Washwood Heath Academy

Washwood Heath Academy is an all through school located in the Washwood Heath ward of Birmingham, England.^[1] Originally known as Washwood Heath Comprehensive School, it opened in September 1967. It was extended in 1996 to make way for the Post-16 centre. The school became a specialist Technology College and was renamed Washwood Heath Technology College.

Washwood Heath Academy
Location
Burney Lane Birmingham , West Midlands , B8 2AS England
Coordinates	52°29′25″N 1°49′09″W
Information
Type	Academy
Established	1967
Department for Education URN	139888 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Head Teacher	Lynn Petrie
Gender	Mixed
Age	4 to 19
Enrolment	1,621
Houses	Plaza   Tolkien   Chamberlain   Farah   Harewood   Simmonds   Seacole   Moeen Ali
Website	http://washwood.academy/

In 2013 Washwood Heath Technology College was converted into an academy and renamed Washwood Heath Academy.

David Harewood, an ex-pupil, made a documentary about turning a group of Washwood Heath pupils into Shakespearean actors in five days.^[2]

Controversy

• In 1996, maths teacher Israr Khan interrupted a Christmas carol rehearsal performance, questioning the involvement of Muslim pupils professing to Christian theology in the festive songs.^[3]
• In 2002, the school became the first in Britain to have its entire governing body sacked under new government powers after an 18-month row over race and religion created internal disagreements amongst staff. The board were replaced by a council team and subsequently received praise from Ofsted.^[4][5][6][7]
• In 2010, following a General Teaching Council disciplinary hearing, teacher Jasbir Dhillon was suspended for three months for being late for class on 21 occasions. Action was taken after pupils complained about his punctuality.^[8][9]

Alumni

• Terry Cooke, professional footballer^[10][11]
• Stephen Duffy, singer songwriter^[12][13]
• David Harewood, television and film actor^[14]
• Lee Hendrie, professional footballer^[15][16]
• Jason Kavanagh professional footballer^[17][18]
• Jason White, professional footballer^{[citation needed]}
• Rashid Rauf, alleged Al-Qaeda operative^[19][20]
• Carl Saunders, footballer^[21]
• Ian Taylor, professional footballer^[22]