Today’s Friday photo is the former Steward Street School in Ladywood. As the summer is drawing to a close and the kids are heading back to school, I thought it fitting this week to feature an old school.  Steward Street Board School was one of the first of five schools opened by the Birmingham School Board in 1873.  It provided accommodation for 1036 boys, girls and infants. The school fees were one penny a week in 1889, but many poverty stricken children were taught for free or had to remain in arrears.  The school had a history of experimental educational, with an ‘open-air’ classroom erected in the playground in 1914. In 1940-50’s a creative curriculum was put in place meaning all learning and teaching was carried out through the creative arts. This was radical at the time and thus drew lots of attention from many educationalists, policy makers, researchers, artists and press and film media.  The  school finally closed in 1969.  It’s current use is as a commercial premises and the building looks in good shape from the outside.