September 2009
Each September, at the same time as welcoming new boys to the School, the admissions process for the following year begins: regular patterns underpinning the rhythms of MGS life. Just four weeks into term, at our Open Day events, our new boys help to guide families around the School, answering their questions and growing in confidence.
When you visit MGS you will quickly come to understand that we are indeed a genuinely outstanding school, as our most recent inspection in 2008 recognised. The key to our strength lies in the way we endeavour to treat each boy as a unique individual, knowing that we will only unlock the potential within each boy when we understand his individual strengths and weaknesses.
The Charity Commission too recognised in July 2009 the huge strength of our commitments to social diversity within the School and to the wider community beyond the School, with an unreserved vote of confidence in the School as an educational charity.
Hugh Oldham, a local boy who went on to become Bishop of Exeter, founded the School in 1515. He had the highest aspirations for MGS – and each year we fulfil his vision of an academic school for boys of all backgrounds. During the last 500 years, the School has evolved – and it has been the ability of the School to adapt and develop which has helped us to remain one of the country's outstanding schools. We have a superb teaching staff, backed by a dedicated associate staff, who are always ready to go the extra few miles for our boys.
The School once had a relatively narrow focus upon classics and mathematics, but for over 150 years, we have often been at the forefront of developments, not just academically but on a much wider front. We believe that the success and happiness of a pupil, the extent to which we may ensure that he develops his potential to the full, and how we lay the foundations for his future life, depend upon his education as a whole within and beyond the classroom. Even so, MGS boys continue to compete academically at the highest levels, with very many places won each year at the Russell Group of universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial and UCL, along with Harvard and other leading universities.
Our Junior Section – housed in Bexwyke Lodge and now in its second year – is thriving, admitting boys aged 9 and 10. The new theatre, currently being built, will be completed by March 2010, allowing us to further develop our ambitious programmes for drama. The International Baccalaureate runs alongside A-levels, offering our sixth formers an extremely well respected alternative route to university. In addition, our Duke of Edinburgh programme, established just three years ago and already remarkably successful, continues to grow.
We always welcome visitors: old friends and those wanting to discover for themselves something of the magic, which makes MGS. Do not hesitate to contact us. In the meantime, do 'roam' through our website which will give you an excellent impression of the many, varied ways in which our boys engage with their life in the School and help them to succeed and be happy.
Christopher Ray
High Master
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