New dawn for Black Country school after new headteacher begins role

The new headmaster of an historic Black Country school has said he is proud to be able to lead the school into its next chapter.

Graeme Wright has taken over at Old Swinford Hospital as the School’s Headmaster, becoming only the 20th head of the Stourbridge school in its 359-year history.

Mr Wright said the challenge ahead was one he was overwhelmingly proud and excited about and said he was looking forward to building on all that makes OSH special while helping shape an ambitious future for the school and its pupils.

He said: “As a historian, being appointed as the 20th Headmaster of Old Swinford Hospital is a particularly significant and proud moment in my life.

“To have the opportunity to build on the legacy of Thomas Foley, who founded the School in 1667, is a huge privilege — and a responsibility that I do not take lightly.

“Old Swinford Hospital is a school I have admired for many years.

“Its holistic approach to education is something that really stands out: combining academic ambition with outstanding pastoral care and a rich co-curricular life, alongside the opportunities and sense of community that come from being a boarding school.

“It is an environment in which young people can flourish not just academically, but personally and socially too.

“Since my appointment was announced, I have been fortunate to visit the School several times and spend time with many of my new colleagues.

“My family and I have been made to feel very welcome, and those visits have only strengthened my sense of what makes OSH such a distinctive community.

“I am ambitious for OSH and for what we can achieve together.

“But, ultimately, our purpose is a simple one: to give every young person an exceptional education, to know and value them as an individual, and to help them leave us with the confidence, character, skills and ambition to flourish in the world beyond school.”