Wolverhampton Girls' High School, founded in 1911, educates girls from the age of 11 to 18. There are some 1015 girls enrolled, including about two hundred in the sixth form. It was previously awarded the status of Language College in the UK's Specialist Schools Programme, and converted to academy status on 1 April 2014.
Entrance
Entry to the school is via the Shropshire, Walsall and Wolverhampton Grammar Schools Consortium, testing Maths, English, verbal and non-verbal reasoning. These tests take place during Year 6 of primary education. 11+ examinations must be taken in order to be enrolled in the school. Entrance is determined purely from entrance examination results but the chance is very slim, and each year only 145 pupils are awarded a place at the school. Entry after this point is very limited and does not fully open again until sixth form. Sixth form admission is then granted on the basis of a variety of factors such as GCSE predictions and results, as well as performance in an interview.
House system
Structure
There are four houses: Audley, Ferrers, Paget and Stafford. Each has its own colour, as well as its own House leader, assistant house leader who are also members of staff, and team of house representatives chosen from Sixth Form students. House Captains and Vice Captains lead and oversee activities, while more specific duties are delegated through roles such as Drama Captain and Tennis Captain.
House activities
Throughout the year, house events are held in various formats. Sporting events take place according to season, with House Hockey and House Netball events taking place in winter months, while House Tennis takes place in summer. Non-sporting competitions such as House Debating also occur every year. The largest inter-house competition is the House Arts Festival. All four houses prepare various routines and performances, often based on themes, to compete in the categories of Dance, Music, Drama and Choir. The event is often judged by actors and musicians, but has also been known to be judged by ex-teachers and other notable personalities related to the school. A recent addition to the house events is Winter Games, which occurs mid-February. All four houses compete in activities such as board games, indoor sports, textiles, cooking, and creating a video in support of their house. This event is judged by teachers and Sixth Form students who run the event, and each house is given points depending on their performance. Throughout each term, the houses compete for the house cup, the Britannia. Points are gained through house events, and a Merit system which awards students based on excellent academic performance and behaviour; conversely, points are lost through Order or Conduct marks. At the end of each school term, one house is awarded the Britannia trophy, on which a label with their house name is placed, until the end of the following term.
Curriculum
There used to be four forms according to which house a student belonged to, however the school now has five forms in each year. Subjects are taught in form groups in years 7 to 9 and then in option groups for the more senior years. Girls take English and at least three foreign languages, religious studies, history, geography, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, technology, information technology, art, music and physical education. Foreign languages are chosen from French, German, Latin, Russian and Spanish. More recently, students have started to take one major European language and one language with a different writing system in year 7, then to begin Latin in year 8. At GCSE level, alongside English, mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics, students are required to take at least one foreign language, and one of geography, history, and religious studies. Further, girls take two more subjects of their choice, and in year 11 are given the option to take GCSE-level further mathematics if they desire.
Results
The school has been producing high results for many years and has frequently been ranked within the top 10 state schools in the country for its performance at GCSE and A level. Over 80% of GCSE grades are either A or A*, with the majority of pupils gaining nine or more GCSEs at these grades. The 2006 A-level results placed the school in fifth place in the performance league table for all maintained schools in the West Midlands. In 2009, 100% of girls who sat GCSE examinations gained 5 or more A*–C GCSEs. Since the 2017 GCSE reforms, WGHS has continued to perform highly in subjects. Notably, in 2019, three-quarters of results were a grade 7 to 9, and 87% of students achieved at least a grade 4 in all 5 EBacc subjects.
