Fox Hollies School

General information

LOCATION

Fox Hollies School is on Queensbridge Road in Moseley

HEAD TEACHER

The Head Teacher is Keith Youngson

NUMBER OF PUPILS & STAFF

They have just over 100 pupils and about 80 staff

TYPE OF PUPILS

The school takes pupils with severe Learning Disabilities.

AGE RANGE

The school is for pupils from 11 up to 19 years old

CO-LOCATION & SHARED FACILITIES

The school shares a site with mainstream school Queensbridge.

Early days

It opened in 1970 on a different site on Fox Hollies Road.
Before becoming a school, it was Fox Hollies Special Training centre, which was opened on 9th June 1962.
The first Head Teacher was Mrs Cooksey.

Fundraising

A fund-raising group called the Friends of Fox Hollies has helped the school greatly.
In 1990, they raised enough money to buy a holiday home called “The Lodge” in Pwllheli that sleeps up to 10 people.
Pupils’ families can use The Lodge in the holidays.

Moving

In December 2003, the school moved to the new building in Moseley. Their existing site and buildings were not in a good condition. The Education Authority refused to redevelop them. They wanted them to share a site with a mainstream school.

The Fox Hollies website says:
“Pupils from the two schools are taught to relate positively to each other in a way that benefits everyone. Relationships are excellent and all of our pupils are given opportunities to work with Queensbridge School pupils during the school year.”

Growing numbers

Ten years ago, Fox Hollies had 76 pupils.
This has now gone up to 102 with 80 staff working there.
There is a maximum of 12 students in each class.

Drama

The school has a focus on drama and dance.

It says:

“Our passion for the performing arts enriches our whole curriculum opening up real, relevant learning that is enjoyable and sustained.”

Freefall Dance

Some of their former pupils are involved in a company called Freefall Dance. This was set up in 2002, Their work with the Birmingham Royal Ballet has been highly
acclaimed

At Fox Hollies, they celebrate pupils’ achievements with awards named after former staff and pupils.