Shrewsbury School (West Midlands in general)

Member Name: jeremypaxman

Product:	West Midlands in general
Date:	21/01/02 (993 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good location, Nice site, Good teaching

Disadvantages: All boys

I have attended Shrewsbury School for 4 1/2 years and thought I'd say a few words about it for people who might be interested in sending their children here.

THE SCHOOL

Shrewsbury is a traditional all boys school that was founded in 1562 by King Edward. Oridinally it was situated in the town but in the 1800's that site became too small and the school was moved about a mile away to its present site. There are just under 700 pupils in 9 boarding houses and 2 day houses. The school site is beautiful - all the buildings and boarding houses are spread around the edge of the campus, leaving big expanses of land in the middle for games pitches. The buildings are varied - we have a lovely red brick 'main school building' and a nice new Science building and decent architecture is not uncommon in most of Shrewsbury School's buildings (with the exception of the dining hall and the Lyle buildings, which are very 60's and disastrous). The actual site itself has a remarkable location. It overlooks the town and the river Severn, being on top of a small hill, and is out of the way yet only 5 minutes walk from town. The headmaster is Jeremy Golding, an ex-housemaster at the school and a sucessful headmaster at a number of school's before he took over from Ted Maidment last summer. He seems good enough and should pass the test of time.

THE FACILITIES

Shrewsbury is not a leading light in the facilities standings but it certainly holds its own. We had a new, expensive music school built last year and opened by Prince Charles and this is very trendy and modern. There is an indoor swimming pool, astroturf, squash courts, tennis courts and a gym and also numerous football/rugby/cricket pitches. The lack of an athletics track does not seem to hinder us because football and cricket are the main sports. Football is definitely the biggest sport and Shrewsbury is a well respected public school for football, winning the
much coveted Boodle and Dunthorne Cup two years ago.

THE BOARDING HOUSES

As I have already mentioned, there are 9 boarding houses. I am in School House, the biggest and, in my unbiased opinion, the best. It has just over 70 boys, a very friendly atmosphere and a good location. I also like the fact that we have a lot of space because the house could cater for over 100 people. Quite a few houses, such as the Grove or Moser's have a serious lack of space. I would also recommend Oldham's, who have an excellent housemaster and a good location.
If you want my opinion on any other houses, don't hesitate to leave a comment.

THE TEACHING/ACADEMIC SIDE

Shrewsbury has some of the best teachers in the country; the majority have attended Oxbridge and are very well qualified. They are all very experienced and have a good relationship with the boys. The school itself is a fairly academic school which is usually in the top 50 in the A-level league tables (although this changes from year to year).

Every pupil enjoys Shrewsbury School. I will probably/hopefully send my children here (when/if I have some) and would recommend other parents to do the same. One thing that does stand in our favour is that we genuinely have very little bullying and a minimum of drug taking although smoking is a pastime enjoyed by many!

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