Loreto Grammar School is located in

Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sa ...

, England. Pupils must sit an entrance exam to enter, and fulfil several other entry criteria. It is part of the worldwide Loreto community, and the Altrincham school was founded by the

Sisters of Loreto The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members are commonly known as the Loreto Sisters, is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women dedicated to education founded in Saint-Omer by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward (nun), Mary Ward, i ...

in 1909. It has also assumed the status of an academy (30 August 2012) and is a

specialist school Specialist schools, also known as specialised schools or specialized schools, are schools which specialise in a certain area or field of curriculum. In some countries, for example New Zealand, the term is used exclusively for schools specialis ...

for maths and science. The school's values are justice, truth, sincerity, freedom, joy, and more recently excellence and internationality. At the school there are 1050 students and 100 staff members. Loreto is also part of a bigger, worldwide community which was founded by Mary Ward and this consists of over 120 schools and 70,000 students. The 266 students of the school's sixth form are expected to support the ethos and values of the school and show the ability to follow an academic AS/A2 level course or the International Baccalaureate course. The school was described in its 2005 Ofsted report as "outstanding with an outstanding sixth form". In its next report in 2008 Ofsted remarked "This is an outstandingly effective school. It has improved substantially since the last inspection and has demonstrated excellent capacity to develop further".

History

Independent school

The school was called Loreto Convent Grammar School, Bowdon, in the 1950s; the school was not a direct grant grammar school, but an independent catholic school, not a state school. Girls would attend from as far away as

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

and Alderley Edge in the 1950s. It was a

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

school, playing netball against teams such as Northwich County Grammar School for Girls. Sport was emphasised, and competitions would take place against Wirral schools, then likewise in Cheshire. A similar type of school today would be Alderley Edge School for Girls, a catholic girls school, or the former Culcheth Hall School. New buildings were built in the early 1970s, costing around £250,000. The school included a prep school section. In the late 1970s Stockport council sent catholic assisted places to the school.''Wilmslow Advertiser'' Thursday 14 December 1978, page 22 The school was called Loreto Convent Grammar School in the early 1990s. Local councils bought catholic places at the school.

State school

In around 1997 the school became a grant-maintained state school.

Notable former pupils

* Suzanne Charlton, former BBC weather presenter, daughter of Sir

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (11 October 1937 – 21 October 2023) was an English professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, left winger or centre-forward. Widely considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member ...

* Jade Clarke, England netball captain 2020, also plays for Surrey Storm netball club *

Antonia Quirke Antonia Quirke is a British film critic. As well as writing on film for the ''Financial Times'' and a weekly column for the ''New Statesman'', she has presented regularly on '' The Film Programme'', '' Pick of the Week'', BBC Radio 4, as well as ' ...

, film critic, TV and radio presenter * Anna Scaife, professor of radio astronomy at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, winner of the 2018 Jackson-Gwilt Medal * Nina Warhurst, BBC Breakfast presenter

References

{{authority control Girls' schools in Greater Manchester Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Shrewsbury Grammar schools in Trafford Sisters of Loreto schools Altrincham Academies in Trafford 1909 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1909

History

Independent school

State school

Notable former pupils

See also

References