Stockport Grammar School

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Stockport Grammar School
Address
Buxton Road Stockport , Greater Manchester , SK2 7AF England
Coordinates	53°23′27″N 2°08′38″W / 53.3907°N 2.1440°W / 53.3907; -2.1440
Information
Type	Private day school
Motto	Latin:Vincit Qui Patitur He who endures, conquers
Established	1487; 537 years ago (1487)
Founder	Sir Edmund Shaa
Local authority	Stockport
Department for Education URN	106156 Tables
Chairman of Governors	Christopher Dunn
Headmistress	Sarah Capewell
Gender	Co-educational
Age	3 to 18
Enrolment	1517
Houses	4
Colour(s)	Black & Gold
Song	Psalm 130
Publication	The Stopfordian Taking Stock The Old Stops' Review
Former pupils	Old Stopfordians
Website	www.stockportgrammar.co.uk
2km 1.2miles The Stockport Grammar School

Stockport Grammar School is a co-educational private day school in Stockport, England. Founded in 1487 by former Lord Mayor of London Sir Edmund Shaa, it is the second oldest in the North of England, after Lancaster Royal Grammar School, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

The school was founded in 1487 by Sir Edmund Shaa, the 1482 Lord Mayor of London 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.^[1] 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, Cambridge and St Andrews, while the curriculum became increasingly broad with the rudiments of Greek joining a study of Latin, the Christian religion, writing in English and arithmetic.^[2][3] Five years after the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths met to discuss the possibility of transferring the school to a different site, new buildings open 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.^[1]

The Greek Street building became unsuitable for the demands of a modern school, and the school was relocated in 1915 to its present site ^[1] and was inaugurated on 29 January 1916 by the chairman of the Cheshire county council.^{[3][failed verification]}

In 1980, girls were admitted to the school. ^{[citation needed]}

The Hallam Hall, seen from across the Old Quad below was named after the Mayor of Stockport 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. ^{[citation needed]}

The main school building was constructed with a Victorian neo-Gothic 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.^{[citation needed]}

In 2011, planning permission was received to erect a new teaching block on the Woodsmoor side of the site,^[4] to replace the Woodsmoor hall and laboratories that were demolished in 2010.^[5] The build was completed in June 2012, and the "black and white tower" and classics block were demolished later that year.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, the average grade at A-Level was B+, compared to B in all schools in Stockport and B nationally.^[6]

The school offers over 200 extracurricular activities to its pupils,^[7] with the Independent Schools Inspectorate rating the school's extracurricular provision as "outstanding" in 2011.^[8]

The school is its own Duke of Edinburgh's Award operating authority.^[9] In 2010, the school issued its 1000th Duke of Edinburgh Award,^[10] a milestone which was marked by the visit of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.^[11]

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 (MUN) conference since March 2006. At 2008's conference, Labour MP and former home secretary David Blunkett was the school's guest speaker. At 2012's conference, Senior Liberal Democrat MP, Andrew Stunell was the guest speaker.^[12]

The school runs a series of expeditions for Sixth Formers every two years^[13] to places such as Venezuela, Vietnam, Uganda, Namibia, Rwanda and in 2015 an expedition to Bolivia & Peru.^[14] In 2017, an expedition took 41 students to Borneo. Pupils participate in planning the trips and manage their own finances, accommodation, food and transportation.^[13]

The school's annual publication in 2012 was The Stopfordian, a comprehensive review of the school year.^[15] A predecessor was named simply Stockport Grammar School Magazine.

The school has published Taking Stock, a newsletter rounding up recent news and photographs.^[16]

Old Stops' Review, a new annual magazine containing news from ex-pupils,^[17] was first published in 2011.

Former pupils are known as "Old Stopfordians", not to be confused with simply Stopfordians (the demonym of Stockport being "Stopfordian"), or the former pupils of Bishop Stopford's School at Enfield, who are also known as Old Stopfordians.

The Old Stopfordians' Association in 2012 operated Stopfordians Lacrosse Club, who played in the North of England Men's Lacrosse Association Premier 2 division.^[18] The team then played their home games at Disley Amalgamated Sports Club.^[19]

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (January 2024)

• John Amaechi OBE (1970-), English retired NBA basketball player and broadcaster in the USA
• David Armitage (1965-), Professor of History at Harvard University.
• Thomas Ashe (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
• Geoff Downes (1952-), English rock keyboard player and songwriter for the bands Yes and Asia
• Marianne Elliott (1966-), Tony Award-winning theatre director
• Peter Firth (bishop) (1929-2024), former Suffragan Bishop of Malmesbury
• Michael Gilbertson (1961-), current Archdeacon of Chester
• Roger Hammond (1936-2012), English film, television and stage actor
• Mark Isherwood (1959-), Conservative member of the National Assembly for Wales for the region of North Wales
• Chris Jones (1982-), English rugby union rugby player for The Worcester Warriors
• Cecil Kimber (1888-1945), automobile engineer, founder of The MG car company
• Sir Horace Lamb FRS (1849-1934), British applied mathematician and author of several influential texts on classical physics
• Gordon Marsden (1953-), Labour Party politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool South
• Paul Morley (1957-), English music journalist
• Samuel Perry (1877-1954), Labour Co-operative politician and father of the British tennis 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
• William Tobin (1953-2022), astronomer and political candidate
• John Turner (1943-), recorder player and former lawyer
• Sir Frederic Calland Williams CBE (1911-1977), engineer and computer pioneer, who developed radar in World War II and the first stored-program digital computer

• List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom

• Stockport Grammar School
• Flickr: Stockport Grammar School's Photostream
• ISI Inspection Reports - Junior School & Senior School