# Old Swinford Hospital

Old Swinford Hospital is a secondary boarding school in Oldswinford, Stourbridge, West Midlands, England that has been in continuous operation since the 17th century. It is one of 36 state boarding schools in England, meaning school fees are funded by the LEA and pupils only pay boarding fees. Girls are admitted into the sixth form as day pupils. Girls have been admitted from year 7 onwards, from 2021.

## History

Old Swinford Hospital opened in the late summer of 1667. Originally called Stourbridge Hospital, it was founded by Thomas Foley, an ironmaster and prominent local landowner, whose main estate was at Great Witley, west of Stourport in Worcestershire, but with strong Stourbridge connections. It was to educate 60 boys from "poor but honest" families nominated by specified parishes in Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire. The school was sometimes named as Foley's blue coat school or hospital, or Oldswinford Hospital Endowed School. The school had increased to 70 boys by 1868.

## Houses

As of 2024, the school consists of five active boarding houses
| House | Colour | Built | Namesake |
| Dudley | Purple | 1984 | the Earls of Dudley, the family who bought the Foley's estate of Witley Court |
| Foley | Green | 1982 | Thomas Foley, the founder of the School |
| Foster | Red | 1667 | A prominent local family (see James Foster) |
| Potter | Sky Blue | 2009 | Christopher Potter OBE, headmaster from 1978 until 2001 |
| Prospect (Year 7) | | | Prospect Hill, the house's location |
Former houses include:
| House | Colour | Built | Namesake |
| Baxter | Grey | 1990 | Richard Baxter, a 17th-century Puritan minister |
| Chance | | | |
| Lyttelton | | | Named after the Lyttelton family who built nearby Hagley Hall |
| Maybury | Navy Blue | 1845 | William Maybury, headmaster of the school from 1883-1928 |
| Stone | | | |
| Witley | Yellow | 1983 | Witley Court, the Foley family mansion |

## Admissions

There is no catchment area and admission is non-selective except for Flexi-Boarders in Year 7. Boarding fees and day student facilities are charged but not tuition.

### Sixth Form

The school also offers a Sixth Form to which girls are admitted. Applications externally were subject to an entrance exam, which was dropped for students entering September 2015, and GCSE grades equivalent to 7 'A' grades. Boarding places are guaranteed for previous boarders. There is a minimum standard of 7 'C' grades at GCSE expected; this requirement can be waived if the pupil contributes to the school in other ways such as such as sport or music.

## Academics

Old Swinford Hospital is a specialist Business and Enterprise School, a Specialist Science School and has recently been awarded an Artsmark and Sportsmark.
Foreign Language lessons are also compulsory and are offered as options to sixth form students as Spanish, French and German. Old Swinford Hospital has foreign language assistants, who come as native speakers of the language to teach and help at the school.
GCSEs are taken in Year 11. Lower Sixth take AS Levels, and Upper Sixth take A-Levels. Most Lower Sixth take 3 courses, and Upper Sixth take those same 3 Courses.
Old Swinford Hospital is placed in the top 5% of all schools at GCSE and with a strong record at A level. In October 2006, OFSTED rated the school as Outstanding. The most recent judgement, in 2017, judged the school as Good.
Upon publication of the 2007/2008 academic year results tables, Old Swinford Hospital were the best school in the Dudley local area for pass and success rates in GCSEs with 89% of pupils gaining 5 or more A*-C grades. A Level students also performed well with 99% of examinations taken passed, and an average point score per pupil of 805.8; significantly higher than the Dudley local average of 733.1 For 2010, it remained the highest performing school in the Dudley borough with 94% of GCSE students gaining 5 or more GCSEs at grade C or above.

## Sport

The main school sport is rugby; the school has reached the Semi-Finals in the U15 and U18 Daily Mail Cup, reaching the final in the U18 cup in 2012, and winning many other cups. From Michaelmas term the sport is played, with Sevens being played late in the Lent term. Other top level sports include hockey, and cross country. Cross country had a successful 2007/2008 season, winning trophies in both 1st and 2nd team categories. The school runs 3 senior football teams which are coached by former professional footballer Dale Rudge.
In Summer the main school sport is cricket. David Banks, the former Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire cricketer is a member of the teams coaching staff.
In 2011-2012 the Basketball team suffered only 2 defeats in the entire season. The juniors are coached by Barrie Mann.
Other sports include Golf (Old Swinford Hospital owns Stourbridge Golf Club), Squash, Tennis, Rounders, Athletics, Volleyball, hockey and Mountain Biking.
Shooting is a sport also offered at the school.

## International links

Old Swinford Hospital has international links with schools and educational establishments abroad. The three most notable are in the table below. Old Swinford has a history of raising money, and assisting in many ways with St. John's Secondary School in Nandere, Uganda through various charitable events and days and through the Uganda Link society. When the school had power issues in 2007, Old Swinford managed to raise the money needed to get power supplies back within one day.
| School | City |
| St. John's Secondary Senior School | Nandere |
| St. George's College North | Buenos Aires |
| St. Joseph's Nudgee College | Brisbane |

## Old Foleyans

Former students of the school are called Old Foleyans after the founder of the school, Thomas Foley.

### Arts

* Nicholas Bailey - Actor - performed in Coronation Street, Casualty, EastEnders.
* Charles McKeown - Academy award nominated actor and writer. Films include, Brazil (1985), Spies Like Us, Time Bandits, The Missionary and Life Of Brian.

### Media

* Matthew Chance - Journalist - International correspondent for CNN

### Military

* Roi Wilson - Captain RN

### Politics

* Philip Davies - Conservative MP for Shipley
* Mike Wood - Conservative MP for Dudley South 2015
* Matthew Lodge - Councillor, Swindon Borough Council 2022

### Sport

* James Collins- Rugby player for Worcester Warriors
* Rhys Crane - Rugby player for Sale Sharks
* Paul Doran-Jones - Rugby player for England and Northampton Saints
* Simon Green (cricketer)
* Dean Headley - Former England cricketer
* Hannah Payton - Professional cyclist
* Chris Pennell - Rugby player for Worcester Warriors
* George Robson - Rugby player for Harlequins
* Tom Armstrong - Rugby player for England Schools U16
* Joe Shaw - Rugby player for Newcastle Falcons
* Max Stelling Centre for Worcester Warriors
* Richard West - Former England Rugby Player
* Adam Finch - Professional Cricketer for Worcester Country Cricket
* Oliver Lawrence - Rugby player for Bath & England national rugby union team

### Other

* William Henry Bury - Murderer and Jack the Ripper suspect

## Headmasters since 1667

* Mr W. Broadhurst (1667–1682)
* Mr J. Pearkes (1682–1727)
* Mr T. Hill (1727–1748)
* Mr J. Price (1748–1787)
* Mr E. Sherriff (1787–1802)
* Mr J. Hodges (1802–1818)
* Mr J. Fisher (1818–1835)
* Mr J. Brindley (1835–1839)
* Mr W. Dixon (1839–1846)
* Mr W. Evans (1846–1849)
* Mr J. Anderson (1849–1876)
* Mr T. Pardoe (1876–1883)
* Mr WJ Maybury (1883–1928)
* Mr HC Stone (1928–1951)
* Mr Lawrence Sheppard MBE (1951–1978)
* Mr Christopher Potter OBE (1978–2001)
* Mr Melvyn Roffe (2001–2007)
* Mr Peter Jones (2007–2014)
* Mr Paul Kilbride (2014–current)