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 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. 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 (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 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 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, London 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 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 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) David John Brown (born 30 January 1942) is a former English cricketer who played in twenty six Test matches between 1965 and 1969. Cricket writer Colin Batemen described Brown as a "rangy, popular paceman...ithgutsy determination and uncomplai ...

* Colin Charvis, Rugby Union player - British and Irish Lions and Captain of Wales *

Vernon Coleman Vernon Edward Coleman (born 1946) is an English Conspiracy theory, conspiracy theorist, writer, novelist, anti-vivisectionist, anti-vaccination activist and AIDS denialist who writes on topics related to human health, politics and animal wel ...

, 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, Labour MP from 1974-83 for

Norwich North Norwich North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2009 by Conservative Chloe Smith. History The constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1948 for the 1950 general electio ...

, 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, Ariel F. Sallows Professor of Human Rights in 1991 at the University of Saskatchewan, 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 Fossey John Cobb (F. J. C.) Hearnshaw (31 July 1869 in Birmingham – 10 March 1946) was an English professor of history, specializing in medieval history. He was noted for his conservative interpretation of the past, showing an empire-oriented ...

, 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, High Court judge * Prof Sir Harry Hinsley, historian and cryptanalyst * Jeffrey Holland (actor) *

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 * Rupert Moon, Rugby Union international for Wales * Sir Henry Newbolt, poet, novelist and historian * Sir

Harmar Nicholls Harmar Harmar-Nicholls, Baron Harmar-Nicholls (1 November 1912 – 15 September 2000), known as Sir Harmar Nicholls, 1st Baronet, from 1960 to 1975, was a British Conservative Party politician. Early life and career Harmar Nicholls was born in ...

, 1st Baronet, Conservative MP from 1950-74 for Peterborough *

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 Terence John Pitt (2 March 1937 – 3 October 1986) was a British political researcher and adviser. He became well known behind the scenes as the long-serving head of the Labour Party's research department, and worked for other bodies. In 1984 ...

, political researcher and adviser, Labour MEP from 1984-6 for Midlands West * Sir Edwin Thomas Smith, Australian brewer, businessman, councillor, mayor, politician and philanthropist * John Somers, 1st Baron Somers, Lord Chancellor of England, 1697–1700, member of the committee which drafted the Bill of Rights * Bryan Stanley, trade union leader *

Maurice Wiggin Maurice Samuel Wiggin (1912 – 1986) was an English journalist and memoirist. As a journalist, he worked on a wide variety of titles, including the ''Birmingham Gazette'' and the ''Sunday Times.'' His books include memoirs (with a particular fo ...

(1912–1986), journalist and memoirist * Frank Windsor, actor

References

External links

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