Jan is pictured during the School’s Student of the year 2018-19 presentation at Brierley Hill Civic Hall The head of a Stourbridge school helping disaffected children from across Dudley has talked of her pride and shock at being awarded an MBE. Janet Lear, Head of the Black Country Wheels School, calls it ‘a collective MBE’ because she could not have done it without the teams she has worked with over the years. “It was a shock and a great honour.” The school, based on the Gainsborough trading estate, takes children aged 14 to 16 who have become ‘disengaged’ with mainstream schooling and offers them special learning and support to help turn their lives around.
A WOMAN whose Stourbridge school helps ‘disengaged’ youngsters get ‘back on track’ has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours. Janet Lear is the founder and head teacher of the Black Country Wheels School based on the Gainsborough Trading Estate in Stourbridge’s Rufford Road. The school evolved from “The Wheels Project”, which was instigated by Jan in 1999. She listened to the needs of the young people she worked with and presented them with a learning platform that they were interested in, engaging them in life skills and improving their chances of future employment. The Black Country Wheels Project was formed in 2003.