Mary Linwood Comprehensive School the former Mary Linwood Secondary School. The principal sponsor of this Academy is the Church of England. The Council transferred the site of the former secondary school (Mary Linwood) to the sponsors. Samworth, Leicester's first City Academy, was built on the site of the old Mary Linwood school and completed in September, 2007. The children of author Sue Townsend attended the school during the late 1970s and early 1980s; their experiences influenced her highly successful Adrian Mole books. "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole" was reputedly based on Sue Townsend's son's experiences at the school. Several of the teachers who
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ (musical) Cavendish in "The Telegraph" wrote that "this all-singing, all-dancing Mole comes up trumps; in fact, it's so good it could burrow its way to the West End... the evening does that rare thing: it makes you laugh, tugs at your heart-strings and honours the spirit of the original while being playfully inventive... this fresh, funny, stirring spin on a Thatcher-era classic may be around for a long time to come." Dominic Maxwell in "The Times" wrote 'it's no small achievement to make this first musical version such a lively, evocative pleasure... amusing and affecting enough to leave you glowing... a