Adams' Grammar School

Infobox UK school
name = Adams' Grammar School


size =
latitude = 52.7697
longitude = -2.381
dms =
motto = Serve and Obey
motto_pl =
established = 1656
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = voluntary aided grammar, boarding
religion = None (formerly C of E)
president =
head_label = Headmaster
head = M.J. Barrat
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label =
chair =
founder = William Adams
founder_pl =
specialist = Technology
street = High Street
city = Newport
county = Shropshire
country = England flagicon|England
postcode = TF10 7BD
LEA = Telford and Wrekin
ofsted = 123593
staff =
enrollment = 800
gender = Male (11-16),
Co-educational (16-18)
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses = Clive (red), Darwin (blue), Talbot (black) and Webb (green)
colours = Maroon, Navy Blue (and house colours)
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.adamsgs.org.uk/
website_name = adamsgs.org.uk

Adams' Grammar School is a state grammar school in Newport, Shropshire. Its name is sometimes abbreviated to AGS.

Background

Adams' is a selective state school which admits both boarding and day pupils, and is a specialist Technology College. The school, including the sixth form, has approximately 800 pupils (750 boys, 50 girls). The school educates only boys in Years 7 to 11 (ages 11 to 16), while the Sixth Form (ages 16 to 18) is mixed (though as most boys continue from the lower school to the sixth form the gender bias is greatly skewed). The Haberdashers are still important in the running of the school: they provide some of the school's funding and have representatives in its governing body. This influence was significant in warding off a number of closure attempts by a largely hostile local authority in the 1980s, which ceased when the school moved to Voluntary Aided status.

A new science block was built during the 2006/2007 school year during which time students were taught the sciences at St. Peter and St. Paul's school. The science block was opened by H.R.H Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex with also the unveiling of a bust of William Adams, the founder of the school.

School life

The school is divided into four houses for competitive and pastoral purposes. These are named after notable Salopians:

Clive House is named after Clive of India. It's colour is red, and is represented by an elephant. Clive's current head of house is Dr. P Dolding.

Darwin House takes its name from Charles Darwin. Its unofficial coat-of-arms has depicted variously a lion and Darwin's head, and it's colour is royal blue. Darwin's head of house is Mr Dave Tozer.

Talbot House is named for John Talbot. It is represented by black and white, and its coat of arms, though it has varied, generally includes a dog (although not always a Talbot Hound). The Talbot House motto is "forte et fidele", translating to 'strength and faithfulness'. Talbot's current head of house is Mr N Robins.

Webb House, the youngest of the houses was founded in 1995. Its name comes from Captain Matthew Webb. It is given an emerald green. Webb's current head of house is Mr Rodney Jones.

Highlights of the school year include the Smedley and Dixon (rugby and drama) Cups: the inter-house rugby union and inter-house drama competitions respectively. The school also has a number of clubs and societies. Examples are Army, Royal Navy (which has now been disbanded) and RAF CCF sections. Notable sports include rugby, hockey and cross country, whilst other societies include biology, drama, Further Mathematics and chess clubs as well as the Christian Union and The William Adams Debating Society.As of 2008, the Headmaster is Mr M.J. Barrat. His deputy headmasters are Mr M. Warren-Smith (who was formerly head of Darwin House and Religious Studies) and Dr. Peter Pack, (former head of maths and also the chair of Amnesty International's International Executive Committee.) [ [http://www.amnesty.org/en/staff-profiles/peter-pack-chair Peter Pack (chair) | Amnesty International ] ] [http://www.adamsgs.org.uk/Newsletters/Week%203.pdf] . The boarding master for junior boarding is Mr M. Skeate, while the boarding master for senior boarding is Mr Rob Mulhern.

Entry requirements

Adams' selects pupils based on ability, assessed primarily by an entry exam. This consists of NVR, Verbal Reasoning and Maths papers. There are approximately three applications per place, although this has seen a steady increase over the past few years, with an annual intake into year seven of roughly 105 boys. Approximately 15 of these places are allocated for boarders. As well as the exam, other factors are considered, including the applicant's distance from the school and whether an elder sibling is a current pupil. [ [http://www.adamsgs.org.uk/ Adams' Grammar School ] ]

History

Adams' was founded in 1656 by William Adams, a wealthy citizen of the City of London and a haberdasher who was born in the town. It was opened on March 25, 1657. He endowed with school with a convert|900|acre|km2|sing=on estate at Knighton in Shropshire, this estate was sold off in several portions over the course of the 20th century. The school was endowed with 1400 books just after its foundation, this was one of the largest libraries in England, the average Oxbridge college having only around 1000 books at the same time. Only 7 of these 1400 books are still in the hands of the school.

The school, under the headmastership of Reverend Samuel Lea MA, turned down the services of Dr. Samuel Johnson, later to be the pre-eminent scholar of the 18th century, who wrote one of the first English dictionaries.

Charles Dickens (1812- 1870) stayed at the Bear Hotel, now called Beaumaris House, that forms part of the school's Boarding House. Chetwynd House was formerly the home of Elizabeth Parker, the recluse after whom Dickens modelled Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (1861).

Previous Heads

A notable former headmaster is Alec Peterson, who created the International Baccalaureate, headed the Education Studies Department at Oxford University and also ran military intelligence in southeast Asia following World War two.

Another former headmaster is David Taylor, who wrote a history of the school (listed below as a reference).

Tom Collins MA, was a Victorian Headmaster noted for his scholarship in the field of Classics and was the author of a number of books on the subject.

Rev. Samuel Lea MA is noted in the various biographies of Dr.Samuel Johnson for refusing to employ the then young scholar. Johnson was later "immensely pleased" that Lea said it was his greatest claim to fame that he almost taught Johnson.

Rev. Charles Saxton, DD headmaster from 1846 - 1870 was also a theological scholar and published several times in that field.

Previous Houses

Prior to the adoption of house names based on celebrated Salopians referred to in the section above, various houses have been in use at Adams. The last form before the present took the names of the areas to the north and south of the town, Chetwynd and Aston respectively, for 'dayboys', and School for the boarders (in the centre), merging two separate boarding houses (Adams and Ward) as the number of boarders declined in the 1980s. This system was abandoned because it was thought that the houses should mix day and boarding pupils.

Notable alumni

"Former pupils are known as "Old Novaportans" (initialised as "ON")."

Politics

*Peter Butler – Former Conservative MP for Milton Keynes
*Robert Charnock (1663-1696) – Conspirator who planned to kill King William III
*Jeremy Corbyn (born 1949) – Labour Party MP
*John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower(1694-1754) - Lord Privy Seal 1742-1754, the 1st major Tory to enter government since the coronation of King George 1st in 1714.
*Thomas Hollis (1720-1774) – Benefactor of Harvard, political propagandist, patron of Canaletto & other artists
*Charles Sylvester Horne (1865-1914), MP for Ipswitch
*Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield (1666-1732) Lord Chancellor 1714-1725, Lord Chief Justice 1710-1718 & the last non-royal to act as Sovereign in Britain.
*Peter Price, Conservative MEP from 1979-1994
*Sir Richard Whitworth, JP, MP - High Sheriff of Staffordshire aged 21, MP for Stafford 1774-1780

Arts

*Simon Bates (born 1947) – Radio disc jockey
*Michael J. Bassett Film Director and scriptwriter
*Barrington J. Bayley (born 1937) – Science fiction author
*Tom Brown (1662-1704) – Satirist
*Ewen Henderson (1934-2000) – Sculptor
*Thomas Percy (1729-1811) – Bishop of Dromore, poet, editor of "Tatler" and "Spectator", author of the "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry"

Academia

*William Cureton (1808-1864) – Orientalist
*Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge (1851-1940) – Invented the electrical spark ignition for the internal combustion engine and was the first principal of Birmingham University.
*James E. Quibell (1867 - 1935) – leading British Egyptologist
*Professor Maurice Stacey, CBE (1907-1994) – Worked alongside Sir Norman Haworth to artificially synthesize Vitamin C
* Professor David Goulson, Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Stirling (born 1965) - World renowned expert on bumblebees

Miscellaneous

*Keith Jones – Dean of York since 2004
*Gerald Lander, Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong
*General Sir George Colt Langley KCB (1810-1896)
*Peter Short - Rugby player for Bath Rugby & England Saxons
*Matthew Smith – 17th-century spy, intriguer and writer
*Major General Francis Ventris, C.B.
*Rear Admiral Harry Wilson
*James Fidgett - Master of the Universe

See also

* Longford Hall - junior boarding house and sports fields owned by the school, about one mile (1.6 km) away from the main school site, in the village of Longford.Former Staff
* Ryan Palmer - Maths teacher and chess champion.
* Agnes Miller Parker - Former Art Teacher and renowed engraver and illustrator.

References

* Taylor D, Taylor R (2002) "Mr Adams' Free Grammar School". Philimore: London. (ISBN 1-86077-221-8) :Note, Taylor D is a former headmaster of AGS.

External links

* [http://www.adamsgs.org.uk/ Adams' Grammar School website]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/123/123593.pdf Adams' Grammar School's most recent OFSTED report]
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