New Fifth Girls’ House for 2023

We are excited to be moving ahead with the development of a fifth girls’ house at Shrewsbury. 

The School commissioned Adrian James Architects to come up with an innovative yet traditional design for a new house for boarding and day girls.

The Headmaster commented: “This is a very exciting point to reach as we plan the next phase in the development of our boarding accommodation.  We already have plans in place for the ongoing investment in our boys’ boarding houses.  With this planning application approved, we will be increasing the capacity for girls.  Our existing four girls’ houses are full in September 2021 and there is growing demand for places.  The site selected for this new build project – between Hodgson Hall and Ridgemount – will bring girls into another key part of the site.”

It is planned that the fifth girls’ house will open in September 2023.

Meet the Housemistress

Sally joined Shrewsbury School in September 2021 as Housemistress Elect and English teacher. Prior to this, she was Assistant Head of English at Winchester College where she also coached rowing and ran the Debating Society. She has been a Housemistress before, having run a girls’ boarding house at The Purcell School for Young Musicians where she spent four years hiding the fact that she is a pianist. At Purcell, she completed the BSA qualification in Pastoral Care and Boarding Management and was an IGCSE and A-level examiner. She began her career at Bradfield College where she was Assistant Housemistress of a boys’ boarding house and ran the Polo Club.

She has a first-class degree in English Literature from York and an MA in twentieth-century literature from UCL. Interested in music and literature, in her spare time she has completed research on Benjamin Britten’s literary operas. A former county athlete, Sally is also a keen sportswoman and has been getting to know Shrewsbury and the surrounding area by taking part in local 10K races.

Her partner, David was Director of Music at Winchester and is a former HMC Headmaster. Sally and David come to Shropshire looking forward to long walks (and pub lunches) with their two dogs: Rupert, the Black Labrador, and Ivy, the Golden Retriever.

Sally feels tremendously thrilled and privileged to have been appointed the first Housemistress of the fifth girls’ house. She is excited to work with the girls to build a kind, supportive, and ambitious community in which they can make the most of what school life has to offer.