Chorlton High School is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

secondary school with academy status, located in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...

, Manchester, England. It has around 1500 pupils and 300 in each of its 5 years.

History

Grammar school

There was a "Chorlton High School" in the 19th century run by Dr

William Ballantyne Hodgson William Ballantyne Hodgson (6 October 1815 – 24 August 1880) was a Scottish educational reformer and political economist. Life The son of William Hodgson, a printer, he was born in Edinburgh on 6 October 1815. In 1820 the family were living ...

, this Chorlton High School (for Boys) was founded in September 1924 with 110 boys due to the growing need to educate older local boys. The first headmaster was A. F. Chappell, appointed in 1925. During Second World War it was twice evacuated to

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

, owing to the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

; school records for the period during the war are sketchy, as the boys were moved around multiple times. The first headmaster retired in 1951 and was succeeded by Mr Merriman a year later. In 1952 it became a grammar school as pupil numbers started increasing again. The third and final headmaster was C. A. Crofts, appointed in 1963. There was at one time a lower school in Darley Avenue (formerly Barlow Hall School).

Comprehensive

During the 1960s it returned to its comprehensive roots. The existing building of Chorlton High School at Nell Lane (built in the early 1960s) co-existed with the Grammar School for a number of years. At this At this point the present Chorlton High did not replace the two combined schools but existed alongside it. The Sandy Lane/Corkland Road site was closed and the buildings demolished some years later. In the early years it was called Oakwood High School. Chorlton Grammar School on Corkland Road merged with Barlow Hall Secondary Modern School in 1967, when all of Manchester's secondary state schools became comprehensive. Oakwood High School was the name give to the school, formed by the amalgamation of Wilbraham High School and Chorlton High School in the early 1980s. The current site of Chorlton High School at Nell Lane, was the original site of the Wilbraham High School Upper School. It was designated a specialist

Arts College An Arts College, in the United Kingdom, is a type of specialist school that specialises in the subject fields of the performing, visual, digital and/or media arts. They were announced in 1996 and introduced alongside Sports Colleges to England i ...

in 2002. In May 2012, the school governors approved the controversial decision to convert into an

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

. The school became an academy on 1 January 2013.

Notable people

A recording studio commemorates

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician. He achieved fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main le ...

, though none of the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

studied at Chorlton High School. They went to the nearby Oswald Road primary school but the family then emigrated to Australia.

Chorlton High School

Trevor Davey Trevor Davey (5 July 1926 – 13 February 2012) was a Member of Parliament from Gisborne in the North Island of New Zealand who represented the Labour Party. Biography Davey was born in Didsbury, Lancashire, England, in 1926, the son of H. ...

, Member of Parliament (New Zealand) *

Tosin Adarabioyo Abdul-Nasir Oluwatosin Oluwadoyinsolami Adarabioyo (born 24 September 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Fulham. Adarabioyo started his professional career with Manchester City where, after progress ...

, Centre-back for Fulham FC

Oakwood High School

* Andrea Ashworth, author of the memoir, ''Once in a House on Fire''. *Danielle Jawando, author and screenwriter. *

David Joseph Henry David Joseph Henry is a writer, human rights activist and former parliamentary candidate from Manchester, England. He is a former pupil of Oakwood High School in Chorlton. Biography In 1999 he co-founded the Queer Youth Network. He writes ...

, Writer and human rights activist. * David Judge, Actor, playwright and performance poet. *

Jason Manford Jason John Manford (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and singer. Manford was a team captain on the Channel 4 panel show ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' from 2007 until 2010 and has presented numerous television shows for the BBC an ...

, Comedian, television and radio presenter. *

Sarah Champion (journalist) Sarah Champion (born 1970 in Manchester) is an English music journalist and author. She has documented the 24 Hour Party People era and edited several collections of chemical fiction, including ''Disco Biscuits'' in 1997. Career Champion starte ...

, Manchester music journalist, author and editor

Wilbraham High School

David Threlfall David John Threlfall (born 12 October 1953) is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series '' Shameless''. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In Ap ...

, English stage, film and television actor and director. Frank Gallagher (Shameless).

Didsbury Technical High School

* Jim Cumbes, cricketer and goalkeeper for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Paul Hart Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English association football, football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the English Football League, Football League as a Defender (association football), def ...

, defender for Leeds United * Keith Newton, defender for Blackburn Rovers and Burnley * Sir Michael Turner CBE FRAeS, Chief Executive from 2002 to 2008 of

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

, and chairman since 2008 of

Babcock International Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

and from 2012 of

GKN GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It is a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 an ...

Chorlton Grammar School

* Peter Barnes, Footballer and Sports Pundit. *

Frank Cohen Frank Cohen (born 15 October 1943) is a British businessman and art collector. He is frequently referred to as "the Saatchi of the North", in reference to the more famous art dealer Charles Saatchi. He was born and raised in Manchester, where ...

(1926–2012), member of the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...

(–1975) * Jack Eccles CBE, President of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

(1985–1986) *

Roy Gibson Roy Gibson (born 4 July 1924) is a former Director General of ESRO, and the first Director General of ESA, serving from 1975 until 1980. Early years Gibson was born in Manchester on 4 July 1924 and educated at Chorlton High School and at the ...

, Director General from 1985 to 1987 of the

British National Space Centre The British National Space Centre (BNSC) was an agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, organised in 1985, that coordinated civil space activities for the United Kingdom. It was replaced on 1 April 2010 by the United Kingdom Space Age ...

, and Director General from 1975 to 1980 of the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

(ESA) * John Gwynne, darts commentator, father of

Andrew Gwynne Andrew John Gwynne (born 4 June 1974) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Denton and Reddish since 2005. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Shadow Minister for Public Health since 2021 and previousl ...

, the Labour MP for

Denton and Reddish Denton and Reddish is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Andrew Gwynne of the Labour Party. Boundaries The constituency presently consists of an electorate of about 65,500 in eastern Greater ...

since 2005 * Harry Hargreaves, was an English cartoonist *

Graham Paddon Graham Charles Paddon (24 August 1950 – 19 November 2007) was an English footballer who played as a midfielder for Coventry City, Millwall, Norwich City and West Ham United. Playing career Paddon was born in Manchester and began his career as ...

, midfielder for

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

Hannah Elizabeth Pipe Hannah Elizabeth Pipe (27 November 1831 – 29 December 1906) was a British headmistress. Life Pipe was born in Manchester in 1831. Her parents were Susanna (born Spencer) and William Pipe. Her uncle was John Willson Pipe who like her father, wa ...

, (1831–1906), headteacher

Former staff

Adrian Henri Adrian Henri (10 April 1932 – 20 December 2000) was a British poet and painter best remembered as the founder of poetry-rock group the Liverpool Scene and as one of three poets in the best-selling anthology '' The Mersey Sound'', along with ...

– taught at the school during the 1950s.

References

External links

School websiteChorlton Grammar School Old Boys
(Unofficial alumni website) {{authority control Defunct grammar schools in England Secondary schools in Manchester Academies in Manchester 1924 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1924