Parrs Wood 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 ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in East Didsbury,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, England, located off

Wilmslow Road Wilmslow Road is a major road in Manchester, England, running from Parrs Wood northwards to Rusholme. There it becomes Oxford Road and the name changes again to Oxford Street when it crosses the River Medlock and reaches the city centre. ...

behind Parrs Wood Entertainment Complex. It educates pupils from the age of 11 to 18 years.

A-Levels 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 a ...

are taught at the Parrs Wood Sixth Form Centre, which is integrated with the main school.

History

Parrs Wood was the 4th largest school in the UK in 2008, with 2,030 students and 450 in the sixth form centre. In 2015, the governors of Parrs Wood decided to embark on the process of turning the school into an academy, despite opposition from staff and local politicians.Labour’s policy on academies takes a tumble in Manchester
/ref> It converted in 2016, the former school had community school status; its URN wa
105556
After the Manchester Arena bombing, the school's choir recorded the title track from

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

's '' My Everything'' to benefit the victims. The choir then performed the song at the

One Love Manchester One Love Manchester was a benefit concert and British television special on 4 June 2017, organised by American singer Ariana Grande, Simon Moran, Melvin Benn and Scooter Braun in response to the Manchester Arena bombing after Grande's concert t ...

concert with Ariana Grande herself to further honour and aid the victims.

The building

The original school building, built in 1967, was demolished in 2000 and was rebuilt from scratch on a site behind the original school; the contractors built the school building in exchange for a portion of the school grounds on which to build an entertainment complex.

Sixth form

Parrs Wood

Sixth Form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

Centre is part of the school campus. It opened in 2000 after the rebuilding of the main school. The centre is located in a Grade II listed building independent from the main school.

Ofsted

In 2007, an

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

inspection showed the school to be lacking in several areas, particularly in KS3 SAT results, and criticised the school management for failure to act to remedy the situation. The report reflected that this situation was unacceptable and the school was placed in special measures. In February 2010, OFSTED judged the school to be satisfactory and as such no longer required special measures. In its most recent inspection, the school was graded as Grade 2 - Good.

Controversy

In May 2007, a canister of

CS gas The compound 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile (also called ''o''-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile; chemical formula: C10H5ClN2), a cyanocarbon, is the defining component of tear gas commonly referred to as CS gas, which is used as a riot control agent ...

was discharged in the science area of Parrs Wood, which resulted in 58 students and staff being taken to hospital. The incident was described by

Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England. , Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...

as an "idiotic prank". In 2012, Judge Peeling QC, found against the

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

of the school in a

Judicial Review Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...

of a decision to suspend one of the governors. The school is directly opposite a branch of Grosvenor G Casinos in the Parrs Wood entertainment centre complex. Members of

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three ...

planning committee A planning committee in the United Kingdom is a committee of local authority councillors that sit as the local planning authority to determine planning applications. Advice is usually given to the committee by planning officers who provide a reco ...

originally rejected the plans to build the casino after Didsbury residents objected due to a possible negative effect on the livelihood of pupils at the school: students would have to walk past the casino on a daily basis in order to attend. Despite the original rejection, Grosvenor G Casinos were granted planning permission in March 2011. The Parrs Wood branch has been open as of June 2012.

Notable former pupils

Matt Crampton Matthew "Matt" Nicholas Crampton (born 23 May 1986) is an English former track cyclist for . He was a member of British Cycling's Olympic Podium Programme, and represented Great Britain at a number of major events. Crampton specialised in track ...

, cyclist *

Holliday Grainger Holliday Clark Grainger (born 27 March 1988), also credited as Holly Grainger, is an English screen and stage actress. Some of her prominent roles are Kate Beckett in the BAFTA award-winning children's series ''Roger and the Rottentrolls'', Luc ...

, English screen and stage actress *

Lisa Nandy Lisa Eva Nandy (born 9 August 1979) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Wigan since 2010. N ...

, Labour MP *

Hannah Pool Hannah Azieb Pool (born 1974) is a British–Eritrean writer and journalist. She was born near the town of Keren in Eritrea during the war for independence from Ethiopia. She is a former staff writer for ''The Guardian'' newspaper, and writes ...

, fashion writer *

Lucy Powell Lucy Maria Powell (born 10 October 1974) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport since 2021. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for ...

,Lucy Powell 10 key facts about the new shadow Education Secretary
/ref> Labour MP * Nick Speak, cricketer

Pictures

Image:Parrs_Wood_sports_hall.jpg, School's main sports hall Image:Open_plan_school.jpg, Part of the open plan school. Image:BirdseyeViewPWCampus.jpg, A birdseye view of Parrs Wood School campus. File:Parrs Wood House, Didsbury, Manchester, England.jpg, Parrs Wood House - A Grade II* listed Victorian building once belonging to the Parrs family, which houses the Sixth Form Centre.

References

External links

*
The school's choir sings
the title track from '' My Everything'' (2017) {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1967 Secondary schools in Manchester Didsbury 1967 establishments in England Academies in Manchester