ABSTRACT
The first specialist school in England was the City Technology College in Kingshurst, which opened in September 1988 on the site of a failed comprehensive school in Chelmsley Wood, a socially deprived area to the east of Birmingham. It had close links with business, and with sponsorship from the Hanson Trust and Lucas Aerospace, went on to pioneer techniques which many of the nearly 2,000 specialist schools in operation today now use. Under the able leadership of its principal from 1988 to 2001, Valerie Bragg, the first specialist school focused on teaching the skills in mathematics, science and technology which local employers required.
