The Shena Simon Campus, formerly the Central High School and the Shena Simon Sixth Form College, is an educational facility on

Whitworth Street, Manchester Whitworth may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Whitworth, County Durham, a former civil parish in England ** Whitworth Hall, County Durham * Whitworth, Lancashire, a town in England *Whitworth Art Gallery, an art gallery in Manchester, England * W ...

, England. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

History

The building was designed by Potts Son and Hennings and was officially opened by the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has b ...

as the Central Higher Grade School in 1901. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the building was requisitioned by the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

to create the 2nd Western General Hospital, a facility for the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

to treat military casualties. It became the Central High School in 1920, the Central High School for Boys in 1960 and then the Shena Simon Sixth Form College (named after Shena Simon, the politician and feminist) in 1982. It was absorbed into

City College Manchester City College Manchester was a network of further education campuses in Manchester, England. History The network was formed in the late 20th century when institutions in Central Manchester, Fielden Park, Arden and Wythenshawe merged to form Cit ...

in 2001 and became a campus of

The Manchester College The Manchester College is the largest further education college in the United Kingdom and the largest single provider of 16–19, adult and higher education in Greater Manchester, with more than 25% of Greater Manchester’s learning provision ...

in 2008.

Alumni

Central High School for Girls

Carol Birch Carol Birch (born 1951) is an English novelist, lecturer and book critic. She also teaches creative writing. Life Birch was born in Manchester, England. Her parents had met in a wartime armaments factory. Her father, a metallurgist, also played ...

, novelist * Vivian Tierney, operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, married to Alan Woodrow *

Arlene Phillips Dame Arlene Phillips (born 22 May 1943) is an English choreographer, theatre director, talent scout, former television judge, presenter, and dancer. She reached mainstream fame on television as a judge on ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (2004-2008) a ...

CBE, choreographer, known for ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

References

{{coord, 53.47715, -2.23804, type:edu_region:GB_dim:100, format=dms, display=title Education in Manchester

History

Alumni

Central High School for Girls

See also

References