Pupils hit back at old boy's claims over Shropshire grammar school

When former star student Matt Broomfield published a blog claiming racism, sexism and homophobia is rife in the corridors of a top Shropshire grammar school pupils and staff were left shocked.

Former A-star student Mr Broomfield claimed pupils at Adams' Grammar School in Newport made monkey noises at him when he dated a black girl.

Mr Broomfield, who got the top GSCE results in the school with 11 A*s in 2010 and also moved onto the sixth form, also claimed there was a culture of "superiority" drilled into pupils.

But bosses at the school have refuted the claims and said they were "saddened" to hear of the article.

Pupils have also come together to defend the school in the wake of the claims made by the Oxford undergraduate.

In the blog Mr Broomfield said: "I dated a black girl when I was 17. When my school friends found out, some of them laughed openly in my face.

Superior

"They made monkey noises. This happened in England in the 21st century. Specifically, it happened at Adams' Grammar School.

"From my perspective the fundamental doctrine that Adams taught was that we should define ourselves by our perceived superiority to others.

"Adams drilled into us that the strong were always superior to the weak."

He went on: "It was all just a laugh – so long as you were one of the popular white boys laughing the hardest.

• See also: Racism, sexism and homophobia claim over top Shropshire grammar school

"In effect, we were taught that to be Adams' boys was to be inherently superior to the rest of the world. And arrogance combined with ignorance creates bigotry."

Mr Michael Barratt, headmaster at the school said: "Staff at Adams were saddened to read an article written by a former pupil that attacked the school, its ethos and values.

"We disagree wholeheartedly with the view that Adams supports racism, sexism and homophobia and that such opinions are institutionalised within its walls.

"We also emphasise to our pupils that their academic talent should not be mistaken for moral superiority, but rather places a special obligation on them to use their talents wisely for the common good.

"Adams, like all schools, continues to be challenged by some kinds of unacceptable pupil behaviour, but nobody should be in any doubt that the ethos of the school, its policies, and its day-to-day practice, are all designed to eradicate such behaviour and to create young people who are confident themselves about combatting racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of intolerance and prejudice.

"The school would like to thank the many pupils, parents and Old Novaportans for their messages of support."

The school was recently inspected by Ofsted, which praised the "excellent attitudes" of pupils and stated that "the school takes a firm stand against any prejudice-based bullying such as racist, homophobic and trans-gender bullying and sexism".

School captain and sixth former Scott Bromley, 17, said: "I think that we all have a tight community here at Adams and everyone here feels respected.

"So when someone wrote about their time here like that, it feels like a stab in the back and we all feel so strongly that what he said is untrue."

The school educates boys between the ages of 11 and 16 but has an intake of about 70 girls in the sixth form. It has more than 860 pupils in total.

Another pupil saddened by the claims was Oliver Jones, 17 who said: "It's hard for a son of a mechanic and a cleaner to look down on anyone, so I really reject that statement saying we are elite."

With the blog claiming the school is sexist, pupil Faye Langston, 17, said she was shocked as she would never have moved to the school if that had been the case.

And sixth former Ambar Iqbal, 16, said she moved to the school because her brother was there. "I chose this school because I was told I would not face prejudice," she said.

School gave me valuable lessons for life:

Former Adams' Grammar pupil Billy McClure hits out at the criticism of his old school

At the risk of sounding petty, I took the article written two days ago by Matt Broomfield as a personal attack on me, my friends and the best seven years of my life.

Now, I wasn't the best pupil at Adams' Grammar School, by any stretch of the imagination. I achieved poor grades and got in to trouble an awful lot more than I'm proud of.

But the school didn't teach me to behave this way, I chose to. I was taught valuable life skills and made great friends. I also had teachers who inspired me and who I tried to impress, ultimately shaping me into the person I am now.

First off, the school does have a problem with lad culture. Looking back, my participation doesn't fill me with much pride. At times I was more concerned with binge drinking, showing off and objectifying women than I was about my grades.

But at no point was my behaviour encouraged by teachers or the school. In fact, we had assemblies on respecting girls and how to behave around them. Instances involving bullying or mistreating others were always swiftly dealt with.

I'm also ashamed to admit that we were undeniably sexist. This isn't just an Adams or a grammar school problem but a nationwide issue. A lot of our teachers were women and they certainly didn't approve of chauvinistic behaviour.

Similarly, I'm aware the school was/is concerned by grades and league tables. But I find it ridiculous how one could possibly blame the school for this. We have an education system that only judges schools based on how many people get into university and how many achieve A*-C. But it's worth noting this past year that 79 per cent of grades were A*-B, while seven students received Oxbridge places and nine were accepted on medicine courses.

The "examples" of racism and homophobia, however, I have taken very much to heart. A lot of the behaviour of myself and my peers involved actions I wouldn't have wanted my parents to discover, yet I can wholeheartedly say I never once saw an act of homophobia or racism.

In lower years there was the mantra that "gay is bad" but this was insecure teenagers not wanting to be different. And at Adams people know that being gay isn't wrong.

Racism also wasn't prevalent. I'm quite sure if anyone were to be openly racist at the school, they would be quickly dealt with.

We did, and perhaps still do, look down on other schools. our opinions driven by childish machismo. What we were taught is that we were intelligent young men who should be the best we can be.