Stockport Grammar School is a co-educational

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

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 ...

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Founded in 1487 by Sir Edmund Shaa, a former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

, it is the second oldest in the

North of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...

, after

Lancaster Royal Grammar School Lancaster Royal Grammar School (LRGS) is an 11–18 boys grammar school in Lancaster, England, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. Old students belong to The Old Lancastrians. The school's sixth form opened to girls in 2019. LRGS is also in the Unit ...

, and a member of the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), formerly known as the Headmasters' Conference and now branded HMC (The Heads' Conference), is an association of the head teachers of 351 private fee-charging schools (both boarding schools ...

History

Foundation

The school was founded in 1487 by Sir Edmund Shaa, the 1482

whose will provided for a school and a small chapel in St Mary's Church in Stockport and funds to maintain a priest to chant masses and teach grammar. Alexander Lowe, the Mayor of Stockport, left the school a permanent home in Chestergate in his will. The school became increasingly successful with pupils being accepted at the ancient universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, while the curriculum became increasingly broad with the rudiments of Greek joining a study of Latin, the Christian religion, writing in English and arithmetic.Stockport Grammar School , Stockport Grammar School
facebook.com. Retrieved on September 7, 2012. Five years after the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths met to discuss the possibility of transferring the school to a different site, new buildings opened where Greek Street meets New Wellington Road. As well as paying for the building, the Goldsmiths also increased the salaries of the headmaster and usher and paid the running costs.

Current site on Buxton Road

The

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in ...

building became unsuitable for the demands of a modern school, and the school was relocated in 1915 to its present site and was inaugurated on 29 January 1916 by the Chairman of Cheshire County Council.

Move to coeducation

In 1980, girls were admitted to the school.

The school site

The Mile End buildings 1916-1980

View of the Hallam Hall across the Old Quad- 2013-04-26 11-38

The Hallam Hall, seen from across the Old Quad below was named after the Mayor of

and major benefactor Ephraim Hallam. This was originally the School’s Assembly Hall and later the main library but due to the expansion of the School site, which included a new, multi-resource 14000 book library, the hall was converted into an entertainments room. The main school building was constructed with a Victorian

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

style of architecture. Other buildings which have been constructed since then have mostly remained continuous with the general style of the main site, particularly the muted red brick and distinctive yellow limestone bands which feature heavily on the main building.

New Woodsmoor building 2013 - present

In 2011, planning permission was received to erect a new teaching block on the Woodsmoor side of the site, to replace the Woodsmoor hall and laboratories that were demolished in 2010. The build was completed in June 2012, and the "black and white tower" and classics block were demolished later that year.

Academic performance

In 2023, the average grade at

A-Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

was B+, compared to B in all schools in Stockport and B nationally.

Extracurricular Activities

The school offers over 200 extracurricular activities to its pupils, with the Independent Schools Inspectorate rating the school's extracurricular provision as "outstanding" in 2011.

Duke of Edinburgh's Award

The school is its own

Duke of Edinburgh's Award The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, which has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and ...

operating authority. In 2010, the school issued its 1000th Duke of Edinburgh Award, a milestone which was marked by the visit of

Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh (Edward Antony Richard Louis; born 10 March 1964) is a member of the British royal family. He is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest sibling of K ...

Model United Nations

In 1985 SGS represented the USSR at the 40th anniversary Model United Nations conference held at Central Hall, Westminster, to celebrate the first United Nations General Assembly. In 1990 the SGS delegation won the best delegation award at The Hague Model United Nations. The school has hosted a biennial

Model United Nations Model United Nations, also known as Model UN (MUN), is an educational simulation of the United Nations, which teaches students about diplomacy, international relations, global issues, and how the United Nations is run. During a model UN confe ...

(MUN) conference since March 2006. At 2008's conference, Labour MP and former home secretary

David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Employment from 1997 to 2001, Home Secretary from 2001 to 2004 and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2005. ...

was the school's guest speaker. At 2012's conference, Senior Liberal Democrat MP, Andrew Stunell was the guest speaker.

Expeditions

The school runs a series of expeditions for Sixth Formers every two years to places such as

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

and in 2015 an expedition to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. In 2017, an expedition took 41 students to

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. Pupils participate in planning the trips and manage their own finances, accommodation, food and transportation.

Publications

''The Stopfordian''

The school's annual publication in 2012 was ''The Stopfordian'', a comprehensive review of the school year. A predecessor was named simply ''Stockport Grammar School Magazine''.

Taking Stock

The school has published Taking Stock, a newsletter rounding up recent news and photographs.

''Old Stops' Review''

''Old Stops' Review'', a new annual magazine containing news from ex-pupils, was first published in 2011.

Old Stopfordians

Former pupils are known as "Old Stopfordians", not to be confused with simply Stopfordians (the

demonym A demonym (; ) or 'gentilic' () is a word that identifies a group of people ( inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to a particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place ( hamlet, village, town, city, region, ...

of Stockport being "Stopfordian"), or the former pupils of

Bishop Stopford's School at Enfield Bishop Stopford's School, commonly known as Bishop Stopford's, or (simply) just Bishop's, is a voluntary aided co-educational secondary school specialising in mathematics, computing and engineering, with a sixth form. It is a London Dioces ...

, who are also known as Old Stopfordians.

Stopfordians Lacrosse Club

The Old Stopfordians' Association in 2012 operated Stopfordians

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

Club, who played in the North of England Men's Lacrosse Association Premier 2 division. The team then played their home games at Disley Amalgamated Sports Club.Lacrosse
Disley Amalgamated Sports Club. Retrieved on January 31, 2012.

Notable Old Stopfordians

* John Amaechi OBE (1970-), English retired NBA basketball player and broadcaster in the USA * David Armitage (1965-), Professor of History at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. *

Thomas Ashe Thomas Patrick Ashe (; 12 January 1885 – 25 September 1917) was an Irish revolutionary and politician. He was a member of the Gaelic League, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and a founding member of th ...

(1836-1889), English poet *Admiral Sir George Back FRS (1796-1878), British naval officer and Arctic explorer *Sir Victor Blank (1942-), British businessman and philanthropist * Peter Boardman (1950-1982), British Himalayan mountaineer and author, died on Everest * Martin Bourke (1947-), former British diplomat and Governor of the

Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and no ...

Geoff Downes Geoffrey Downes (born 25 August 1952) is an English keyboardist who gained fame as a member of the new wave group the Buggles with Trevor Horn, the progressive rock band Yes, and the supergroup Asia. Born in Stockport, Downes moved to Lond ...

(1952-), English rock keyboard player and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

for the bands

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

* Marianne Elliott (1966-),

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winning theatre director * Peter Firth (bishop) (1929-2024), former Suffragan Bishop of Malmesbury * Michael Gilbertson (1961-), current

Archdeacon of Chester The Archdeacon of Chester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the diocese of Chester. The area in which she, or he, has statutory duties is the Archdeaconry of Chester – those duties include some pastoral care and disciplinary supervision of ...

* Roger Hammond (1936-2012), English film, television and stage actor * Mark Isherwood (1959-),

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

member of the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

for the region of

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

* Chris Jones (1982-), English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

rugby player for The

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

* Cecil Kimber (1888-1945), automobile engineer, founder of The

MG car company MG is a British automotive marque founded by Cecil Kimber in the 1920s, and M.G. Car Company Limited was the British sports car manufacturer existing between 1930 and 1972 that made the marque well known. Since 2007 the marque has been control ...

*Sir

Horace Lamb Sir Horace Lamb (27 November 1849 – 4 December 1934R. B. Potts,, '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 5, MUP, 1974, pp 54–55. Retrieved 5 Sep 2009) was a British applied mathematician and author of several influential texts on ...

FRS (1849-1934), British

applied mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History One ...

and author of several influential texts on

classical physics Classical physics refers to physics theories that are non-quantum or both non-quantum and non-relativistic, depending on the context. In historical discussions, ''classical physics'' refers to pre-1900 physics, while '' modern physics'' refers to ...

* Gordon Marsden (1953-), Labour Party

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool South *

Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley (born 26 March 1957) is a British music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983, and has since written for a wide range of publications and written his own books. He was a co-founder of the reco ...

(1957-), English music journalist * Samuel Perry (1877-1954), Labour Co-operative politician and father of the British

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 ...

champion Fred Perry * Neil Andrew Megson (1950-2020), English singer-songwriter, musician, poet, writer and performance artist Genesis P-Orridge. * Andy Stanford-Clark (1966-), leading British information technology research engineer for IBM and IBM Master Inventor * Di Stewart (1979-), television presenter on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

* William Tobin (1953-2022), astronomer and political candidate * John Turner (1943-), recorder player and former lawyer *Sir

Frederic Calland Williams Sir Frederic Calland Williams, (26 June 1911 – 11 August 1977), known as F.C. Williams or Freddie Williams, was an English engineer, a pioneer in radar and computer technology. Education Williams was born in Romiley, Stockport, and edu ...

CBE (1911-1977), engineer and computer pioneer, who developed

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the first stored-program digital computer

Headteachers

* 2023 Sarah Capewell

References

External links

Stockport Grammar School

Flickr: Stockport Grammar School's Photostream
* ISI Inspection Reports
Junior School
&
Senior School
{{authority control Ancient grammar schools of Cheshire Educational institutions established in the 15th century Private schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport 1487 establishments in England Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Schools in Stockport