditional GCSE courses already available. The school has been awarded Lead Department status for Business Studies for the city of Birmingham.

Statistics

When Ofsted inspected the school in March 2006, it graded achievement and standards as Grade 3 ("Satisfactory"). The Sixth Form was graded as "Good". Since then, the overall results have improved at a rate faster than the national average, with 2009 results reaching a new high, and the best results in the school's history. The school received its highest GCSE achievement grades, with 70% of pupils getting 5 or more A*-C GCSE grades. The overall A Level pass rate shot up from 90% to 97% - the best A level results since the school was a grammar school. When Ofsted inspected the school in February 2016, the school was found to be Inadequate.

Sixth Form

The school has an independent Sixth Form which is part of the Sutton Coldfield Consortium. This involves offering subjects unavailable elsewhere and allowing students to study certain subjects at other schools. The Sixth Form, run by Ms. Richards, offers both academic and vocational courses, and provides opportunities for extra-curricular activities and trips.

Sport

Football has been the main sport at John Willmott School for the later part of its history, overtaking rugby. Rugby started off as its predominant sport when John Willmott was a grammar school. It has become gradually less popular, but rugby is being re-introduced at the school and an effort is being made to create a new team to represent the school. Other sports are offered, such as softball, tennis, badminton, trampolining, table tennis, volleyball, athletics, dancing and basketball.

Notable former pupils

Paul Agnew Paul Agnew (born 1964 in Glasgow) is a Scottish operatic tenor and conductor. Biography Agnew read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with various groups specializing in early music (Ex Cathedra, the ...

- international leading tenor http://www.jws.bham.sch.uk/about/alumni *

Tony Capaldi Anthony Charles Capaldi (born 12 August 1981) is a former footballer who made nearly 250 appearances in the Football League and is a former Northern Ireland international. Born in Porsgrunn, Norway, Capaldi won 22 caps for Northern Ireland at ...

- plays for Northern Premier League Premier Division side Rushall Olympic as a defender * Amy Jones - English cricketer * Andrew Moffat - teacher, author and creator of ''No Outsiders'' education programme *

Darius Vassell Darius Martin Clarke Vassell (born 13 June 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Ankaragücü and Leicester City. Vassell began his career at his home town club Aston Vill ...

- retired English footballer *

Emma Willis Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.

- English television presenter and former model * Stacey Cadman - English actress * Ray Smedley - Represented GB in the Munich Olympics in the 1500 metres * Demi Rose - Model and social media personality

References

External links

Official school websiteOfficial 50th anniversary websiteOfsted Report 01/03/06Ofsted Report 22/05/00
{{authority control Secondary schools in Birmingham, West Midlands Sutton Coldfield Academies in Birmingham, West Midlands