Head’s Welcome

So far in 2022, there has been a great deal to celebrate in and around School. I hope you enjoy this edition of ‘The Independent’ which reports on some highlights of the Spring term and looks forward to more after the Easter holidays.

In mid-March you may have seen a story on BBC Midlands Today or in the Express & Star about our very successful public event at Grand Station in Wolverhampton with the renowned children’s author Julia Donaldson and the illustrator of several of her books, Lydia Monks. We were delighted to host 900 children from over 40 state primary schools in and around our city to a show in which Julia, Lydia and Julia’s husband Malcolm brought her stories to life with song, dance, acting and audience participation. Later in the day, Julia, Lydia and Malcolm conducted a storytime session for our Reception and Year 1 children before officially opening our Infant playground. The Gruffalo was also in attendance!

The day was the brainchild of WGS Head Librarian, Zoe Rowley, who – in addition to the great work she does in School – runs a fantastic network for librarians and literacy lead teachers in local schools, sharing her insights and the author events and literary competitions that she organises for the benefit of children across Wolverhampton and beyond. You may remember the entertaining visit in November of Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, which was broadcast live from WGS to an estimated 80,000 children in schools up and down the UK.

The next public event to take place at School will be focused more towards an audience of adults and older students. On the evening of Thursday 28th April, Times journalist and author Sathnam Sanghera (OW 1995) will be joined by three other erudite speakers and thinkers to discuss a number of the themes emerging from his book Empireland and television series

Empire State of Mind, which was partly filmed at WGS and broadcast on Channel 4 last October. Chaired by television presenter Arti Halai, the panel will cover a number of areas under the title of ‘Empire Reflecting Back’, with a particular focus on the experiences and reflections of Wolverhampton’s Black and Asian populations. Promising to be a thoughtprovoking and lively evening, the event will be free to attend and information on how to book a ticket will be sent out soon via our social media channels.

Our ability to entertain parents, friends and supporters at School is firmly back now, and our first full theatre production since 2020, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was an absolute treat to attend just before half-term. Our young actors and actresses, led by the indomitable directorial duo of Messrs Tyler and Wood, performed at an incredibly high standard and provided a feast for the senses, including music, stage-fighting, mistaken identity, disguise and absolute mastery of Shakespeare’s verse and complex dialogue.

The Spring Concert on the evening of Monday 28th March opened the last week of the term, with a fantastically varied programme of instrumental music and song from across the ages and around the world. Our young instrumentalists and singers, aided by the Music Department, raised the roof of Big School with the quality of their performances and the sheer fun of many of the numbers. Roll on the Summer term and Jazz Spec!

This term we have also been down to London to honour our historical affiliation with the Merchant Taylors’ Company. Four WGS Design Technology students made it to the finals of the MTC Schools’ Design Competition which was judged at Merchant Taylors’ Hall in early March. The Hall was also the venue towards the end of term for the confusingly titled but extremely enjoyable Doctors’ Dinner – not for medical types, but for the Heads and Head Boys and Girls of all the schools affiliated to the Company.

Our connection to the Merchant Taylors’, which goes back to our foundation in 1512, does still make a difference to WGS and its students. We have just been granted, for example, full funding for a bursary place for a student joining Year 7 in September 2022. Thanks to the generosity of the Merchant Taylors’, therefore, we have been able to extend the opportunity of a transformative WGS education with full fee assistance to one more child than normal for the coming intake – something to celebrate indeed!

Alex Frazer Head

World Book Day Celebrations

World Book Day is an occasion where the entire School community is encouraged to celebrate books and reading. As part of this year’s celebrations, students in the Junior School dressed as their favourite book characters whilst the entire School was invited to take part in our Where's Wally? House competition. Over 200 children entered this challenge and were awarded with House Points for locating the ten images of Wally hidden around the campus.

Fundraising THANK YOU!

There have been a number of fundraising events across the school this term, raising nearly £3,500 in total. The Senior School held a Ukrainian ‘Yellow and Blue’ Appeal day to raise money for the Polish Red Cross who are helping Ukrainian refugees crossing the border into Poland. This, together with a collection in the Junior School raised over £1,900. Junior School also held a ‘Rainbow Day’ raising over £200 for this year’s Junior School charities. A Senior School non uniform day raised over £1,100 for Epilepsy Action and this year’s Coast 2 Coast team kick-started their fundraising for Teenage Cancer Trust with a Samosa sale, raising over £200.

Thank you for all of your support for our fundraising efforts.

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Our book themed menu in the Derry also proved to be very popular, as children enjoyed items which included Mr Twit’s wormy spaghetti and Harry Potter inspired chocolate frog cakes.

Finally, our annual World Book Day quiz was a great success and we would like to congratulate all students who took part.

Our bank details have changed. We are now banking with Lloyds and our new bank details are:

Account Name: Wolverhampton Grammar School Ltd

Sort Code: 30-18-56

Account Number: 29721460

Please update your records for all future payments.

Don’t worry if you have made a payment to our old account recently, it will be forwarded to our new account.

During the School holidays, our Main Reception is open from 8.30am - 4pm, Monday - Friday, and our staff are always on hand to answer any questions. You can contact the School by: Email correspondence via info@wgs-sch.net

Telephone: 01902 421326

Parent Portal

Social Media: @WGS1512 Wolverhampton Grammar School Official Wolverhampton Grammar School

Wolverhampton Grammar School

The Summer term commences on Tuesday 19th April (a ‘blue week’ for the two week timetable).

After a hiatus of two years, thanks to the pandemic, WGS theatre came back with a bang with a thrilling production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Playing to three packed houses every night, the cast put on an extraordinary show that was testament to all the hard work and commitment they'd been putting in since October.

Shakespeare’s most popular comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, tells a tale of four young lovers who flee to a forest which is ruled by mischievous sprites and a feuding Fairy King and Queen who are at war over an orphan child. Their paths are crossed by Bottom, Quince and their keen amateur acting pals rehearsing a play which they hope to present at the Duke’s wedding. Chief mischief-maker Puck is on-hand to ensure that the course of true love and play rehearsals are anything but smooth. Chaos, fantasy, love and dreams all ensue in Shakespeare’s most beguiling comedy.

"It was lovely to see so many students in the Hutton Theatre, many of whom had never been lucky enough to see a school production before," Mr Wood commented.

A hearty well done to all involved - we're already looking forward to the next show that will be on just before half term in May. Make sure you book your tickets early!