The Salopian Summer 2023

8
SCHOOL NEWS
Breaking Cultural Barriers
Those of you who keep an eye on the cultural offerings of
the South Bank will be aware that the National Theatre
has commissioned a new play this summer. Written by James
Graham, the play is inspired by Gareth Southgate’s journey
from his infamous missed penalty in 1996 to his current status
as England manager and national treasure. Dear England
stars Joseph Fiennes as Southgate and takes its name from
Southgate’s open letter to the nation in 2021. Naysayers have
already derided the commission as populist: they bemoan the
incursion of the sporting hoi polloi onto the National stage.
However, to do so is to miss three crucial points. The first
concerns the epic, one might even say Shakespearean, nature
of the drama that can unfold on a sports pitch. The second
is to diminish the colossal influence that football has had
in redefining our concepts of gender roles in recent years.
Finally, such criticism reinforces the idea that people are
one-dimensional: sportsmen or intellectuals, artists or athletes.
This kind of categorisation is anathema to a Shrewsbury
education.
At the end of the Lent Term, we witnessed our very own
footballing drama unfolding on Senior, when the boys’ First
XI defeated the favourites, Brooke House College, to earn a
place in the ESFA final. Hundreds of supporters turned out
to witness a superb display of teamwork and skill, leading to
a 3-2 victory and cries of ‘Barlo-o-o-w’ echoing around Top
Common. Six weeks later, the team and supporters travelled
to Stoke, where they met Hampton School in the final. On
that day victory eluded them, but that does not detract from
the importance of the journey that took them there. The boys,
their coaches and the school can be tremendously proud of
the grit, determination, perseverance and sportsmanship that
they have displayed throughout this season and those that
have gone before.
This year we have also seen the role that sport can play in
breaking down gender barriers. We were delighted to launch
girls’ football in the Lent Term and have been tremendously
proud of the girls’ success so far. Special credit must also go
to the coaches – particularly Dr Ellie Lyell, who has been
appointed as our first Head of Girls’ Football, and Mr Liam
Hennessy, who has recently received a national accolade
from the FA as part of their #LetGirlsPlay campaign.
It is tribute to the breadth of the Salopian experience that
many of those involved in these great sporting successes
have also been part of the variety of other co-curricular
events that have enriched the last two terms at Shrewsbury.
The following pages will celebrate superb theatrical
productions, concerts and recitals, the inaugural John Weaver
dance festival, Shrewsbury’s MUN conference, House and
School debating, military competitions, outdoor adventures
and much, much more. We honour the superb achievements
of our specialists, but we also acknowledge the huge number
of Renaissance men and women who are developing their
skills and interests in a wide variety of different areas – and
having serious fun in the process. To borrow the exhortation
of Sir Henry Sidney, who sent his son Philip to Shrewsbury in
1565, I would urge our current Salopians to: ‘Give yourself to
be merry … for you find yourself most able in wit and body
when you be most merry.’
Dr Helen Brown
Deputy Head (Co-curricular)