New Head at Shrewsbury High School inspires learning without limits

Shrewsbury High School welcomed Ms Jo Sharrock as its new Head in September 2018.  Ms Sharrock joined the school from Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital School (QEH), an independent day school in Bristol educating boys from Years 3-11, and with a co-educational Sixth Form. Over the past 14 years and as a teacher of History and Politics, Ms Sharrock has enjoyed a wide range of roles, among them Head of House, Head of Year 9 and Head of Sixth Form, before her current position. Ms Sharrock graduated with first class honours in History from the University of Leeds, and worked in the finance industry before deciding to pursue a teaching career.  Having attended an all-girls school, she credits her education with imbuing her with courage, skills and a belief that every opportunity was open to her; she aims to provide a similar experience for today’s Shrewsbury High School students.

Learning without Limits is the hope for every pupil at the school, from the boys and girls at Shrewsbury High Prep to  Senior and Sixth Form girls.  Ms Sharrock explains “We remain intentionally small and hugely ambitious for our young people and our size allows us to create a tight knit community where we know every child and prize their happiness above all else.    School should be somewhere that you feel happy, valued and safe to take risks with your learning and above all it should be somewhere you can have fun as you grow up.  The hallmarks of an excellent school are not just its grades or place in the league table – far more important are the confident, well rounded pupils they produce – you only have to meet one of our Year 8 boys or a Shrewsbury High Sixth Form girl to see the school’s strength here.  As part of the GDST, the UK’s leading network of independent girls’ schools, and as the only GDST school in the local area, we are able to bring all the advantages of that powerful network to both our girls and boys”.