Withington Girls' School is a

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 in

Fallowfield Fallowfield is a bustling area of Manchester with a population of 14,869 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies south of Manchester city centre and is bisected east&n ...

, Manchester, United Kingdom, providing education for girls between the ages of seven and eighteen. Withington is a member of the

Girls' Schools Association The Girls' Schools Association (GSA) is a membership association for the heads of independent and state girls' schools in the United Kingdom. It is a constituent member of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), and works with the Association ...

and 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 ...

. The school was founded in 1890 by a number of eminent Mancunians. It was named North West Independent School of the Decade by The Sunday Times in 2021. Withington consistently ranks as one of the top schools in the country for academic results.

History

Withington Girls' School was founded in 1890 by a group of eminent Manchester families who wanted the same educational opportunities for their daughters as were already available for their sons. Among the founders were Mrs Louisa Lejeune, the mother of C. A. Lejeune, C. P. Scott, Henry and Emily Simon, Miss Caroline Herford and Sir Adolphus Ward. There were four pupils in the beginning.

Present day

Over the years, the School has aimed to remain true in essence to the founders' principles. The school suffered a serious arson attack in August 2003, but took this as an opportunity to build new science labs, and has since built a new sixth form common room and additional classrooms.

School song

" Gaudeamus" is the school song and is sung each year at Founder's day, accompanied by the school's orchestra.

Academic curriculum

The following subjects are available for all third form (first year/year seven) pupils: * English and

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

Maths Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, theories and theorems that are developed and proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include num ...

*Two of French/German/Spanish *

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

* ICT *Food and Nutrition *History *

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

Religious Studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

*Drama and Theatre Studies *Art *Music As the girls move up the school, other subjects are available, including: *

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

*Classical Civilisation *Computer Science *Politics (

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

only) *Economics (Sixth Form only) *

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

(Sixth Form only) *Philosophy (Sixth Form only)

Extra-curricular activities

Sport

Trampolinist Sasha Carter represented her country at international trampolining competitions. Withington won its first national lacrosse title at the 2022 National Schools competition when its U14 team claimed the top position.

Notable former pupils

* Kate Abdo, television presenter * Julia Britton, playwright *

Sarah Burton Sarah Jane Burton (née Heard; born 1974) is an English fashion designer. She worked at the Alexander McQueen (brand), Alexander McQueen fashion house from 1997 through 2023, spending her last 13 years at the company as its creative director. ...

, creative director of the Alexander McQueen brand and designer of Catherine Middleton's wedding dress * Judith Chalmers, television presenter * Mildred Creak, child psychiatrist * Marjorie Deane (1914-2008), financial journalist * Sarah Foot, medieval historian * Jen Hadfield, poet (Winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize 2008) * C. A. Lejeune, film critic * Brenda Milner, Canadian neuropsychologist * Joanna Natasegara, 2017 Oscar winner, documentary film-maker * Christine Rice, opera singer, mezzo-soprano *

Stephen Whittle Stephen Thomas Whittle (born 29 May 1955) is a British legal scholar and activist with the transgender activist group Press for Change. Since 2007, he has been Professor of Equalities Law in the School of Law at Manchester Metropolitan Univers ...

, Professor of Equalities Law, campaigner for transgender rights

References

Girl beats cancer in 2004

Academic success in 2003

Arson on 22 August 2003

External links

School website

Profile
on

{{Coord, 53.439, N, 2.226, W, type:edu, display=title Girls' schools in Greater Manchester Private schools in Manchester Withington * Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association School buildings in the United Kingdom destroyed by arson Educational institutions established in 1890 1890 establishments in England