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Solihull School

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Solihull School
File:Solihull School logo.gif
Address
Map
Warwick Road, Solihull

West Midlands

England England
Information
TypeIndependent / Public School
MottoPerseverantia
(Perseverance)
Established1560
HeadmasterPhillip J Griffiths MA
ChaplainCanon Andrew Hutchinson
GenderCo-educational
Age7 to 18
Enrollmentc.990
HousesFetherston; Jago; Pole; Shenstone; Windsor
Colour(s)Maroon & Dark Blue    
PublicationThe Shenstonian
Ex-PupilsOld Silhillians
Websitehttp://www.solsch.org.uk/

Solihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England and it dates back to 1560.

It has approximately 990 day pupils, of whom 280 are in the Sixth Form and 160 are in the Junior School. It selectively accepts boys and girls aged 7 to 18. The school began admitting girls into J1 (year 3) and Thirds (year 7) and below from from September 2005, although girls have been admitted into the Sixth Form since the 1970s.

History

The school derives its origin from the parish church of St Alphege. In 1560 the revenues of the chantry chapels of St Mary and St Katherine were diverted for the endowment of a grammar school, as were those of the chapel of St Alphege six years later. It has been in continuous existence ever since. The school's chapel, consecrated in 1960, was dedicated to St Mary and St Katherine to reflect the school's origins.

In the 17th century it became a boarding school, and in 1879 the charitable estate from which the school had been funded was devoted solely to educational purposes. This allowed £4,222 to be made available for an architect, J. A. Chatwin, to be commissioned to build a new school on a new site for 80 day boys and 20 boarders. This is now the school's oldest surviving building, completed in 1882, and is known as School House. It is a grade II listed building. Building and expansion continued on this Warwick Road site into the 20th century. Over the course of the 20th century the school grew steadily from 100 to nearly 1000 pupils.

In the early 1970s the school admitted girls into the Sixth Form for the first time. Only ten girls joined in the first year, but this grew quickly over the following years, until 2002 when for the first time as many girls entered the Sixth Form as did boys.

Perhaps the major change to the life of the school since the demise of boarding took place in September 2005, when the school began a transition to becoming fully co-educational, at first admitting girls into all four years of the Junior School and at 11+ level, beginning a process which will be completed in 2009, when the first Year 7 girls will reach Year 11. It is anticipated that by this time the school will be able to accommodate approximately 1200 pupils.

Facilities

The school occupies a surprisingly large site of approximately 65 acres (260,000 m²) for such an urban location. This is partly as a result of a former headmaster, Mr Warin Foster Bushell, who in the 1920s bought much of the land himself when the governors refused to finance the purchase out of school funds. On his retirement Bushell sold the fields to the school at no profit. The school's quadrangle and surrounding classrooms, as well as the former hall, known as Big School, were built after this period, and were followed by a chapel and large teaching block and sports hall, amongst other additions. Solihull School has a large number of rugby pitches, cricket squares and nets, tennis courts, football pitches and general purpose sports fields. There is also a fully floodlit artificial pitch on the school's main campus, incorporating 2, 8x40 warm-up areas. The pitch is used primarily for hockey in the winter months and in the summer term the pitch affords a further 8 tennis courts and an extensive multi-purpose training/coaching area.

One mile away, at Copt Heath, the School has another 13 acres of fields, comprising 3 rugby pitches, 2 hockey pitches and a cricket square. These 13 acres are a part of the site that is home to the School's old boys' club, the Old Silhillians' Association.

The school also possesses a mountain cottage in Snowdonia, North Wales. Mr and Mrs Fricke presented the Cottage to the School in 1958 following the death of their son David, who was a school pupil between 1946-1956. David was a keen mountain walker and it was felt that the Cottage would be a fitting tribute to his memory. Most pupils will visit the cottage as part of Snowdonia School in the Shell forms. Those taking part in CCF or the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme may also use this facility on other occasions.

In recent years the success of the school's many and varied investments has allowed it to enter a period of almost continual upgrading and extending of its buildings and facilities. In 1990 a new building was constructed to house the Junior School. This was followed by the extension of the science laboratories in 1995; the extensive renovation of most classrooms (with the removal of such features as 1950s desks with attached seats and the installation of large interactive whiteboards in most classrooms) in 1998; and the conversion of Big School into a library, and the construction of a new hall and theatre building at the cost of several million pounds, completed in 2002 and named the Bushell Hall after the former headmaster (see above). A large new pavilion was constructed in 2003, and named the Alan Lee Pavilion after another former headmaster (1983–1996) who died shortly after its completion.

The rapid expansion of the school's facilities shows no signs of stopping, with the construction of a new teaching block and redevelopment of a large part of the school, involving the demolition of several buildings from the early 20th century recently being completed. Opened in September 2005, this building provides fifteen new teaching rooms for the Classics, History, Economics & Business Studies, Religious Studies and IT departments. There is also a large multi-purpose teaching room and a social area. This new facility has made department-based teaching possible throughout the school. It has been named the George Hill building after a governor of the school who died shortly before its completion. George Hill's business acumen helped secure the school's financial position throughout the 20th Century.

School houses

  • Fetherston (Gold) - reputedly named after a 16th century benefactor.
  • Jago (Maroon) - named after 18th-century poet and Old Silhillian Richard Jago.
  • Pole (Pale blue) - this house carries the name of the school's first Headmaster.
  • Shenstone (Black) - named after 18th-century poet, Old Silhillian, classmate and lifelong friend of Jago, William Shenstone.
  • Windsor (Royal blue) - created as a mark of respect to the Royal Family.

All houses compete against one another in the inter-house competitions in the senior school. The most successful house over an academic year gets awarded the Cock House Trophy. The Junior School has its own exclusive Cock House Competition. Interestingly, the Junior School trophy is an old toilet seat!

It has become tradition that prior to inter-house Rugby matches, Windsor performs the first verse of the Hokey Cokey as a jovial, Haka-esque pre-match ritual. It is thought that the tradition arose around many years ago as a result of a rivalry with Shenstone. Shenstone, whose house colour is black, said that they were that confident of beating Windsor that they may even perform a Haka so as to compare themselves to the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team. The Windsor rugby captain, not wishing to be outdone, responded by remarking that his house would also perform a war dance. Clearly tongue-in-cheek, the Windsor 'war dance' was the Hokey Cokey.

School structure

The School is divided into four sections, designed to create smaller units with which the pupils can identify. These form the basis of the pastoral structure of the school.

  • Junior School - J1, J2, J3, J4 (academic years 3, 4, 5, 6)
  • Lower School - Thirds, Shells, Fourths (7, 8, 9)
  • Middle School - Lower Fifth, Upper Fifth (10, 11)
  • Upper School - Lower Sixth, Upper Sixth (12, 13)

Prefectorial system

Pupils are selected by members of staff to hold positions of responsibility within the various sections of the school. They are, in the Senior School, known as Benchers. Details of the different Benches are listed below in descdending seniority:

  • The School Bench - School Benchers are selected by means of a poll of their peers and members of staff at the end of their Lower Sixth year. They are responsible for the behaviour of pupils in the refectory; general behaviour and standards of other pupils; and giving tours of the school to parents of prospective pupils. Although they cannot, nowadays, directly give detentions, they can refer pupils who may be deserving of punishment to a House Master. They are the only pupils in the school who are allowed to walk across the grass in The Great Quadrangle; all others must walk around the paved perimeter. They are denoted by virtue of wearing a small, maroon rosette on the left lapel; It is affectionately known as a cabbage.
  • Middle School Bench - Middle School Benchers are members of the Upper Fifth and are selected by members of staff. They wear a cabbage similar to that of the more senior School Benchers, but dark green rather than maroon.
  • Lower School - Lower School Benchers are selected from the Fourth Form and wear a blue cabbage.
  • Junior School - Monitors are selected from members of J4 and wear an enamel badge on the left lapel of the blazer. Their responsibilities are limited to the confines of the Junior School.

N.B. - Each section of the school has a Head Boy and Head Girl. The Head Boy and Girl of Upper School are known as Heads of School.

Sport

Sport plays a major part of life at Solihull School, as is true of many similar schools. The campus covers an area of approximately 60 acres and this includes many sports fields, an all-weather pitch, all-weather training areas, tennis courts, an indoor swimming pool and two gymnasiums.

Boys' Games

  • Rugby Football is the main competitive team sport and is played from the age of 11 onwards. The standard of coaching is high at all age levels, with the vast majority of the coaching staff having played for professional clubs. The First XV traditionally play in a dark blue jersey with narrow, horizontal white and maroon stripes, white shorts and dark blue, maroon and white socks. The striped jersey has, in recent years, been swapped for a maroon shirt with blue sleeves. The teams have recently done well nationally, topping the schools' result table during 2005 and performing well in the Daily Mail Cup; the u.15 XV reached the Vase Final at Twickenham to cap a successful 2006-07 season. Solihull School regularly produces players who attain representative honours at county level and beyond. The Big Side teams tour biennially to, amongst other countries, Australia, South Africa and Canada. The u.15 age-group travel to Italy each year to play against several Italian club sides. Solihull School also plays Rugby Sevens, competing at national tournaments such as The National Schools Sevens at Rosslyn Park, Blackpool Sevens and Fylde Sevens. The Old Boys fixture is always an eagerly anticipated and hotly contested event, with many pupils, Old Silhillians and parents turning out to watch the current XV compete against a selection of Old Silhillians. The match, held in early December, is usually preceded by a BBQ and followed by drinks, speeches and presentations in the Alan Lee Pavilion.
  • Hockey is also a hugely popular and successful sport. Solihull School has former Olympic team member, Chris Mayer, as Head Hockey Coach. The First XI have recently scored victories over the likes of Rugby School and local rivals Warwick School, advancing through the rounds of the regional and national cup competitions in the process.
  • Cricket has, in recent years, produced players of an extremely high calibre, many of whom have represented Warwickshire CCC at first-class level. Several players have been rewarded with fine school and county performances with international honours. Both batsmen and bowlers from Solihull School have been cited in the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack for outstanding performances over the course of a season. The school's recently formed Twenty20 team, who play in an all red kit, compete at various Twenty20 schools' tournaments around the country.
  • Athletics brings huge success, as Solihull School regularly beat many of Britain's most prestigious schools. The school provides many representatives for the Solihull Borough athletics team, as well and the West Midlands and Midlands teams. Daniel Caines, former World Champion indoor 400m runner, is an Old Silhillian.

Girls' Games

  • Hockey is the main winter sport for girls and, as with the boys' XI, the coaching is of a high standard and the quality of play is high. The team competes well in regional and national competitions. The Solihull School kit consists of maroon tops, skirts and socks.
  • Rounders is played in the summer and the first team play a wide range of schools from across the country. The team plays in a grey skirt and white polo shirt. A picnic is held for the Upper Sixth pupils on the afternoon of the last game of the season.
  • Netball is popular, with a 1st and 2nd team, both of very high standards, competing during the summer term. The teams play in identical kits to that of the rounders team.
  • Athletics. The squad travel to, and compete at many of the same competitions as the boys. The success of the boys' team is mirrored to some extent in the girls' team. However, the girls do not take part in as many invitational meetings as the boys' team.

N.B. Sports as such golf, shooting (both clay pigeon and rifle shooting), Swimming, cross country, sailing, tennis, squash and badminton are all played within the school and teams are put forward to compete against other schools. Also, an even wider range of sports are played recreationally. These include basketball, lacrosse and water polo, .

School colours

School colours are given to a pupil who has represented School in his or her chosen sport. The reward takes the form of a dark blue blazer with narrow red and white vertical stripes. These may be worn instead of the standard plain blue blazer.

Since 2006 it has been possible for those who have achieved in the theatrical or musical arenas to be awarded the sport blazer. This has caused some unrest amongst Old Silhillians and current pupils who see it as an erosion of tradition.

Music and drama

The school has a thriving music society. There are 3 orchestras, a Big Band and numerous instrumental groups and choirs. These range from traditional wind and string ensembles to African and Samba percussion groups.

The excellent state of music within Solihull School is largely credited to the enthusiasm and foresight of Mr David Turnbull who was a master from 1953-1991 and spent 34 of those 38 years as Director of Music. It was written of him in his obituary in The Silhillian, the school publication, Si monumentum requiris, circumspice (If you seek a record of his achievement look around you). He brought the music department from a cramped and inadequate single music room to the rear section of Bradford House, now known as the Music School, which now houses nine teaching rooms, an electric keyboard/multimedia room, an informal performance stage and a rehearsal basement. During and since his Directorship the Music Department has gone from strength to strength.

Public examination candidates achieve consistent success in a wide range of instruments as well as voice and a glance at the Honours Boards shows the continuous stream of pupils attaining places at the colleges of music at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Solihull School can even count a World Champion Harmonica player, Philip Achille, as an old boy.

The annual St Cecilia Concert is a showcase for the musicians and the Chapel Choir performs at many services throughout the year. The Choir's 'anthem' is Pie Jesu and is sung at all major services by the Chapel Choir. It also has in its repertoire major works such as Haydn's Creation, Handel's Messiah and Mozart's Requiem, there are also several special pieces of music written specially by the Solihull School choirmaster, Peter Irving.

Each year a musical is performed by the pupils and these are, without exception, of a very high standard. The 2006 production of Barnum involved around a third of the school's population, either on stage or behind the scenes. Under the supervison of a Director and Producer (both members fo staff), the costumes, set, make-up, lighting, sound, music and other special effects were down to the pupils. In 2007, the school staged The Sound of Music, and The Scarlet Pimpernel is planned for Easter 2008.

Drama is well supported within the school too, with several plays performed annually. These plays range from the traditional, to the original, to the experimental. Theatre Studies is offered as an A-Level course; the Theatre students often partake in informal productions.

Both the Music and Drama Departments are able to use the Bushell Hall for performances. This building is used as an assembly hall and has a state-of-the-art retractable stage with under-stage orchestra pit and seats an audience of around 1,000.

As mentioned above, the school has traditionally awarded only sportsmen and women with striped blazers, however in recent years this reward has been extended to the musicians and thespians. It is a move that has caused some unrest amongst the pupils and old boys.

CCF

The school has an extremely popular Combined Cadet Force which is open to Senior School pupils. It boasts upwards of 170 cadets across the Army and Air Force sections. It is one of the oldest School Combined Cadet Forces in the country, having celebrated its centenary in 1998 with a parade of over 300 cadets and displays by the Armed Forces.

The cadets learn military based skills such as climbing, abseiling, weapons training, orienteering and tactical assault simulation. There are several CCF Camps, Military Training Weekends and cadet competitions each year, during which the cadets go on field manoeuvres in order to apply the skills they have learned to a practical situation. There is a commissioned officer who is a full time member of staff as Solihull School who runs the CCF. The cadets are required to present themselves for inspection by the masters in charge of the CCF on a weekly basis. This inspection takes place on The Field of Mars (see 'School vernacular' for details.)

Pupils of Solihull School regularly win places at The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Outdoor pursuits

  • The D of E scheme is enormously popular amongst the Senior School pupils; many achieve the Gold Award. There is a huge amount of support available to any pupil wishing to partake in this scheme and there are several members of staff who take groups camping as part of their D of E course.
  • Terriers is a course for the Third Form that introduces them to many outdoor skills. They learn to read maps, erect tents, hike, climb, canoe etc. The culmination of this course is a week spent in the school's cottage in Snowdonia when in Shell Form where all of these skills are put to use.
  • The Mountain Club is a purely recreational society co-run by staff and older pupils. Trips are organised to parts of the country in order that a day or two of hiking may be enjoyed.
  • There is, biennially, what can only be described as an 'expedition to a particularly inhospitable region'. Pupils and teachers have the opportunity to travel to places such as Tibet, Nepal and Peru for the purposes of trekking in and the exploration of distant mountainous regions.
  • Skiing is popular and there is a trip each year to The French Alps.

School publications

  • The Shenstonian is the school's annual publication and reviews the academic, sporting and other events within the school. It chronicles the achievements of pupils and publishes works of arts, poetry and prose. Although the editor is a member of staff, it is largely contributed to by team captains, house captains, heads of societies and other pupils. It is named, as is one of the houses, after the notable poet and Old Silhillian William Shenstone.
  • The Silhillian is the magazine of the Old Silhillians' Association. It includes news of the school, messages from the committee, news of old boys, news of the Old Silhillians' sports clubs and obituaries of ex-pupils and masters.

School vernacular

As is common of many British public schools, there is a vocabulary peculiar to the school.

  • School Bencher - a School prefect; a member of the School Bench. Selected by a poll of pupils and teachers.
  • Form Bencher - a pupil chosen by the staff from either Upper or Lower Sixth who is designated pastoral responsbility for a form from the Lower and Middle School.
  • Big School - one side of the School's Great Quadrangle. It includes the Kent Library, the Common Rooms, the Big School Bell Tower and Big School flag pole.
  • Bigside - senior sports teams (rugby, cricket, athletics and hockey). Also refers to the 1st XV field and 1st XI Cricket square.
  • Stripes - the dark blue blazer with red and white stripes is traditionally given to denote members of a sport first team but more recently, and controversially, also for music and drama.
  • Deck Chair - As above. The stripes are said to resemble those of a deck chair.
  • The Lower Common Room - the name given to the communal staff study.
  • The Upper Common Room - the name given to the lounge exclusively for the staff. It is directly above the Lower Common Room and overlooks the Quadrangle Lawn.
  • The Head's Wing - the corner of the Quadrangle that houses the offices of the Headmaster, Deputy Head and Senior Master.
  • The Head's Lawn - the lawn in front of the Big School Corridor.
  • The Level - large area of tarmac used as CCF parade ground and, during break-times, a playground. Ironically named, as it is on a slight slope.
  • The Fort - the woodwork and technology building, located in the North-East corner of the School grounds, adjacent to the School Lane gate.
  • Terriers - a weekly outward bound activity course for the 3rd form (year 7) pupils, for which they wear red jackets instead of normal uniform.
  • The Copt Heath Run - cross-country run around the grounds of the Old Silhillians' Association site.
  • The Field of Mars - the area that lies beside School House and in front of the Bigside cricket pitch.
  • Shells - members of the second year of senior school (year 8).
  • Snod School - a week spent by the Shells in Snowdonia in the School cottage.
  • A-Former - a particularly academically talented pupil.
  • The Marshal - the caretaker and master in charge of lost uniform and property.
  • Trooper - a pupil who passes through the school from J1 (the first year of Junior School, aged 7) until the end of sixth form, totalling 11 years.

Old Silhillians' Association

The ex-pupils of Solihull School are known as Old Silhillians. The Old Silhillians' Association (OSA) is the club to which these ex-pupils are invited to become members of upon leaving School. It is located at The Memorial Clubhouse, Copt Heath; about five minutes from the school campus. The clubhouse's facilities include a members' bar, sports' bar and function room.

The club holds regular dinners, reunions and social functions for former pupils. The clubhouse sits in roughly 25 acres of land which includes Rugby, Football, Hockey and Cricket pitches. There is also a Bowling and Croquet green, Squash courts, riflr range and gymnasium. The site is home to Silhillians RFC, Old Silhilians Hockey Club, Old Silhillians Rifle Club.

As well as having its own committee, The Old Silhillians' Association has a liaison officer located at the school.

As mentioned in the 'School Publications' section (above), The Old Silhillians' Association publishes an annual magazine, The Silhillian. It chronicles notable events within the club and school, as well as information and articles about and by Old Silhillians.

Old Silhillians are afforded the opportunity to become a member of the East India Club, a prestigious London gentlemen's club.

The OSA holds an annual dinner in London for all members, old boys, old girls and past and current staff. Currently the dinner is held at the Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly in November. There is also an annual London lunch. This year's is scheduled for 20 June 2008. For details of these events, please contact Mark Lucas at marklucas@barlowrobbins.com.

Interestingly, in 2003 The OSA hosted the National Pipe Smoking Championship in the Memorial Clubhouse.[1]

Notable Old Silhillians

References

  1. ^ BBC News - Guy smokes rings round rivals, 8 June, 2003

External links

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