Mo reton Hall: a non-selective, no rules approach to education, Caroline Lang

Moreton Hall: a non-selective, no rules approach to education Caroline Lang describes a self-confessed and successful anomaly

Tucked away in an often overlooked corner of Shropshire, with Housman’s ‘blue remembered hills’ to the south and the Welsh mountains on the horizon in the North, Moreton Hall is proud to be something of an anomaly: a thriving girls only (in the senior years) school which despite an essentially non-selective approach holds its own academically, musically, theatrically and on the sports pitches amongst the UK’s top schools.

Established in 1913 by the Lloyd-Williams family, the Moreton Hall philosophy has always been that of a liberal education where academic success and extra-curricular achievement are equally valued. It’s a philosophy that has been at the heart of the leadership of Moreton Hall Principal, Jonathan Forster, who retires this summer after 27 years at the helm of the HMC school.

The school’s belief in nurturing the talents of every girl, wherever those talents lie, goes hand in hand with a nonselective approach. Non-selective means looking beyond an 11+, 13+ or 16+ examination paper, to discover the unique young person who with nurturing and encouragement will learn to play to her own strengths and will leave school confident of her place in the world. Taster Days, Admissions Days, school tours led by the school’s finest ambassadors, the girls themselves,

ensure that each girl joining Moreton Hall arrives wanting to be a success and wanting to be part of the Moreton family.

Jonathan Forster believes that every member of the school’s extensive staff has a part to play in what is essentially a journey. ‘Teachers, housemistresses, everyone who works at Moreton, must want to work with young people. They need to understand that children are not the ‘finished article’ – they have a marathon 14 years at school to complete a journey from childhood to adulthood. So if we stumble a bit on this marathon, we need to know that someone will put us back on our feet and point us to the finish line, or even help us over it. That’s what education is for – leading people, children and young people from childhood to adulthood, ensuring that young people have all the skills and qualifications and confidence they need to embark upon adult life.’

The principle of a non-selective approach lies at the heart of Sixth Form admissions too. Once a Moretonian always a Moretonian, and a bespoke sixth form programme ensures that unlike many schools where additional GCSE entrance requirements are imposed, every girl who has studied GCSEs at the school is welcomed into Moreton Sixth.

Sixth Form also sees many new faces, including students

from a local state school, St Martin’s. Working with Moreton Hall’s STEM department, year 10 and 11 students from St Martin’s are offered stretch, challenge and support, and a number of the St Martin’s girls join Moreton Sixth on generous bursaries and scholarships. The girls acknowledge it as a life changing opportunity and as one young woman explained it to me, ‘when I arrived here I wouldn’t have believed I could even apply to a Russell Group University like Durham, but today I turned down Durham because I’m accepting LSE!’

But it’s not just the ‘every girl matters’ approach which makes Moreton Hall special. Ask any Moreton girl the secret of the Moreton magic and she will tell you that ‘we have no rules’. Of course, every community has rules, but as Jonathan Forster describes it ‘the school is known for being small, friendly and open, not cluttered by petty rules, but with a clear set of values agreed upon and respected by all members of the school community.’ At Moreton Hall that lack of petty rules means that there are no bells, no detentions, no loss of privileges. Despite that, lessons start on time, preps are completed, dorms are tidied, and people are kind to each other!

In truth the metaphor for the Moreton Hall ‘no rules approach’ can be found on the Lacrosse fields. This term, Moreton Hall’s first and second teams made the last eight at The Nationals in Aldershot, whilst the Under 14s, returned to Shropshire victorious, crowned national champions for their age group. Interviewed on Radio Shropshire, their coach, Louise Lewin described lacrosse as a game with ‘not too many restrictions in terms of rules. It’s kind of fast and free flowing.’

Under 14s goalie, Iris explained to the bemused presenter that there are ‘hardly any rules, there’s lots of activity and it’s lots of fun.’ In summing up, she could have been summing up Moreton Hall and its philosophy. ‘It can be tough mentally ... but it’s very teamy ... you build relationships – you enjoy every second of it.’

Caroline Lang is Senior Tutor and Registrar at Moreton Hall