Queen Mary's Grammar School (QMGS) is a boys'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

with academy status located on Sutton Road,

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, about a mile from the town centre and one of the oldest schools in the country. The

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

is coeducational.

Admissions

Admittance to the school is by entrance exam taken at the age of 10/11. Since September 2020, 180 pupils enter the school in September each year, increased gradually from 96 in September 2012. The school has grown from 718 in 2011 to 1,305 in 2022, as a consequence of this sustained expansion. There is separate admission into the Sixth Form based on academic performance at GCSE. As of 2019, there are over 400 students on roll in the Sixth Form. At this stage of the school, girls are also admitted.

History

Foundation

It was founded in 1554 by George and Nicolas Hawe, two leading townsmen, with

Queen Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

as its royal patron and benefactor. At the time it had about sixty pupils, all boys, and taught

Classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

almost exclusively.

New sites

The school has grown significantly since its foundation and moved three times. Originally housed in an old town guild-hall near St Matthew’s Church, it moved to Park Street in 1811, into new buildings in Lichfield Street in 1850 (a site now used by

Queen Mary's High School Queen Mary's High School, situated on Upper Forster Street, just outside Walsall town centre, is an all-female selective-education and grammar school and entry in Year 7 is by passing an entrance exam. It is twinned with Queen Mary's Grammar Sch ...

) and finally to a purpose-built school on the Mayfield site in 1965.

Academic performance

Queen Mary's performs very well in exams across the board, with consistent success in the sixth form. In 2007, the school became a specialist

Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that succes ...

. The extra funds from this have, amongst other things, facilitated the building of a new wing of the school buildings. The school 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. A new sixth form block has been constructed and it opened late September 2012. The School is rated as 'Outstanding' by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

Traditions

The school's badge is based on the

Heraldic badge A heraldic badge, emblem, impresa, device, or personal device worn as a badge indicates allegiance to, or the property of, an individual, family or corporate body. Medieval forms are usually called a livery badge, and also a cognizance. They are ...

of Queen Mary and reflects her parentage, being formed from half a

Tudor rose The Tudor rose (sometimes called the Union rose) is the traditional floral heraldic badge, heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the House of Tudor, which united the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The Tudor ...

(a symbol of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

) impaled with a sheaf of arrows (a symbol of

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

). The badge was modified slightly during the 2006/2007 school year. A fully red rose was changed to an accurate red and white Tudor rose, which is usually shown with a red outer rose and a white inner one. However the school's Tudor rose, based on early school records, has a white outer rose and a red inner one,Anderson, J.S. (2004) "Queen Mary's 1954-2004". Queen Mary's Club which the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

accepts as equally valid. Despite the update, there are still some subtle differences between the current badge and Queen Mary's.

Activities

Extracurricular activities are available for pupils, including plays and drama, sports teams, quiz teams, many subject-related societies, and a

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, and normally includes Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to "provide a ...

contingent, comprising both Army and RAF sections. The school has a close relationship with its sister school,

. Pupils regularly collaborate in plays held at the boys' school, and yearly musical concerts at Walsall Town Hall. In sport, the school's Under 18 and Under 16 hockey teams both won the Staffordshire Cup for their respective age groups in the same season. QMGS also hosted the national finals of Junior Schools' Challenge quiz on 24 June 2007, with a team from the school winning the Plate Final. In 2008, the school hosted and reached the national final, losing in the final. The school is the only school in the country to have won the

UKMT The United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) is a charity founded in 1996 to help with the education of children in mathematics within the UK. History The national mathematics competitions existed prior to the formation of the UKMT, but the ...

Junior Maths Team Competition twice, doing so in successive years. The school has a plaque in St George's Church, Ypres, to honour the ex-pupils of the school who died in the Ypres Salient and the Somme during World War One. The plaque was paid for by the QM Club and was formally unveiled during a Year 9 Battlefields trip. Every year, Year 7 students and the senior prefects visit

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to commemorate their founder on the Friday closest to 6 July. On this day, the youngest Year 7 pupil jointly lays a wreath with the Captain of School senior prefect.

Project Horizon

Project Horizon is the school's

near space The mesosphere (; ) is the third layer of the atmosphere, directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere, temperature decreases as altitude increases. This characteristic is used to define its limits: it ...

programme, founded in 2012, which runs annual missions. A small

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

carrying cameras and tracking hardware is lifted by a

high-altitude balloon High-altitude balloons are crewed or uncrewed balloons, usually filled with helium or hydrogen, that are released into the stratosphere, generally attaining between above sea level. In 2002, a balloon named BU60-1 reached a record altitude of . ...

filled with helium gas into the

stratosphere The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air ...

until the balloon bursts, allowing the payload to descend back to the ground. Film footage and still images of the payload's journey are recorded throughout the entire flight, capturing views of Earth from the stratosphere. The project has received national media attention, including appearances on the BBC and ITV.

Notable former pupils

* David J. Brown (cricketer) *

Colin Charvis Colin Charvis (born 27 December 1972) is a former captain of the Wales national rugby union team and also played for the British & Irish Lions. A back row forward, Charvis was equally adept as a flanker or as the no. 8. Charvis became the w ...

, Rugby Union player - British and Irish Lions and Captain of Wales * Vernon Coleman, Conspiracy theorist, author and

AIDS denialist HIV/AIDS denialism is the belief, despite conclusive evidence to the contrary, that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Some of its proponents reject the existence of HIV, while oth ...

* Anthony Culverwell, DJ and turntablist *

David Ennals, Baron Ennals David Hedley Ennals, Baron Ennals, (19 August 1922 – 17 June 1995) was a British Labour Party politician and campaigner for human rights. He served as Secretary of State for Social Services from 1976 to 1979. Early life and military career ...

, Labour MP from 1974-83 for Norwich North, and from 1964-70 for

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

* Prof.

Martin Ennals Martin Ennals (27 July 19275 October 1991) was a British human rights activist. Ennals served as the secretary-general of Amnesty International from 1968 to 1980. He went on to help found the British human rights organisation ARTICLE 19 in 198 ...

, Ariel F. Sallows Professor of Human Rights in 1991 at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, Secretary-General from 1968-80 of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

David Etherington David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

QC, Chancellor of the Diocese of London * Michael Fitzgerald, Roman Catholic Cardinal archbishop and expert on Christian–Muslim relations * Martin Fowler, software developer and author * Prof. F. J. C. Hearnshaw, Professor of Mediaeval History from 1912–34 at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

* Sir

Gary Hickinbottom Sir Gary Robert Hickinbottom (born 22 December 1955), is a retired British judge. In 2008, he became the fourth solicitor to be appointed a High Court judge (England and Wales), High Court judge, after Michael Sachs (judge), Michael Sachs in 19 ...

, High Court judge * Prof Sir

Harry Hinsley Sir Francis Harry Hinsley, (26 November 1918 – 16 February 1998) was an English historian and cryptanalyst. He worked at Bletchley Park during the Second World War and wrote widely on the history of international relations and British Int ...

, historian and cryptanalyst *

Jeffrey Holland (actor) Jeffrey Holland (born Jeffrey Michael Parkes, 17 July 1946) is a British actor who is well known for roles in television sitcoms, playing comic Spike Dixon at the Maplin's holiday camp in ''Hi-de-Hi!'', as well as BBC Radio comedy, including '' ...

David Howarth David Ross Howarth (born 10 November 1958) is a British academic and politician who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2005–10. He served as an Electoral Commissioner between 2010 and 2018. He is Professor of L ...

, academic and Liberal Democrat MP from 2005-10 for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Rupert Moon Rupert Henry St. John Barker Moon (born 1 February 1968) is a former Wales international rugby union player. He played club rugby for Welsh clubs Abertillery and Neath but is most associated with Llanelli, who he captained during their unpre ...

, Rugby Union international for Wales * Sir

Henry Newbolt Sir Henry John Newbolt, CH (6 June 1862 – 19 April 1938) was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a government adviser with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps best remembered for his poems "Vit ...

, poet, novelist and historian * Sir Harmar Nicholls, 1st Baronet, Conservative MP from 1950-74 for

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

Andrew Peach Andrew Peach is a radio presenter in the United Kingdom. He presents a daily news and phone-in show on BBC Radio Berkshire which was named 'Best Local Radio Show in the UK' at the 2021 Radio Academy ARIA Awards. He also presents network programme ...

, radio presenter * Terry Pitt, political researcher and adviser, Labour MEP from 1984-6 for Midlands West * Sir

Edwin Thomas Smith Sir Edwin Thomas Smith (6 April 1830 – 25 December 1919) was an English-born South Australian brewer, businessman, councillor, mayor, politician and philanthropist. Early years Smith was born on 6 April 1830 at Walsall, Staffordshire, ...

, Australian brewer, businessman, councillor, mayor, politician and philanthropist *

John Somers, 1st Baron Somers John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, (4 March 1651 – 26 April 1716) was an English Whig jurist and statesman. Somers first came to national attention in the trial of the Seven Bishops where he was on their defence counsel. He published tracts on ...

, Lord Chancellor of England, 1697–1700, member of the committee which drafted the Bill of Rights *

Bryan Stanley Bryan Capewell Stanley (3 May 1926 –19 July 2009) was a British trade union leader. Born in Walsall (on the first day of the General Strike), and educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School, Stanley started work with the Post Office in 1942, and a ...

, trade union leader * Maurice Wiggin (1912–1986), journalist and memoirist *

Frank Windsor Frank Windsor Higgins (12 July 1928 – 30 September 2020), known professionally as Frank Windsor, was an English actor, primarily known for his roles on television, especially policeman John Watt in ''Z-Cars'' and its spin-offs. Biography Win ...

, actor

References

External links

{{authority control 1554 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1550s Grammar schools in Walsall Academies in Walsall