Haberdashers' Castle House is an independent preparatory day school for boys and girls, first established in 1944, at Chetwynd End,

Newport, Shropshire Newport is a market town and Civil parishes in Shropshire, civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north-east of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 Ce ...

.ISI Inspection report on Castle House School
dated November 2014, accessed 13 September 2015 Haberdashers' Castle House is an associate of the

Worshipful Company of Haberdashers The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company received its first ro ...

. It is also a member of the Haberdashers' West Midlands Academies Trust founded by nearby original Haberdasher school, Haberdashers' Adams.

Architectural

At Haberdashers' Castle House, buildings were previously a group of houses consolidated into one mansion that was called "Merevale" before the school was founded, begun in the late 18th century with early 19th century and further modern extensions. In the grounds of the school is a mid-19th century brick

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

consisting of a retaining wall with five embattled turrets and arrow slits.

Character

At Haberdashers' Castle House, the school is operated by the Haberdashers' Company under its own Castle House School Trust Ltd, a registered

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

, by up to twelve governors of the Trust. It occupies a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

main building with extensive grounds. Its "Cherubs Nursery" takes pre-school children aged from two to four. From here boys and girls, in roughly equal numbers, go into the Lower School, which comprises a Reception class and Years 1 and 2. The Upper School then caters for children until they leave, usually at the age of eleven. At Haberdashers' Castle House, French is taught from the Nursery years on, and drama and dance begin in Reception. Sporting activities take place every day, and these include

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

. A new headteacher, Ian Sterling, took over Haberdashers' Castle House in January 2018. The previous head, Richard Walden, was chairman in 2014 of the Independent Schools Association. Opening its annual conference in May 2014, he was critical of the state sector, claiming that "Schools are turning out too many amoral children because teachers cannot find the time to teach the difference between right and wrong." This was disputed by the government's Education Secretary,

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove, Baron Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician and journalist who served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rish ...

. In 2023, Castle House became an associate of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers' and a partner of Haberdashers' Adams Grammar School, under a joint agreement with Gary Hickey, headmaster of Haberdashers' Adams and the Haberdashers' Company.

Notable Old Castilians

Piers Corbyn Piers Richard Corbyn (born 10 March 1947) is a British weather forecaster, Anti-vaccine activism, anti-vaccine activist, Conspiracy theory, conspiracy theorist, and former politician. Corbyn was born in Wiltshire and raised in Shropshire wherei ...

(born 1947), conspiracy theorist *

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

(born 1949), politician, leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020 (younger brother of Piers Corbyn).Andrew Roth
Jeremy (Bernard) Corbyn
(parliamentary profile at bishopsgate.org.uk), p. 10, accessed 13 September 2015

Notes

External links

Castle House School
at education.gov.uk
Castle House School
reports at ISI.net
Castle House School, Newport, gymnastics video
at

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{Schools in Shropshire Educational institutions established in 1944 1944 establishments in England Preparatory schools in Shropshire Private schools in Telford and Wrekin Newport, Shropshire

Architectural

Character

Notable Old Castilians

See also

Notes

External links