Education

The earliest educational establishment in the town was possibly the scriptorium in Sandwell Priory, which was dissolved in 1525 by Cardinal Wolsey. By 1686 there was what seems to have been a private academy, by which time the parish was entitled to send two boys to Old Swinford Hospital School, established in 1670.

By the late 18th century there were schools for the poor and several private academies. Sunday schools were opened in 1786 and 1788 and the wealthy families paid for many children from poor families to be educated. The wealthy families included the Dartmouths and the Clarkes. In 1819 the minister of All Saints' Church stated that there were enough schools for most of the poor and that parents were normally eager to take advantage of them. Many private boarding schools were established in the first half of the 19th century, as can be seen in the following section from the West Bromwich pages in Pigot's 1842 directory:

In 1839, government grants were given to local schools, which were then inspected. In 1844 only Trinity National School, near Holy Trinity Church, in what is now Trinity Road, had placed itself under government inspection. It was inspected by the Rev. Henry Moseley, M.A., F.R.S., whose findings were as follows:

In 1845, St. James's National School at Hill Top opened and by 1850 there was also the British School at Black Lake, with Henry J. Norrish, the master and Susanna Sargent, the mistress. There was also the Wesleyan Day and Infant School at Harvills Hawthorn, with Samuel Sadler, the master and Ann Austin, the mistress. Other schools soon followed.

By 1855 the list of public elementary schools had been extended with the addition of All Saints' Infant School in Churchfield, Kenrick's British School in Spon Lane, with George Fillmore, the master. Also Bagnall's Free National School at Gold's Hill, with Thomas Crabtree, the master and the Independents' British School in Sheepwash Lane.

In 1870 the Elementary Education Act was Passed in Parliament and introduced on the 17th February, 1870. It controlled schooling in England and Wales for children between the ages of 5 and 12 and established local education authorities with defined powers. They were authorised to use public money to improve existing schools, but brought neither free, nor compulsory education.

As a result, the West Bromwich School Board was formed in 1871. An educational census was taken, which listed that there were 2,825 children in the parish between the ages of 3 and 5, and 9,337 between 5 and 13, making a total of 12,162 children, for whom school accommodation was required. From this number 421 were deducted for children attending fee-paying schools, with a weekly fee of 9 pence or more.

About 20 percent of the children were absent at any one time, which meant that 9,393 children were usually present at school. To meet their requirements, 14 schools containing 36 departments were to be in receipt of government aid. Six schools with 7 departments were not under government aid, as were 5 private venture schools. There was a deficiency in the number of places, which was made worse by the closure of schools at Mayer's Green and Greets Green. There was sufficient provision at Christ Church and All Saints' districts, a small deficiency in Trinity, and a considerable one in St. Peter's and St. James's, and also at Gun's Village.

As a result the H.M. Inspector recommended the building of schools at Greets Green and Hill Top. At Hill Top a new voluntary school was built, which met the deficiency of accommodation there. The Board also rented rooms to provide more accommodation. A local by-law was introduced to make school attendance compulsory and so an Attendance Officer was appointed in May 1872. Between July 22nd, 1872, and January 31st, 1874, around 500 people were prosecuted for failing to send their children to school. The fines imposed amounted to £84.

A new Board School was erected at Greets Green and formally opened in December, 1876. The school cost about £4,800 and could accommodate 700 scholars. A new classroom was added to Queen Street Board School, and early in 1876 the Board purchased Moor Street School, with all its fittings for £1,200. The Ragged School, formerly held here now became known as a Board School.

The schoolroom in Dartmouth Street belonging to the Baptist Bethel Chapel, and previously conducted as a private school, was taken over by the Board in October, 1876, and opened as a Mixed School. Besides acquiring over 3,000 square yards of land at Guns Village for the erection of a new school, the Board proposed to open a two department school at the premises attached to Lyndon Primitive Methodist Chapel.

The other Schools under Government Inspection offering accommodation for 5,919 pupils were as follows: St. James's, St. Andrew's, Trinity, Christ Church, Newhall Street Wesleyan, Great Bridge Wesleyan, Hill Top Wesleyan, Bratt Street, Wesleyan, Spon Lane, All Saints', Messrs Bagnall's, St. Peter's, St. Mary Magdalen, St. Mary the Virgin and St. Michael's.

More accommodation was still required and so Moor Street School was improved and greatly enlarged by the addition of a new infants' department. In 1878 the Spon Lane Wesleyan School, was taken over by the Board, which also acquired the school buildings at Golds Hill. Gun's Village Schools were finished in April, 1879. During the previous three, years the Board had spent £34,863, of which £11,000 came from the rates, nearly £15,000 from loans, £4,724 from government grants and £2,816 from children's fees.

The Elementary Education Act of 1880 made school attendance compulsory, regardless of local by-laws. In June, 1881, it was proposed to erect a new school at Black Lake, to replace the Ebenezer Rooms. The school opened on September 14th, 1885 and had accommodation for 1068 scholars. As the local population increased, more school accommodation was required.

West Bromwich had one of the best records for school attendance in the Black Country. Between 1882 and 1886 the Board organised weekly classes for pupil teachers and unqualified assistant teachers. In 1896 it established a pupil-teachers' centre. A new school in Beeches Road opened in March 1893 and at Greets Green, an infants' department was opened in Bull Lane. At All Saints, the accommodation was increased by 88 places, and St. James's School was enlarged.

In 1903, West Bromwich County Borough became responsible for all stages of public education. In the late 1940s West Bromwich built more primary schools and opened its first nursery schools. Comprehensive secondary education was introduced in 1955 with the opening of Churchfields High School, Church Vale. The Corporation established three special schools for handicapped or maladjusted children: A residential school at Shenstone in 1954, Millfield Day School in Westminster Road, which opened in 1958 and Whittington residential school in 1965.

Some of the Schools

Great Bridge Wesleyan Methodist School, which became Fisher Street Council School The day school was built in 1826 for the local Wesleyan Methodist chapel. By 1859 there were about 120 pupils. The school was demolished when the area was redeveloped and rebuilt nearby in Fisher Street.

The new school opened in 1860 and had a boys and girls department and an infants' department. The head teacher from 1865-1909 was Joseph Vincent and the school had a high reputation. In 1907 it was taken over by the local authority and in 1932 the senior pupils were moved to recently opened George Salter School. Fisher Street School continued as a school for junior and infant children until its closure in 1969.

Lyndon Infants' School. An infants' school existed at Lyndon by 1834, with accommodation for about 100 pupils. It was run by the Ebenezer Congregational Chapel and closed in about 1850.

Great Bridge Congregational School, in Sheepwash Lane, opened in 1835 for infants and was run by the Congregationalists, who built Salem Chapel in 1839. By 1851 there was a large British School attached to the chapel, which by 1868 was only used as a Sunday school.

Paradise Street Wesleyan Methodist School, later Bratt Street Wesleyan Methodist School and Bratt Street Council School. In 1838 the Wesleyan Methodists opened a day school with an infants' department, in their building in Paradise Street, which was also used as a Sunday School. It had accommodation for around 160 children and about 150 infants. A new school building was built in Bratt Street in 1858, which was taken over by the local authority in 1911. In 1932 the school became a junior boys' and infants' school, when the girls were transferred to Christ Church School. In 1934 the boys' department became a special department for educationally sub-normal children. The infants' department continued as a separate unit until it was closed in 1948. Bratt Street School closed in 1958 and was demolished in 1971.

Ebenezer British School, later known as the Ebenezer Board School. In 1839 the Congregationalists opened Ebenezer chapel in Old Meeting Street, which replaced a former chapel on an adjoining site. This was converted into a day and Sunday school, which by 1850 consisted of a schoolroom and two classrooms. In October 1858 there were 70 students. By 1871 the number had grown and the average attendance was 127. From 1871 until 1885 the school building was leased to the Board as a mixed and infants' board school. The school remained in use until Black Lake Junior and Infants' School, in Swan Lane, opened in 1885, as a mixed and infants' board school. The new school initially had departments for boys, girls, and infants. It closed in 1969.

Beeches Road School, which opened in March 1893. From an old postcard.

Holy Trinity Church of England Junior and Infants' School. The school was built on a piece of land close to Holy Trinity Church in what is now Trinity Road. The land was given by George Silvester and the school was built with the aid of grants, given by the National Society, and the Diocesan Schools Society. The school opened in1843 as a mixed National school and ten years later the day school had an average attendance of 180 and the Sunday school had an attendance of about 450.

The school was enlarged in 1854 with the building of a new department on the corner of the present Lower Trinity Street and Constance Avenue, which catered for over 100 infants and opened in 1855. When Spon Lane Board School opened in 1889, Holy Trinity School became a voluntary controlled mixed and infants' school. Spon Lane Board School replaced the Spon Lane Wesleyan Methodist School, taking pupils from several temporary board schools. In 1931 it became a secondary modern school and in 1969 amalgamated with the George Salter School in Claypit Lane.

Mayer's Green and Queen Street Board School was established in 1844 as Mayer's Green and Queen Street British School, housed in a two storey building adjoining Mayer's Green Congregational Chapel. It was leased to the Board in 1871 and reopened in 1872 as a mixed and infants' board school. The school closed in 1893 with the opening of Beeches Road Board School.

Hill Top High School, at the junction of Hill Top and Coles Lane, opened in 1911 as a council school for senior boys, senior girls, junior mixed, and infants. It replaced two nearby schools, Hill Top Wesleyan Methodist School, built at Hill Top in 1844 by the trustees of the Wesleyan Methodist chapel and Hill Top, St. James's National School, next to St. James's Church. In 1914 the council school was enlarged, but two classrooms were destroyed by German bombs in 1940. The infants were transferred to Hateley Heath School in 1950 and the juniors in 1952. Hill Top was then a secondary modern school, which in 1969 became the comprehensive Hill Top High School.

Christ Church National Girls School. In 1846 Christ Church National School for boys in New Street, established a school for girls in a building in Newhall Street, rented from Lord Dartmouth. There were 84 pupils, ten of whom were non fee paying. Fifty of the pupils paid 2 pence a week, and the remaining 24 paid 3 pence a week. In 1856 the school received a small grant from the National Society to modify the buildings so the school could house 250 pupils. In the following year the site and the school was given to Christ Church. In 1879 the school became the responsibility of the new parish of St. John the Evangelist and closed in 1884.

Golds Hill Council School was formed in 1853 to run evening classes for the employees at Golds Hill Ironworks, run by John Bagnall and Sons. In 1855 a school for boys, girls, and infants opened at the works, for children of employees and also outsiders. The 226 pupils paid weekly fees of 2 pence to six pence. In 1878 the Board purchased the site and after enlarging the buildings, reopened the school as a board school for boys, girls, and infants. The demand for iron fell in the late 1870s and so Golds Hill Ironworks closed, and was put on sale in 1881. After the closure, the local population fell and the boys' and girls' departments merged. In 1949 the infants were transferred to a new school at Harvills Hawthorn and the junior pupils were transferred there in 1950. Golds Hill School then closed.

St. Peter's National School was opened in 1859 by St. Peter's Church, Greets Green. It began in a small corrugated-iron building adjoining the church, which had to cater for over 100 pupils. In 1866 a new two storey school building opened to the south of the church that catered for boys, girls, and infants. In the 1870s the average attendance was over 400. The school became St. Peter's Council School in 1910 when the school was taken over by the local authority. It continued as a mixed and infants school until 1932.

Charlemont Junior and Infants School, Willett Road, opened in 1929 and was built to educate the children from the new Charlemont housing estate. It initially catered for infants until 1930, when more of the new buildings opened to provide accommodation for older children. The remaining buildings were completed in 1931 when separate departments for boys and girls came into use. In 1937 the school again expanded on an adjacent site in Hollyhedge Road, where the new buildings included two assembly halls and a gymnasium. In 1944 part of it became a secondary modern school for the older children, the remainder continued as a junior and infants’ school. It is now Pennyhill Primary School and Hillside Children’s Centre.

Yew Tree Junior and Infants' School, Birchfield Way, opened in 1953.

Further Education

The West Bromwich Institution for the Advancement of Knowledge was formed in 1836. It consisted of a library and reading room and a lecture room where classes were held in mechanical drawing, mathematics, English grammar and debating. Members had to pay an annual subscription of one pound plus a five shilling entrance fee for new members over the age of 25. The president was Robert Lucas Chance, of Chance’s Glass Works.

From 1846 until 1848 there was a people’s library and reading room at Summit School, where lectures on various subjects were held. It had been established by George Kenrick and ended on his death.

In 1853, lectures were given in a large house on the corner of High Street and St. Michael Street, courtesy of Archibald Kenrick, who paid rent for the property. The institute became known as the People's Library and had a library and reading room. There was an annual subscription of 6 shillings or 4 shillings for the use of the library only. By 1876 it had closed, presumably because of the opening of the free public library.

There was a further education group for adults at the Hill Top Adult School in 1863, which by 1886 had an average attendance of 212. Also in 1863 a night school for adults was run by St. Peter's Church. In 1869 a night school opened at the Holy Trinity National School, mainly attended by young people employed by George Salter & Company Limited. Around this time there were several literary and self-improvement classes in the town, but they were short lived.

In 1886 the West Bromwich Institute in Lodge Road, opened. It had a reading room, classrooms, a laboratory, a lecture theatre and an assembly hall. The cost of the building was raised by subscriptions and a number of art classes and science classes were held there. In 1887 it became a school of art and from 1891 it was run by the town council's technical instruction committee. In 1896 the building itself was transferred to the council.

The Technical Instruction Act of 1889 allowed local authorities to levy rates to aid technical or manual instruction, which led to the setting up of day and evening classes. In 1891 the town council adopted the Act and so took over the educational work at the West Bromwich Institute, which became the Municipal Art School and the Municipal Science and Technical School. The building was extended in 1898; then in 1902 the art school was transferred to the new Ryland Memorial School of Art, built on an adjoining site at the expense of George Kenrick.

In 1928, the Kenrick Technical College opened in High Street and replaced the Municipal Science and Technical School. It included a junior technical school. In 1949, work began on the West Bromwich Technical College, which was officially opened in 1954. It initially consisted of a large single storey building with a seven storey tower block at one end. In 1969 the Technical College merged with Ryland Memorial School and the Wednesbury College of Commerce and Technology, to form the West Bromwich College of Commerce and Technology. The premises in High Street became the Engineering Division of the new college.

West Bromwich Technical College.