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Wolverhampton Grammar School
Wolverhampton Grammar School is a co-educational private school in Wolverhampton, England. HistoryInitially a grammar school for boys, WGS was founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns, a master of the ancient guild of Merchant Taylors, who was also Lord Mayor of London in the year of Henry VIII's coronation. Jenyns was born in the town of Wolverhampton circa 1448. In 1875, the school moved to its present site on the Compton Road from its previous site on John Street in the centre of Wolverhampton. In the late 1970s, the local authority required the school either to become a 6th form centre or a private, fee paying school. The governors decided to go private and the school admitted the first fee paying students in 1978. A bursary appeal was also launched to provide subsidised places. In September 1984, after 472 years as an all-boys school, the school admitted girls to the sixth form and in other embraces of modernity was the largest single user of assisted places funds, with over 40% of pupils in the 1980s and early 1990s reliant upon assisted places funding. In September 1992, the school became fully co-educational, admitting girls from the age of 11, a move seen as somewhat controversial at the time; however, other mixed grammar schools had existed for many years previously, while other single sex grammar schools had merged to continue as mixed grammar schools or mixed comprehensives. Unusually, Wolverhampton Girls High School has remained in existence alongside it, pressure for places at that school being eased by girls now being able to attend the grammar school. The current head Nic Anderson replaced Alex Frazer and is the 35th head in the School's 511-year history; Kathy Crewe-Read was the 33rd head who is now College head at Bishop's Stortford College in Hertfordshire. Over recent years the school has undergone development to improve facilities available to pupils. This included construction of a rock climbing wall, which replaced an Eton Fives court behind the sports centre. A new large extension to the music block was also completed in 2005, and officially opened by Robert Plant. In December 2007, a new block for the arts was opened on Merridale Lane, beyond Moreton's Piece, with a production of As You Like It and an exhibition by artist in residence, Derek Jones. It houses a number of art classrooms on two storeys, a gallery space (The Viner Gallery) and a 150- to 200-seat studio theatre (The Hutton Theatre, named after the late headmaster Patrick Hutton). In September 2010, the school added Year 6. In September 2011 Wolverhampton Grammar Junior School (WGJS) was opened on the school site, adding Year 3, 4 and 5. In 2021 the school added Reception, and Years 1 and 2.[1] The school marked its 500th anniversary in 2012. Old Wulfrunians
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wolverhampton Grammar School.
52°35′10″N 2°09′00″W / 52.586°N 2.150°W
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