Oldbury Wells School
Oldbury Wells School is a comprehensive school in Bridgnorth, England. The 2003 Ofsted inspection lists the school as having 1,034 pupils, 224 of whom are in the sixth form. The school's motto is "Towards Excellence."
History
The buildings in which Oldbury Wells School is today based were originally two separate schools. What is now known as the East Side was opened as Bridgnorth Boys’ Modern School in 1958; the West Side opened as Bridgnorth Girls’ Modern School in 1959. The two schools merged to form Oldbury Wells during 1973/4. This gives the school its somewhat unusual characteristic of being split over two sites. The first headmaster of the school was Ben Unitt, who had previously been headmaster of the Boys' School. Following his retirement in 1981, the current headmaster, Roger Davis, took over.
Awards and accolades
The school's buildings were listed during the 1990s. They were deemed to be of historical interest because of the way the concrete displays the grain of the wood shuttering into which it was poured.
In recognition of its high performance, the school was awarded beacon school status in 1998, although this programme has now been phased out nationally.
It became a science college in 2003, which sees it gain extra funding in return for developing its science facilities and teaching for the benefit of both its pupils and the wider community.
Students from the school have twice won the Schools Aerospace Challenge.
In 2002, one of the teaching staff, Alison Pearson, won the BP award for Science Year in recognition of the quality of her science teaching.