The school was officially opened by the D. Rogers on 24 September 1957 as Great Barr Comprehensive School. The school had opened in September 1955 with thirteen forms of 11-year-old boys and girls and 615 pupils between the ages of 12 and 15, who were transferred from the Aldridge Road Boys and Girls Modern Schools which ceased to exist at that time. Mr Oswald Beynon MA was the first headmaster. The modern schools building had been incorporated into the comprehensive school and became the Lower School, with new buildings comprising the Middle and Upper Schools. The Lower school comprises the English and maths departments, with some Science and Technology rooms. The middle school is mainly made up of Technology rooms and the school's main library. The Upper School is primarily Science, Art, Religious Education, Personal Exercise and Modern Foreign Languages. One of the school's most famous previous employees is Dame Maureen Brennan, who is known for the turn-around of Hillcrest School and Community College in Netherton, West Midlands
Artwork
The school's frontage features two carved reliefs, the left one showing three boys playing football; the right one three girls playing netball. Originally bare stone, these were painted circa 2013.
Adjacent to the main school is the Sixth Form Centre. The sixth form centre acts as a college and form of higher education after leaving the last year, year 11. It provides its students with a two-year course, first contains AS level study and the second year contains A2 level. Most students choose to enter the Sixth form after their last year, as it provides many different courses including Media Studies, Business Studies, Further I.T, Higher Musical Courses, Higher Science, Law, Psychology and many others. The main focus of the Sixth Form Centre is the library called the O.L.C, the centre also contains many class rooms and space for students to study. The centre also contains a specialist Law Room that is made to look like a 'mock-up' court. Recently, the sixth form centre has begun to offer post-16 vocational courses to pupils who wish to follow a vocational route to further education or training. As of 2011, these courses have included a Level 3 BTEC's in Forensic Science and Applied Biology and courses in iMedia and Sports Science.
New phase
In 2005, the school was designated as a specialist Science and Mathematics College. The school also gained a new specialist science building. On Thursday 24 November 2005 the school’s new state-of-the-art music block was opened by then head teacher, Brian Sherratt O.B.E. The date also marked the formal retirement of Dr Sherratt after 21 years at the school.
Current
The school's previous head teacher was Ingrid Abrahams. She retired from her role in 2019 and Andrew Williams stepped up as Acting Headteacher. Ofsted most recently visited the school in November 2019, rating it as “Requires Improvement”. Currently, Great Barr is the largest single-site school in the country with over 2,400 pupils on roll. Great Barr School is also notable by being served by more public service buses than any other school in England. The majority of these services are provided by National Express West Midlands.
