Hutton Grammar School is an 11–18 boys

voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

, state-funded

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

comprehensive

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

. It is located south west of

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

, in Hutton, England. It provides education for boys from the age of 11 to 16, and in the

Sixth Form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

(since 1979) for both boys and girls. The school no longer offers boarding. The school is ranked 5th in the league tables in the North-West and 2nd place for AS-A2 results. It was also the '' Lancashire Rugby School of the Year'', for two years running, for 2007 and 2008. Hutton has also achieved Specialist Schools Status accreditation in

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

Computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

History

Origins

The

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

can trace its antecedents back to 1517, with the school building site being personally approved by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

in that year. In 1520, the school was granted permission, by William Walton, a former priest of Longton, to all boys in the area. It was William's personal investment, to provide for his family and give the local children a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or # a chantry chapel, a b ...

-school to attend. In 1545, when William Walton, the co-founder of the chantry had died, Henry VIII, near to death, ordered the dissolution of all chantries and the confiscation of their property. The desired building, in Hutton, was, at the time, even though confirmed by Henry VIII, 28 years before, would be demolished if it was reported to be still standing. However, the man appointed to supervise the dissolution of the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

chantries was Sir Henry Farington, a former benefactor of St. Andrews Church in Longton. He falsely reported that he could find no chantries in that part of the county, in order to save the demolition of various buildings in the

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

. To avoid suspicion of using a

for a school, although the

false statement A false statement, also known as a falsehood, falsity, misstatement or untruth, is a statement that is false or does not align with reality. This concept spans various fields, including communication, law, linguistics, and philosophy. It is consi ...

was given, they started to use a small

cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

down School Lane, in Longton to educate the local children.

Grammar school

In 1552, William's nephew Christopher Walton of Little Hoole, used a part of the original endowment to found the

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, down School Lane in Longton. According to the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the time, a priest must be in charge of a school, traveling

inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia The rank of Inspector is present in all Australian police forces excep ...

s could have closed it down they saw that a commoner was in charge. Therefore, in 1554, Ralph Garstang, priest of St. Andrews Church, was appointed as the

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

of the school. For the next few centuries, from 1560 to 1746, it was known as ''Longton Free School''. It was not until 1747 that the roles of

and priest were finally disconnected, though many subsequent headmasters were also priests (vide infra). The school was then rebuilt, at Hutton on its present site, built on land that had been a part of William Walton's original grant. Henceforth, it became known as Hutton Grammar School (often the ''Free Grammar School'' according to many references) and, by 1891, it had become an all-boys school. In 1881 there were 22 boarders and 30 day boys, the 1901 census lists 35 boarders, the 1911 census lists 41 boarders. 165 boys were attending the school in 1922. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were 57 boarders in addition to the day boys. The boarding house closed in 1971 The original building, built around 1750 was extended in the late 19th Century. In the early 20th Century there were further extensions and additional buildings were added. In the 1920s a fine headmaster's house was built by Lt Col Reverend Charles P. Hines. A first floor was added to one extension in 1923, such was the demand for extra space. The indoor swimming pool was added by 1935. A large new block was opened in October 1931, consisting of a large assembly hall, 7 classrooms, laboratories and staff facilities, allowing pupil numbers to increase from 121 to 270 boys. This was extended in 1957 with the addition of a larger library, sixth form, chemistry laboratory and classrooms. This allowed 3 form entry and the number of pupils increased to 450, rising to over 500 by 1961. The original 18th Century school building had to be demolished and rebuilt in 1965. Some of the late 19th and early 20th-century buildings are still in use.

Establishment of houses

The School has an established

House System The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

with, by 1957, Breakell-Moss House, Henry Hibbert House, Hines House (to which all boarders belonged), Penwortham House, Rawstorne House and Walton House. The Houses are particularly competitive in inter-house school sports. While some houses cease to exist, the house system still remains to this day, including Fleetwood, Hines, Walton, Pearson, and Rawsthorne. Although now a comprehensive, the school to this day still retains its grammar school

ethos ''Ethos'' is a Greek word meaning 'character' that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the ...

, enabling it to produce results which are amongst the highest in the area. Sports such as rugby and

cross-country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

play a serious role at Hutton, with Hutton regularly defeating local independent schools such as Arnold School, Kirkham Grammar School,

Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...

and Stonyhurst College.

Overview

Inspection Reports

The main school received an

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

report in May 2022 and achieved the grade of "good".

Curriculum

The main school features students from Years 7 to 11. It combines

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

s through the following subjects:

English Language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

, English Literature,

Modern Language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use as a native language. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead clas ...

, Sciences and

Religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

, with additional subjects, including History,

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

, Economics, Art,

Design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

, Music and

Theatre Arts Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communic ...

. The school's Sixth form allows students to take a number of the following subjects: English Language & Literature,

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Fine Art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

Photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

, Design Technology (Product Design),

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

French Language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

Further Mathematics Further Mathematics is the title given to a number of advanced secondary mathematics courses. The term "Higher and Further Mathematics", and the term "Advanced Level Mathematics", may also refer to any of several advanced mathematics courses at ma ...

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

Music Technology Music technology is the study or the use of any device, mechanism, machine or tool by a musician or composer to make or perform music; to musical composition, compose, music notation, notate, playback or record songs or pieces; or to Music infor ...

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

Religious Studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

and

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. The Sixth Form is a key part of the school and is a quasi-autonomous body within Hutton Grammar School.

Sports

The school offers more than 15 sports. The main sports at the school are rugby in the winter term and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

in the summer term. Former England rugby captain

Steve Borthwick Stephen William Borthwick (born 12 October 1979) is an English rugby union coach and former player, who is currently the head coach of the England national team. As a player, he played as a lock for Bath and Saracens. At international level, he ...

attended the school, as did fellow England international Tony Swift, and leading coach Brian Ashton taught at the school at the start of his coaching career. Other sports offered include: athletics, Aussie rules,

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Facilities

Under headmasters Tom Bennett and David Pearson the school was considerably redeveloped, with facilities such as a new

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

nasium and

I.T I.T is a Hong Kong fashion and investment conglomerate founded in November 1988. It owns a number of Hong Kong brands which it retails as well as distributing Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere ...

and Mathematics suites installed in 2004. The Music Department now has recording studios and technology suites. In September 2005, new

maths Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, theories and theorems that are developed and proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include num ...

facilities were opened. Following the opening of the new maths suites in the Autumn of 2005, the buildings were used for housing of the resistant materials and art until the end of the academic year of 2006, while the departments were being refurbished. The old buildings were demolished in the months of July and August 2006 and then in July 2006, the new music and drama suites were opened. Following a large interest in the

, due to outstanding results, the Sixth Form was relocated to a new building in September 2010.

Extracurricular activities

Hutton has many internal and external

organisations An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is an entity—such as a company, or corporation or an institution (formal organization), or an association—comprising one or more people and having a part ...

, one of these being the ''Old Huttonians Association'' which is open to all previous attendees of the school. The association organises dinners and

reunions Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, ...

on a semi regular basis. There is also a

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

which meets at the school. ''Old Huttonian Lodge'' no. 7614 is part of the ''Leyland Group of Lodges and Chapters'' and meets 5 times a year. A member of the ''Federation of School Lodges'', it draws membership from current and past teachers, past pupils and their close relatives. The debating society won the national 'Debating Matters' competition at the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...

, having never previously entered. The 2015 Hutton debating team won the Lancashire regional heat, which sent them through to the North West & North Wales regional final, which they went on to win. Hutton eventually lost out in the group stages of the national finals in June 2015. However, a year later, the 2016 cohort reached the final of the national finals, finishing runners up. It was the first time Hutton had reached the national finals in consecutive years. The Hutton Grammar Economics Society is open to all present and past students of the school. The school had its own radio station, ''Hutt on Air'', which first broadcast on 9 July 2010 and was broadcast to the students (and sixth form) via the school computers and internal AVOID systems.

List of Headmasters

* 1805. Rev Richard Rowe died on 13 June 1805, while headmaster. * 1807. Rev Whitehead. * 1839 to 1851. Rev William Harrison. * 1851. Rev John Ketton, appointed May 1851. * 1861. Rev John Ketton. * 1871. Rev John Ketton. * 1878. Rev Benjamin Corke Huntly M.A. Appointed November 1878, died age 46, while headmaster, on 9 May 1890. * 1891. Rev Thomas Joseph Cunningham M.A. * 1901. Rev Thomas Joseph Cunningham M.A. * 1911. Rev Thomas Joseph Cunningham M.A. * 1920 to 1938. Lieutenant Colonel Reverend Charles Percy Hines. * 1938 to 1951. Harold Henry Abbott, the poet. * 1951 to 1963. Charles William Lloyd. Left upon appointment as headmaster at

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, independent, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Edward Alleyn's College of God's Gift charitable foundatio ...

. * 1963 (Autumn term). Alfred E Ashburner, acting headmaster. * 1964 to 1983. J Nelson. * 1983 to 1997. Gavin Armstrong. * 2001. T.P. Bennett * 2005. D Pearson, appointed April 2005. * 2016. Mark Bradshaw, appointed April 2016. * 2023. Nicola Moran, appointed January 2023.

Notable former pupils

, former England rugby union captain, former head coach of Leicester Tigers and now head coach of England national rugby union men's team. * Brian Cookson OBE, former president of the International Cycling Union and

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national sport governing body, governing body for cycle sport in United Kingdom, Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands a ...

* Peter Elleray,

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

and

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

Racing car designer. *

Edward Gardner Edward Gardner may refer to: * Edward W. Gardner (1867–1932), American balkline and straight rail billiards champion * Edward Joseph Gardner (1898–1950), U.S. Representative from Ohio * Ed Gardner (1901–1963), American actor, director and wr ...

, former Royal Navy Commander, survivor of two ship sinkings,

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and later, a politician * Nigel Jemson, former Premier League footballer * Graham Mather represented Hampshire North and Oxford in the European Parliament from 1994 to 1999 * Richard G. Mitchell Composer known for writing and producing movie and TV scores *

Nazia Mogra Nazia Mogra is a British children's TV presenter and senior television journalist for BBC's '' Newsround'' and ''North West Tonight'', on BBC One and BBC Sport. Life Nazia grew up in Preston and attended Hutton Grammar School and Edge Hill Univ ...

, Children's TV presenter and senior television journalist * Jonathan Myles-Lea, painter * Howard Stableford, former presenter of the BBC's Tomorrow's World and Newsround * Tony Swift, former England Rugby international * David Williams, chief executive of the United Kingdom Space Agency since 2010 (formerly the British Nationals Space Centre)

References

External links

Hutton Grammar School website

EduBase

HGS Economics
{{Borough of South Ribble culture 1552 establishments in England Schools in South Ribble Boys' schools in Lancashire Secondary schools in Lancashire Educational institutions established in the 1550s Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Blackburn Voluntary aided schools in England