Heart of England School

Heart of England School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in Balsall Common in the West Midlands. Its catchment is the south-east of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, primarily rural and commuter villages.

History
The school was opened in 1957 and was formerly a secondary modern school. It became a comprehensive school in 1974 when it became part of the metropolitan borough of Solihull. In 1998 a new sixth form block was added with four additional classrooms and a dedicated computer suite. In 2011 the school converted to academy status.

In 1984 pupils from the school starred in an episode of the ITV Good Health series titled Germs, Germs, Germs, written by Peter Brookes, the School drama teacher.

When David Hempleman-Adams undertook his Ultimate Challenge Expedition in 1996 (leading a team of novices to ski to the Magnetic North Pole, having already completed a solo walk to the South Pole), sixth formers at Heart of England School were invited to create a website, which provided up to date tracking of the expedition and information on the history of polar exploration. The work required an upgrade of the school's IT facilities to allow it to connect to the Internet, and allow the students to learn to code for the nascent web technologies.

In 2003 the school made national headlines when the headmistress trialled the use of sniffer dogs to prevent pupils from bringing in drugs. Although she described the school as not troublesome, there had been occasional issues with drug taking in the recent past. The school hired counter drugs specialists to conduct the scheme.

An extension used for sporting activities and dancing was built in 2007, part-financed with lottery money.

Campus
The school has three main blocks (Main block, Hampton block and Leveson block). The P.E. block, a part of main block, consists of a Dance Studio, a Gym, a Sports Hall and lessons also take place in the hall, tennis courts and field. The playing field abuts the Primary School field. In September 2010 an extension to the Hampton Building was added to provide much needed specialist accommodation for Maths, Languages, Food Technology and Drama.

The school is a provider for the Duke of Edinburgh's award.

Notable Alumni

 * Andy Hopkins, drummer for rock band, The Enemy
 * Tom Milnes - Cricketer
 * Andrew Thompson - Priest
 * Lorna Want - Actress