Four Dudley schools set for a name change in September

High Arcal Academy will be known as Beacon Hill Academy, Holly Hall Academy is becoming Pegasus Academy, Hillcrest Academy is changing to The Link Academy and Castle Academy will be named St James Academy.

Students have helped with the renaming, which marks an "exciting time" for the schools, according to Lowell Williams, chief executive officer of Dudley College and chairman of the board of Dudley Academies Trust.

He said: “It’s been almost a year since the four Dudley schools came together as part of Dudley Academy Trust and began working together to drive up standards and expectations.

"The rebranding work has taken a while to complete as we wanted our young people to be involved and the new names have been chosen to keep a sense of place but act as a symbol of change, reflecting what is going on in our schools.”

From September, pupils will also be required to wear a new uniform.

Parents will be issued with a voucher entitling them to a school blazer and tie, which will be paid for by the trust. Other items will be available from supermarket chains and school uniform retailers.

Jo Higgs, chief executive of Dudley Academy Trust, said: “We are creating an aspirational culture in our schools and we want that to be reflected in the personal pride our learners have in wearing their uniform and belonging to their school.”

She added: “We are determined to constantly improve all aspects of teaching and learning and everything that impacts on these. We have introduced a new behaviour policy – that sets out our high expectations, we have recruited new teaching staff to support key areas such as English and mathematics and we are investing heavily in improving our estate.”