History
Originally known as the Pensnett Secondary Modern School, it was opened in 1932 to serve pupils aged 11 and above in the expanding Pensnett area of the Brierley Hill district. Several modern extensions and improvements were added to the original school building over the years.
Eric Hancock was the Headmaster of Pensnett Secondary Modern School from 1956 until his retirement in 1972. Hancock had purchased the old organ from nearby St Mark's Church in Brierley Hill, for use by the school orchestra. He also made school uniform and homework compulsory, and was one of the first head teachers at secondary modern schools in the area to give pupils the chance to study O Levels.
The retirement of Mr Hancock in 1972 coincided with the redesignation of the school as a 12-16 school in September of that year. September 1975 saw the school follow suit of all other secondary modern and grammar schools in Dudley (which Brierley Hill district became part of in 1966) by converting to comprehensive status. It retained comprehensive status until closure; however, the age range was reverted to 11-16 in September 1990.
New technology classrooms were added in the early 1990s, with the new department being officially opened in 1993.
In September 2007, the school underwent a name change from Pensnett School of Technology to Pensnett High School.
Three arson attacks at the school in spring 2010 caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.
Read more about this topic: Pensnett High School
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“It may be well to remember that the highest level of moral aspiration recorded in history was reached by a few ancient Jews—Micah, Isaiah, and the rest—who took no count whatever of what might not happen to them after death. It is not obvious to me why the same point should not by and by be reached by the Gentiles.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty and death of public opinion.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)