Solihull School - Facilities

Facilities

The school currently occupies a large site of approximately 65 acres (260,000 m²). This is partly as a result of a former headmaster, Mr Warin Foster Bushell, who in the 1920s bought much of the land himself when the governors refused to finance the purchase out of school funds. On his retirement Bushell sold the fields to the school at no profit. The school's quadrangle and surrounding classrooms, as well as the former hall, known as Big School, were built after this period, and were followed by a chapel and large teaching block and sports hall, amongst other additions. Solihull School has a large number of rugby pitches, cricket squares and nets, tennis courts, football pitches and general purpose sports fields. There is also a fully floodlit artificial pitch on the school's main campus, incorporating 2, 8x40 warm-up areas. The pitch is used primarily for hockey in the winter months and in the summer term the pitch affords a further 8 tennis courts and an extensive multi-purpose training/coaching area.

One mile away, at Copt Heath, the School has another 13 acres (53,000 m2) of fields, comprising 4 rugby pitches, a new floodlit artificial pitch and a cricket square. These 13 acres (53,000 m2) are a part of the site that is home to the School's old boys' club, the Old Silhillians' Association.

The school also possesses a mountain cottage in Snowdonia, North Wales. Mr and Mrs Fricke presented the Cottage to the School in 1958 following the death of their son David, who was a school pupil between 1946-1956. David was a keen mountain walker and it was felt that the Cottage would be a fitting tribute to his memory. Most pupils will visit the cottage as part of Snowdonia School in the Shell forms. Those taking part in CCF or the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme may also use this facility on other occasions.

In recent years the success of the school's many and varied investments has allowed it to enter a period of almost continual upgrading and extending of its buildings and facilities. In 1990 a new building was constructed to house the Junior School. This was followed by the extension of the science laboratories in 1995; the extensive renovation of most classrooms (with the removal of such features as 1950s desks with attached seats and the installation of large interactive whiteboards in most classrooms) in 1998; and the conversion of Big School into a library, and the construction of a new hall and theatre building at the cost of several million pounds, completed in 2002 and named the Bushell Hall after the former headmaster (see above). A large new pavilion was constructed in 2003 at a cost of just under £2m, and named the Alan Lee Pavilion after another former headmaster (1983–1996) who died shortly after its completion.

The rapid expansion of the school's facilities shows no signs of stopping, with the construction of a new teaching block and redevelopment of a large part of the school, involving the demolition of several buildings from the early 20th century recently being completed. Opened in September 2005, this building provides fifteen new teaching rooms for the Classics, History, Economics & Business Studies, Religious Studies and IT departments. There is also a large multi-purpose teaching room and a social area. This new facility has made department-based teaching possible throughout the school. It has been named the George Hill building after a Governor of the school who died shortly before its completion. George Hill's business acumen helped secure the school's financial position throughout the 20th Century.

In 2007, the Governors of the school commisoned a new music school to be built for the 450th anniversary of the school. Building work started on the Music School in 2008 with it scheduled for completion in 2010. It is rumoured that the new addition to the campus will be named the Graham Hughes Music School, after the Chairman of the Governors who commissioned the project. It was later named the David Turnbull Music School, after a former Director of Music at the school, who was responsible for the development of music within the school and is recognised as the reason the standard of music in the school is so good.