Adams' Grammar School

Adams' Grammar School The Free Grammar School of William Adams Esq. at Newport in the County of Salop
Motto	Serve and Obey
Established	1656
Type	Voluntary aided grammar school with boarding
Religion	None specifically, traditionally: (Church of England)
Headmaster	Mr M J Barratt
Deputy Headmasters	Mr M Warren-Smith Dr P Pack
Chairman of Governors	Joff Hamilton
Founder	William Adams Esq
Specialism	Technology College, Language College and Training School
Location	High Street Newport Shropshire England
LEA	Telford and Wrekin
Ofsted number	123593
Students	800
Gender	Male (11-16), Co-educational (16-18)
Ages	11 to 18
Houses	Clive (red) Darwin (blue) Talbot (black & white) Webb (green)
Colours	Traditional colours: Maroon, Navy blue           + either White or Gold
Publication	The Novaportan
Former pupils	Old Novaportans
Website	www.adamsgs.org.uk
Coordinates: 52°46′11″N 2°22′52″W / 52.7697°N 2.381°W / 52.7697; -2.381

Adams' Grammar School is a state grammar school in Newport, Shropshire. Its name is sometimes abbreviated to AGS, although it is more commonly referred to as 'Adams' or alternatively, 'The Grammar'. It is rated by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills as a Grade 1 outstanding school, the latest OFSTED report concludes "this is a truly impressive school".^{[citation needed]}

Background

Adams' is a selective state school which admits both boarding and day pupils, thanks to the school's recent academic success it has a achieved a relatively high national profile and enjoys at least some recognition on the international stage (with ever increasing numbers of foreign students, notably those from Hong Kong). Adams' is a specialist Technology College as well as a Language College and a Training School. The school, including the sixth form, has approximately 800 pupils, all of whom wear a common uniform, with the exception of sixth formers (both Upper and Lower) who wear a navy blue, as opposed to maroon blazer. It is however, of essentially the same design, with the exception of the addition of gold blazer buttons in the place of plastic marroon ones.

School life

The school has a number of dedicated boarding houses, they play a significant role in school life as the physical residence of the school's 150 or so junior and senior boarders. The present junior hall (Longford Hall) is located at the school's playing fields about a mile away whilst the three senior boys' boarding houses (Beaumaris, Roddam and Picken) are to be found situated in large Georgian townhouses facing the High Street just 50 metres away from the main gates on the same side of the road as the main school (often referred to as 'Big School'). Mr M Warren-Smith (who was formerly head of Darwin House and Religious Studies) and Dr P Pack, (former head of maths and also the chair of Amnesty International's International Executive Committee.^[1]) are the current Deputy Masters. The incumbent master of senior boys' boarding is Mr R Mulhern whilst the junior boys' housemaster is Mr M Skeate.

The school also operates an extra-curricular house system. This system is used as the basis for inter-house sports competitions and has traditionally been a source of pride for the students of its respective houses. Clive House, named for Robert Clive of India sports a deep scarlet and is currently led by its housemaster Dr P Dolding. Darwin house, traditionally sporting Royal blue is named for the famed 19th century naturalist of the same name and is led by housemaster Mr D Tozer. Talbot House, the last of the three original 'Salopian' houses, has traditionally been characterised most by its sporting colours of black and white (arranged in hoops when playing rugby), it is named for the Earl Talbot, one the foremost English Military commanders of the wars in France and is currently led by its housemaster Dr N Robins. Webb house is the youngest of the houses at Adams', founded in 1994 it has since adopted emerald green as its distinguishing colour; the house is named for Dawley-born merchant naval officer and accomplished swimmer Captain Matthew Webb. Webb house has for many years now been led by Mr R Jones.

Big School, as seen from the main gates; extending in front of the building is 'the lawn', a favourite place for sixth formers to relax and revise during the summer months

The school's Longford Hall junior boarding house as seen from the 1st XV Rugby pitch

Main School (The S Block), Wood and Taylor centres and Quadrangle at 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 the school with a large agricultural 900-acre (3.6 km²) 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.^{[citation needed]}

Charles Dickens (1812- 1870) stayed at the Bear Hotel, now called Beaumaris House, one of the school senior boarding houses. Chetwynd House (now also a senior boys' house) was formerly the home of Elizabeth Parker, the recluse after whom Dickens modelled Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (1861).

Sir Nikolaus Pevsner noted that the school was built in a "metropolitan style" that was highly unusual for a rural area at the time of construction.

Over the post decade the school has seen much investment. A new sports hall was recently built, which allowed for the conversion of the former gymnasium into a dedicated theatre with a studio/foyer for the performing arts. A new science block (the Powell building) was opened by HRH the Earl of Wessex in 2007 and new facilities were provided for the art department. Recently the school has also commenced site clearance for work to begin on a new junior boarding house which is set to provide further boarding places to compliment those of Longford Hall. There are also soon to be realised plans for the development of the Music department, with the addition of a new complex of buildings which will provide both recording studios and a small performance area as well as standard teaching rooms.

Previous Headmasters

A notable former headmaster is Alec Peterson, who was later headmaster of Dover College from where he moved to Oxford as head of the Education Studies Department at Oxford University; here he was instrumental in the creation of the International Baccalaureate; he 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 twice turned down Johnson, once when he applied to be a scholar at the school and secondly when Johnson's father attempted to get his son a job at the school.

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

The most recent headmaster to have left the School is Mr J Richardson, who was the master in charge from 1994 - 2008.

International links

The school currently runs student exchange visit programs with the following schools in France, Germany and Poland:

School	City
Oberschule zum Dom	Lübeck
Collège Roqua	Aubenas
I Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Cypriana Kamila Norwida	Bydgoszcz

Notable alumni

The School runs an Old Novaportans' Club which arranges many reunions, meals and sporting events throughout the year in which its members can take part. Upon leaving the school, all students are encouraged to join and stay in touch with the school.

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

Sports

• Peter Short - Rugby player for Bath Rugby & England Saxons
• Graham Kitchener - Rugby player for Worcester Warriors & England
• Charlie Huxley - Professional jockey and 2008 winner of the Scottish Grand National
• Philip Gittus - Manager, Philippine National Rugby Team

Politics

• Peter Butler – Former Conservative MP for Milton Keynes
• Robert Charnock – Conspirator who planned to kill King William III
• Jeremy Corbyn – Labour Party MP
• John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower - Lord Privy Seal 1742-1754, the 1st major Tory to enter government since the coronation of King George I in 1714.
• Thomas Hanmer - MP for Ludlow, Lord Lieutenant of Flintshire
• Charles Sylvester Horne (1865-1914) – MP for Ipswich
• Thomas Hollis – Benefactor of Harvard, political propagandist, patron of Canaletto & other artists
• Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield,PC,MP - Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice, temporary Regent and Sovereign of Great Britain
• Peter Price - Conservative MEP
• Rev. Jon Green - local fame within Cardiff for work with the homeless and poor.
• Sir Richard Whitworth, JP, MP – High Sheriff of Staffordshire aged 21, MP for Stafford 1774-1780

Arts

• Simon Bates – Radio disc jockey
• Michael J. Bassett - Film Director and scriptwriter
• Barrington J. Bayley – Science fiction author
• Tom Brown – Satirist
• Ewen Henderson – Sculptor
• Thomas Percy – Bishop of Dromore, poet, editor & author
• Ripchord - Band

Academia

• William Cureton – Orientalist
• Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge – Inventor & first principal of Birmingham University.
• James E. Quibell – leading British Egyptologist
• Professor David Goulson - Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Stirling (Born 1965) World renowned expert on Bumblebees and founder of the British Bumblebee Conservation Trust
• Professor Maurice Stacey, CBE (1907-1994) – Worked alongside Sir Norman Haworth to artificially synthesize Vitamin C
• Peter D Wootton - Recipient of the 1st Deans' Commendation from Manchester Metropolitan University and active coordinator with the Unite Against Fascism Movement.

Miscellaneous

• Captain Thomas Ashburnham (1855-1913) - 6th Earl Ashburnham
• Keith Jones – Dean of York
• Major General Sir James Lumley KCB - Adjutant General
• Matthew Smith – 17th-century spy, intriguer and writer
• Gerald Lander – Bishop of Victoria, Hong Kong
• General Sir George Colt Langley KCB (1810-1896) – General, British Army
• Major General Francis Ventris, CB – General Officer Commanding Forces in China
• Rear Admiral Harry Wilson – Rear Admiral, Royal Navy
• Tom Pym - British Chess Champion
• Frank Armstrong - Assistant Commissioner of the City of London Police

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adams' Grammar School

• 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 ex-Jamaican National 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)

External links

• Adams' Grammar School website