Motto | Strive. Believe. Achieve. |
---|---|
Established | 2001 |
Type | Community school |
Religion | Integrated |
Head Teacher | Mr Chris Etheridge |
Location |
Gressel Lane Tile Cross Birmingham West Midlands B33 9UF England 52°29′00″N 1°46′11″W / 52.4833°N 1.7697°WCoordinates: 52°29′00″N 1°46′11″W / 52.4833°N 1.7697°W |
Local authority | Birmingham City Council |
DfE URN | 103518 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports |
Students | 710 |
Gender | Mixed |
Ages | 11–16 |
Colours | Blue, Green, Yellow, Fuchsia, Purple. |
Website | http://www.tisbham.org/ |
The International School is a mixed secondary school located in the Tile Cross area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England.
The school is ethnically diverse and contains around 700 pupils spread over three major buildings. The school is situated on Gressel Lane and is roughly one mile from Lea Hall railway station, operated by London Midland. It is close to the eastern boundary of Birmingham, close to the Solihull boundary.
The genesis of the school was three schools being built next to each other in Tile Cross, East Birmingham in the late 1950s. The famous Central Grammar School for Boys was founded in 1897 on Suffolk Street and relocated to Gressel Lane in September 1957. It was a three-form entry school with around 550 boys.
During the second World War half of the school was evacuated and shared with The West Monmouth High School for Boys at Pontypool under the Headship of Leslie Bradley, who had been appointed Headmaster in 1934. They returned in 1942 and reunited with the other half to a location in Bordesley Green.
The City then created two new schools named Byng Kenrick Girls' Grammar School and Sir Wilfrid Martineau School (named after Wilfred Byng Kenrick and Wilfred Martineau respectively, two men who had each been prominent local politicians and Lord Mayors of Birmingham).
The two schools would cater for pupils who had failed to gain a place in a grammar school. Its first headmaster, however, declared that it was his intention to compete and announced it was a bilateral rather than a secondary modern school (in contemporary parlance) and the school competed with its neighbours.
When the City abolished some grammar schools in 1974, Central and Byng Kenrick merged to create Byng Kenrick Central School (BKC), a co-educational comprehensive on Gressel Lane.
Sir Wilfrid Martineau, which had merged with 'Sticland Green Mixed Secondary Modern School', had a better reputation than BKC at the time.
However, by 2000 Sir Wilfrid Martineau School was failing badly and so in an attempt to 'save it' the City hastily decided that the adjacent Byng Kenrick Central School would 'take it over' and be renamed. This was NOT a merger.
The 'new school' named: The International School and Community College East Birmingham was opened in September 2001. It has since been awarded specialist Business and Enterprise College status.