The King's School, Macclesfield, is an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

for day pupils in Prestbury, Cheshire, England, and a member of the

Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) is an association of the head teachers of 361 independent schools (both boarding schools and day schools), some traditionally described as public schools. 298 Members are based in the Un ...

. It was founded in 1502 by Sir John Percyvale, a former

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

, as Macclesfield Grammar School.

History

The King's School was founded in 1502 within the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Macclesfield. It was re-founded by

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

in 1552 as the "Free Grammar School of King Edward VI". It moved to Cumberland Street, 300 metres further from the town square, in 1844. In July 2020 the school moved to a new location adjacent to its long-held Derby Playing Fields, on the outskirts of Macclesfield. In 1844 a Modern School, with a more commercial and technical curriculum, was built by the governors to run in tandem with the Grammar School. It merged with the Grammar School in 1912. The school operated as a direct-grant school and offered scholarships for boys from state elementary schools from 1926 until 1966, when its application to continue as a

direct grant grammar school A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...

was refused and it became fully independent. The boys' junior school was opened in 1947. In 1993 girls from age 11 to 16 were admitted and housed with co-educational juniors, and later infants, at the old Macclesfield High School site on Fence Avenue. The Sixth Form had been co-educational since 1986. The King's School's 2020 development plans involved closing the two existing school sites in Macclesfield and opening a new single site school in Prestbury, near Macclesfield. The development plans involved selling off the two existing school sites for housing development to fund the new school site. The school acquired greenbelt farmland adjacent to its Derby Fields site for which it subsequently sought planning permission in order to develop the existing school site and the farmland for housing. Planning permission was granted to the school to build more than 250 houses on the greenbelt land in Macclesfield in July 2016. The new school was built on green belt land in nearby Prestbury. Planning permission for all sites was confirmed when the Secretary of State declined to call in the plans for further scrutiny in September 2016. In July 2020 King's School left Macclesfield after more than 500 years of continuous operation in the town and relocated to Prestbury.

Academia

The school follows the

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or other ...

for

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

in Years 10–11 and

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 ...

in the sixth form. In 2012, pupils achieved A*/A in 41% of all exams and A* – B in three-quarters of exams. Pupils achieved the best-ever GCSE results in 2012 with 33% of grades at A* grade, more than 63% of grades at A*/A and 86% at A* – B grade. In 2011, pupils achieved 75% A* to B grade at A-level, with a 99.7% pass rate, and 60% As and A*s at GCSE.

Extra-curricular activities

Music

In 2003 the school's Foundation Choir won BBC ''

Songs of Praise ''Songs of Praise'' is a BBC Television religious programme that presents Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK. The series was first broadcast in October 1961. On that occasion, the venue was the Ta ...

'' Choir of the Year. It takes bi-annual trips to perform across Europe, having visited

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Levico Terme Levico Terme (''Levego'' in local dialect; cim, Leve) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about southeast of Trento. As of 30 June 2012, it had a population of 7,668 ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...

and

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

. In 2016 the choir performed in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. The choir and numerous bands also perform at nearby St Michael's Church. The school's music department is equipped with a recording studio and practice rooms and offers instrumental lessons to the students. The department also performs musicals such as ''The Revenge of Sherlock Holmes'', a West End musical, in 2012.

Drama

The school performs two to three plays a year; one by the Boys' Division/Sixth Form, one by the Girls' Division, and one by the Juniors. Recent plays include ''Cinders'', ''Arabian Nights'', and ''The Ramayana''.

School trips

Trips abroad are arranged by individual departments, including those by the History and Classics departments, in addition to annual foreign language exchange visits. Pupils are involved in biennial

World Challenge Expeditions World Challenge is a for-profit UK provider of overseas adventure travel programs targeted at schools. The company was founded when a young army captain took a team of soldiers on a training mission to the snow-capped Hindu Kush mountain range in Pa ...

and recent expeditions have been to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, India and most recently

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. The school's Outdoor Activities Club organises regular trips to Yorkshire or the Peak District, that include walking, climbing and caving.

Sports

School sports include

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

, and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

Headmasters

*1502–1533: William Bridges (first) *1533–1560: John Bold *1560–1588: John Brownswerde *1588–1631: William Legh *1631–1648: Thomas Bolde *1648–1662: Henry Crosedale *1662–1666: Edward Powell *1666–1674: Ralph Gorse *1674–1676: Thomas Brancker *1676–1689: Rev. John Ashworth *1689–1690: Caleb Pott *1690–1704: Timothy Dobson *1704–1717: Edward Denham *1717–1720: George Hammond *1720–1745: Rev. Joseph Allen *1745: Edward Ford *1745–1749: Christopher Atkinson *1749–1774: Rowland Atkinson *1774–1790: Henry Ingles *1790–1828: David Davies *1828: Thomas Bourdillon *1828–1837: Rev. Francis Stonehewer Newbold *1849–1872: Rev. Thomas Brooking Cornish *1837–1849: William Alexander Osborn *1880–1910: Darwin Wilmot *1910–1933 : Francis Duntz Evans *1933–1966: Thomas Taylor Shaw *1966–1987: Alan Cooper *1987–2001: Adrian Silcock *2001–2011: Stephen Coyne *2011–2020: Simon Hyde *2020–present: Jason Slack

Notable former pupils

Thomas Newton Thomas Newton (1 January 1704 – 14 February 1782) was an English cleric, biblical scholar and author. He served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1761 to 1782. Biography Newton was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and was subsequently electe ...

(born 1542; died 1607), English

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

and poet * John Blundell, economist * Rev. Thomas Taylor, priest and historian * John Bradshaw, chief prosecutor of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

and the first man to sign his death warrant * Charles Gordon Hewitt (born 1885; died 1920), British-Canadian consulting zoologist * James Hope (born 1801; died 1841), cardiologist and physician *

Hewlett Johnson Hewlett Johnson (25 January 1874 – 22 October 1966) was an English priest of the Church of England, Marxist Theorist and Stalinist. He was Dean of Manchester and later Dean of Canterbury, where he acquired his nickname "The Red Dean of Ca ...

, Dean of Canterbury, known as the Red Dean * Sir Eric Jones KCMG, CB, CBE (born 1907; died 1986), former Director of

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Uni ...

D. R. Nicoll, ''Jones, Sir Eric Malcolm (1907–1986)'', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
/ref> * Tom Margerison (born 1923; died 2014), Founder of the

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...

, journalist at the

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

and BBC Broadcaster * Alan Jones (born 1927; died 2009), Scottish first-class cricketer * The Lord Beith of Berwick-on-Tweed, Alan Beith (born 1943), politician * Duncan Robinson CBE (born 1943), Master of

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Ma ...

and Chairman of the Henry Moore Foundation *

Christian Blackshaw Christian Charles Blackshaw (born 18 January 1949, in Cheshire, England) is a British classical pianist. He was educated at The King's School, Macclesfield. In his teens he played oboe (as well as piano) in the Stockport Youth Orchestra in ...

(born 1949), classical pianist * Robert Longden (born 1951), British actor, director, composer and librettist. * Steve Smith (born 1951), Captain of England (28 caps) and the British Lions rugby union teams * Guy Ryder CBE (born 1956),

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and Director-General of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

* Ian Curtis (born 1956; died 1980), of the post-punk band

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...

* Stephen Morris (born 1957), of the post-punk band

Jon Craig Jon Craig is the Chief Political Correspondent of Sky News, the 24-hour television news service operated by Sky Television, part of British Sky Broadcasting. He has occupied this position since July 2006.Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the he ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

(born 1958), former

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

Chief Executive * Guy Laurence (born 1961), CEO of

Chelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...

; former

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Vodafone UK Vodafone UK is a British telecommunications services provider, and a part of Vodafone Group Plc, the world's second-largest mobile phone company. Vodafone is the third-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 16.9 million su ...

* Peter Moores (born 1962), England cricket coach * Andy Bird CBE (born 1964), Chairman, Walt Disney International *

Oliver Holt Oliver Charles T Holt (born 22 May 1966) is an English sports journalist who writes for the newspaper '' The Mail on Sunday'' in the United Kingdom. He is the son of Thomas Holt and Coronation Street actress Eileen Derbyshire and is an avid St ...

(born 1966), former Chief Sports Correspondent for

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

and current Chief Sports Writer for the

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its Masthead (British publishing), masthead was simpl ...

* Vice Admiral

Jerry Kyd Vice Admiral Jeremy Paul Kyd, (born 14 August 1967) is a former senior Royal Navy officer. He has served as the Lieutenant Governor of Jersey since October 2022. He formerly served as Fleet Commander from March 2019 to September 2021. Early ...

(born 1967), Fleet Commander of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

, former Captain of

HMS Queen Elizabeth HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' could refer to one of three ships named in honour of Elizabeth I of England: * was the lead ship of the s, launched in 1913 and scrapped in 1948 * HMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' was to have been the first of the 1960s planned CV ...

* Richard Pool-Jones (born 1969), former England rugby union and

Stade Francais Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is ...

player * Stanley Chow (born 1974), artist and illustrator *

Helen Marten Helen Elizabeth Marten (born 1985 in Macclesfield) is an English artist based in London who works in sculpture, video, and installation art. Marten studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at the University of Oxford (2005–2008) and ...

(born 1985), artist and

Turner Prize The Turner Prize, named after the English painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist. Between 1991 and 2016, only artists under the age of 50 were eligible (this restriction was removed for the 2017 award). ...

winner *

Matthew Falder Matthew Alexander Falder (born 24 October 1988) is a convicted English serial sex offender and blackmailer who coerced his victims online into sending him degrading images of themselves or into committing crimes against a third person such as ra ...

(born 1988), convicted child sex offender *

Matty Healy The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in 2002 in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Now based in Manchester, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew "Matty" Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer ...

(born 1989), singer in

The 1975 The 1975 are an English pop rock band formed in 2002 in Wilmslow, Cheshire. Now based in Manchester, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Matthew "Matty" Healy, lead guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer ...

* Tommy Taylor (born 1991), England rugby union capped player (hooker) with London Wasps * Jonathan Marsden (born 1993), first-class cricketer, teacher at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

* Tom Hudson (born 1994), professional rugby player at Gloucester Rugby * Blake Richardson (born 1999), musician, member of British band

New Hope Club New Hope Club is a British pop trio formed in 2015, consisting of Reece Bibby, Blake Richardson, and George Smith. Their debut EP, ''Welcome to the Club'', was released through Steady Records/Hollywood Records on 5 May 2017; the band release ...

Cameron Redpath Cameron Redpath (born 23 December 1999 in Narbonne, France) is a Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland international rugby union player who plays as an Rugby union positions#Centre, inside centre for Bath Rugby, Bath in the Premiership R ...

(born 1999), professional rugby player at

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the ...

* Alex Denny (born 2000), professional footballer at

Everton FC Everton Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and has compe ...

Publications

Published books by King's School teachers: * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kings School, Macclesfield, The Ancient grammar schools of Cheshire Independent schools in the Borough of Cheshire East 1502 establishments in England Educational institutions established in the 1500s Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference Diamond schools