Shrewsbury High School to unite on single site as part of ongoing development
Shrewsbury High School has announced plans to unite on one site as part of the School’s ongoing development and aspirations for the future.
From September 2021, all pupils and staff, currently on two separate sites, will be based on one site at Town Walls.
No. 27 and no. 28 Town Walls will be renovated to provide Junior pupils with their own distinct Junior School at the heart of the school site.
As well as new classrooms, there will be a discovery lab, a creative space for teaching science and food technology, and a flexible physics and design technology space for the benefit of all pupils.
The school’s considerable green spaces will provide a Forest School environment and Junior pupils will also have access to the Senior School facilities, including art rooms, music rooms, the ICT room, science labs, the library, and the theatre, as well as the dining area and assembly halls and extensive sports facilities. Every pupil, senior and junior, will benefit from this significant investment in the facilities.
Headteacher Jo Sharrock, who joined the school as Head in 2018, said:
“Shrewsbury High School has been educating girls in the heart of Shrewsbury for over 135 years. From next September, we will truly become one school, with our Prep relocating from its current site to unite with our historic Senior School on one super site, at Town Walls. We will be going back to our roots, concentrating our full energies on what we know and do best – the all-through education of girls. From next September all pupils, from Reception to Year 13, will be together on our Town Walls site, cementing our place in the heart of our lovely town.
“Since becoming Head here, my team and I have given much thought to how the school can best continue to thrive and our 135th anniversary year feels like the right time to take this decision. Shrewsbury High is now consistently achieving high standards across all areas of school life: examination results, pastoral care and co-curricular activities. We have a strong ethos, clear vision and, financially, we are in a good position. We have exciting and ambitious plans for development and innovation. Plans that cannot be realised with part of our school on the site we currently lease at Roman Road.
“During lockdown, when we provided our online Guided Home Learning programme, we had the opportunity to operate much more cohesively as one school. It was a wonderful experience, with benefits for every year. We now have the opportunity to truly become one school, to design a bespoke Junior School and to invest in our existing facilities on one super site which can be enjoyed by all our pupils. There will also be great value in having the youngest through to the oldest pupils on one site, learning and working together. We are extremely enthusiastic about the benefits this move will bring for all our pupils. These are exciting times.”
Shrewsbury High School is part of the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), the UK’s leading family of independent girls’ schools. GDST Chief Executive, Cheryl Giovannoni, added:
“I’m so excited by these plans to bring all the pupils together on one site to create the only cohesive, all-through, all-girls, educational offering in the heart of Shrewsbury. Not only will this enable a seamless transition from Junior to Senior School, but our Junior pupils will also have a space to play, to discover, and to learn on a unique campus in the heart of the town. The GDST is investing in the future of Shrewsbury High School with confidence that it will continue to offer the best education for girls in Shropshire."
