Shrewsbury High School, 125 Years Young
Shrewsbury High School was opened by the Girls' Day School Trust in May 1885, moving to its present site ten years later. Expanding rapidly, by 1935 the school’s Golden Jubilee was marked by the building of a library; a gift from staff and pupils, past and present, and the Friends of Shrewsbury High School.
The prep department also grew and in 1959 moved to its own site on Kennedy Road, now our pre-prep. The school continued to flourish and the 1970s saw the building of a new Hall and Gymnasium and new Science buildings. To celebrate 100 years, in 1985 the school acquired the chapel on Town Walls, a listed building. Opened by H.R.H. Princess Alice, this building includes a purpose-designed library and resource centre, which has transformed the basement.
In 1992 there was further development at the senior department: new buildings for Physics, ICT, and English were opened by Heather Couper, astronomer and broadcaster. Four years later a new Performing Arts studio was opened. The school continues to expand; in 2005 we opened the Kingsland Centre incorporating a new Sports Hall, Art Studio, 23-place IT suite and two classrooms.
A Brief History of Kingsland Grange
Established in 1899 by W.B.C. Drew and W. Deeds at the Limes in Belle Vue, the school moved to Kingsland Grange in 1910 as more space was needed for the increasing numbers. The impressive house was built by the Treasure family of Ludlow in 1884 and is now a Grade II listed building.
In those early days Latin and Greek were highly favoured subjects and the discipline was strict. The boys’ entertainment consisted of table tennis, draughts and card games. Conkers were dipped in secret liquids to make them unbreakable. Stamps and cigarette cards were collected and swapped.
D. P. Biggs took over the reins as Headmaster from Rev. West from 1935. The war was an exciting time; the boarders lay on the floor of the Masters common room listening to news of the war in Italy, landings in France and Allied advances across Europe on the radio. After the end of the war the school had just 33 boys, but with new joint Headmasters D. E. McNab (known as Mac the Knife!) and A. M. Slater, the next 14 years saw the school the school recover ground, numbers and prominence. Both were great sportsmen in their youth.
By the mid-1960’s brothers A.T.G. and R. E. Groves had taken the helm and The Rocks pre-prep was established on Hereford Road for boys aged 4 to 7. McNab's sister, Mrs Bird became its first Head.
By this time the scholarship success of the boys had increased dramatically. The calibre of the sports performance was raised to an all-time high level. The ties with Shrewsbury School (and other local public schools) became stronger as large numbers of boys moved on there as day boys and boarders. In 1989 Martin James took over as Headmaster. The school maintained high standards of academic, music and sporting excellence.
The final years of the last Century saw the introduction of new subjects including information technology, art and drama and the demise of boarding. The Rocks moved to a new building in 1997.
An Exciting Future
In 2000 Mrs Marilyn Cass became Head, and has since managed the development of the school in all areas, including the enhancement of facilities and the development of the prep. Pupil numbers have grown from 530 in 2000 to 790 in 2009.
At the end of 2006 Shrewsbury High School acquired Kingsland Grange Prep School for Boys to create Shrewsbury High Prep School.
The next two years saw significant investment including:
- Enhancement and refurbishment of the pre-prep including the provision of an exciting outdoor adventure play area, specialised teaching areas for Music, Art and Drama, and first-class library provision.
- In September 2007 we opened a new Montessori Nursery at the pre-prep, which can accommodate children from the age of 2, offering wrap-round care from 7:30am till 6pm, Monday to Friday, 50 weeks of the year, with flexible sessions. Numbers of pupils in the nursery have quadrupled since.
- Comprehensive refurbishment of the main Grade II listed building at Kingsland Grange, including new facilities for the music department and a new library. In particular the Information Communication Technology provision across the whole school has been significantly upgraded.
- September 2008 saw the completion of a multi-million pound investment in a new teaching block at the prep, comprising a new gym, six new classrooms and specialist teaching areas for design/technology and science.
In September 2008 these works were completed and Shrewsbury High Prep School came into being, comprising the prep and pre-prep. Mrs Maria Edwards is the Head of the Prep School. Maria joined the school in 2006 as Head of the Junior Department, and has introduced a variety of initiatives, including the current house system at the pre-prep.