Dormston School

The Dormston School
Address
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Mill Bank, Sedgley Dudley , DY3 1SN England
Information
Type	Community school
Local authority	Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Department for Education URN	103855 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Headteacher	Steve Dixon[1]
Gender	Mixed[1]
Age range	11–16[1]
Enrolment	1127[1]
Capacity	1120[1]
Website	School website

Dormston School is a secondary school in Sedgley, West Midlands, England. The school has specialist status as a Mathematics and Computing college.^[2] As of 2020, the school has approximately 1,100 pupils aged 11 to 16 on the roll,^[1] and approximately 80 members of staff (including non-teaching staff). In 2016 some pupils of The Coseley School, which had closed, transferred to Dormston School.^[3]

History[]

Dormston School was established in 1935. The original site consisted of a single two-storey building that contained 19 classrooms as well as a dining hall, gymnasium, assembly hall and library. By the 1970s, new buildings had been added to reflect the growing population of Sedgley and the demand it placed on school places, as well as the borough-wide switch to comprehensive education which took place across the new Metropolitan Borough of Dudley from September 1975. The school was built by Sedgley Urban District council, but since 1966 has existed within the Borough of Dudley^[2]

Between 1990 and 1992, a new classroom block was built along with extensions to the existing buildings, to accommodate a growing demand for places, as well as the need to accommodate the intake of 11-year-olds after the entry age was reduced from 12 with effect from September 1990.

In July 1996, the National Lottery granted the Dormston School £4 million to build the Arts and Sports Center, which was completed nearly four years later.^[4] It includes a theatre, sports hall, art gallery and gymnasium.

In the autumn of 2000, Dormston School was credited with the Charter Mark in recognition of its services to the pupils and the local community.

The school's current head teacher is Stephen Dixon, who was appointed in September 2018.

Head teachers[]

• Barbara O'Connor - Head Teacher from September 1983 to December 2000.
• Stephanie Sherwood - Head Teacher from January 2001 to July 2013.
• Ben Stitchman - Head Teacher from September 2013 to July 2018.
• Stephen Dixon - Head Teacher since September 2018.^[2]

School buildings[]

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The school had originally been housed in what is now A Block. This held classrooms, offices, a library, assembly hall and gymnasium.

Art, Science (B Block) and Technology (C Block) blocks were added in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These were expanded in the early 1990s. A fourth block, housing music, drama, dance and English classrooms (D Block) was built during the 1990/91 academic year, followed shortly afterwards by three Modern Languages classrooms, two Art Rooms and a Technology workshop.

The early 1990s expansions took place to accommodate the extra pupils following the local authority's decision to lower the secondary school starting age from 12 to 11, as well as growing demand for places at the school. It had provided capacity for around 700 pupils when it covered the 12-16 age range. That figure had risen to more than 900 when the age for admissions was reduced, but high demand for places saw it increased beyond 1,000 by the mid 1990s.

Two science laboratories were opened in the autumn of 2003, as was a Sixth Form Centre (owned by Dudley College) in September 1996. The sixth form block was demolished in 2007 and transferred to the mobile classrooms which had been erected more than a decade earlier. These were removed by 2015.

An additional block was completed in 2017 to accommodate a further five classrooms (Block F). This was to accommodate a fresh increase increase in pupil numbers following the closure of the Coseley School, where the remaining pupils were divided between Dormston and High Arcal.

Dormston Centre[]

The Dormston Centre, opened in March 2000, incorporates facilities including a sports hall, art gallery, theatre and cafe.^[2] It cost around £6million to build, £4 million of which was provided by a grant from the National Lottery. First planned in the late 1980s, the go-ahead for the centre was finally given in July 1996 when the Lottery grant was given, with construction work beginning in early 1998. The official opening took place on 1 December 2000.^[4] Two years later, the Dudley News criticised the project as a "failure" as few people in the local area were making use of it.^{[citation needed]}

The theatre frequently hosts performing arts events carried out by the pupils and groups outside the school.

On 5 March 2009, the Dormston Centre hosted an episode of the BBC's long running program Question Time.^{[citation needed]}

Pupils suspended over short skirts[]

In March 1999, the school made the headlines when 41 girls were either sent home, made to put on baggy trousers or isolated from lessons for wearing excessively short skirts as part of a local crackdown on 'sexily dressed' school pupils.^[4][5] 21 female pupils aged from 11 to 16 were suspended and the others segregated away from the other pupils. This attracted national as well as local media attention.^[4][5]

Notable former pupils[]

• Mark Briggs - former West Bromwich Albion, Notts County and Shrewsbury Town footballer, attended from 1993 to 1998
• Reece Brown - footballer who plays for Forest Green Rovers and previously Birmingham City, attended from 2007 to 2012
• Chris Marsh - former Walsall defender, attended from 1982 to 1986.
• Phil Parkes - former West Ham goalkeeper, attended from 1961 to 1965.

References[]