Three teachers celebrated in Long Service Awards

Three teachers were recognised for their 25 years of dedication to Shrewsbury School.  

Mike Tonks, Head of Philosophy and Theology, Stuart Cowper, Head of Partnership and Community Engagement and Jerome Armstrong, Mathematics teacher, were all celebrated for their long service to the school at a recent staff gathering.  

Headmaster Leo Winkley said of the three educators: “I have overlapped with these fine three for just 20% of their long service to Shrewsbury School.  In that time, it has been abundantly clearly that each of them, in their distinctive ways, has served this school with unwavering commitment and integrity.    

“Each individually brilliant, but united in sharing many excellences. Above all, they are each outstanding teachers. Each of them stands tall in the long and noble history of remarkable Salopian educators. They are great boarding schoolmasters – in that total sense of what we now call whole person education.” 

Mike Tonks, former Ingram’s Housemaster and Second Master, said: “Much has changed since I arrived in 1998. New buildings and facilities, the introduction of co-education, the emergence of digital technology to name but a few areas. What has remained constant has been the beauty of the site and the talent of the Common Room. I wouldn’t want to live and work anywhere else.” 

Stuart Cowper, former Head of Spanish and Grove Housemaster, added: “I can't believe it's been 25 years. It really has flown by, so I must have been having fun!   

“It's been nothing short of a pleasure and a privilege to work in a truly great school in a fantastic setting in the best (secretly so) county in the country. Above all, during all that time, it's been about working with fantastic people - colleagues past and present - and being with generations of Salopians who have always impressed me and been great fun to be around.  I've been very fortunate to have had various roles and opportunities during my time at Shrewsbury - but still enjoy a good old grammar crunch in Spanish to remind me that I'm a teacher!” 

Former Head of Maths Jerome Armstrong added: “I remember being astonished by how many colleagues had taught at Shrewsbury for longer than I had been alive when I first arrived twenty-five years ago; it did not take long to see why. The stunning campus and friendly community of talented staff and pupils continue to make Shrewsbury a most inspiring and special place in which to work.”