QUEEN MARY'S GRAMMAR SCHOOL

'Queen Mary's Grammar School', is located on the Sutton Road in Walsall, England, just outside the town centre. It was founded in 1554 by Queen Mary I, at which time it had about seventy pupils, all boys, and taught Classics almost exclusively. Today it is still mainly single-sex, though with a few girls in the sixth form. Female pupils attend its twin school, Queen Mary's High School. It has grown since its foundation, and moved twice, first from its original town centre building to the building now used by the High School, and secondly to a purpose-built school on the Mayfield site. Despite expansion, it is still small by modern standards, with 650 pupils. It is a selective school. The school's badge is that of Queen Mary and reflects her parentage, being formed from half a Tudor rose (a symbol of Henry VIII) and a bundle of arrows (a symbol of Catherine of Aragon)[1]. In 2004, the school celebrated its 450th anniversary.
Queen Mary's consistently performs well in exams across the board. In recent years, the school has become a specialist Language College. The extra funds from this have, amongst other things, facilitated the building of a new wing of the school buildings. Language college status came at a price however; Latin was, after 450 years, removed from the school's curriculum and replaced by Spanish.
The school badge was modified slightly during the 2006/2007 school year, the red Tudor rose being changed into the more historically accurate white. The change was implemented as significant embarrasment was felt by the school when a foreign student visiting the school was able to notice the mistake.
A host of extra-curricular activities are available for pupils, including plays and drama, sports teams, subject-related societies, and a Combined Cadet Force (Army and RAF sections) contingent.
The school's motto is "''Quas dederis solas semper habebis opes''" which (loosely) translates as "one will get out what one puts in", although "Floreat Regina Schola Mariae" is also used (literally, "May the school of Queen Mary Flourish,").
Queen Mary's recently completed work on a new sports hall to support the current gym and swimming facilities. The Science Block was also updated, with new Biology labs being built.
The school has a close relationship with its sister school, Queen Mary's High School, and pupils from Year 11 and Sixth Form at QMGS will take part next year in a play at the High School, based on The Crucible by Arthur Miller. QMGS also hosted the national finals of Junior Schools' Challenge quiz on 24th June, with a team from the school winning the Plate Final. The two schools participate in a German exchange every year with a school in the town of Biedenkopf.
The school's current head teacher is Mr Stuart Holtam.

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Former Pupils

External links

Former Pupils

Former history teacher and former Labour councillor for Pelsall - Tom Perrett - was awarded the MBE in January 2007. John Anderson, former second master, received the MBE for services to the CCF. David Pomeroy, a former Maths teacher, also received an honour from the Queen, receiving an OBE. He is currently Wing Commander of the CCF.
Famous former pupils of the school include:

★ David Brown, former England cricketer

★ Colin Charvis, British and Irish Lion and Welsh International

★ Vernon Coleman, activist

★ Martin Fowler, author and international speaker on software architecture

★ Harry Hinsley, historian and World War II codebreaker

★ David Howarth Member of Parliament, Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge

★ Andrew Parrott, musician founder of the ''Taverner Choir, Consort and Players''

★ Jeffrey Holland, (Jeffrey Parkes) actor - Hi-de-Hi! et al

★ Frank Windsor, (Frank W Higgins) actor - Z-Cars, Softly Softly, et al

★ Neil Denison, judge and Queen's Counsel; former Common Serjeant of London

★ Sir Henry Newbolt, poet

External links

Queen Mary's Grammar School Official Site