Audenshaw School
 | |
| Motto | Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) |
|---|---|
| Type | Academy |
| Head | Mrs Saw[1] |
| Location |
Hazel Street Audenshaw Greater Manchester M34 5NB England Coordinates: 53°28′00″N 2°07′08″W / 53.4668°N 2.1188°W |
| DfE URN | 136273 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports Pre-academy reports |
| Students | 1,178 |
| Gender | Boys (coeducational sixth form) |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Colours | Red, white and black |
| Website |
www |
Audenshaw School (Academy Trust) is an all-boys secondary school in Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, England, established in 2010. Previously the school was known as Audenshaw Grammar School and Audenshaw School. Audenshaw Grammar school opened to boys in 1932.
History
On 29 July 1932, Audenshaw Grammar School for Boys was opened, providing facilities for 300 pupils.[2][3] "The school officially opened on Saturday July 23rd at 3.00pm when the contractors handed the keys to County Alderman J. T. Travis Clegg DL JP. The school remained open until 7:00pm for inspection by the general public. On September 13th, 1932 seventy six boys walked through the gates of a brand new Grammar School on Hazel Street Audenshaw."[4]
The first Head Master was John Lord, who was in charge until 1953. He was followed by Ronald Porter, who had joined the school from Stretford Grammar School. Kenneth Exley became Headmaster in 1961, having previously been Headmaster at the Creighton School for Boys in Carlisle.[4]
In 1981, Graham Locke OBE succeeded Exley as Head Master. Locke was Head Master until his sudden death in 1994; the school's sports hall is named in his memory. Locke was appointed to the Order of the British Empire for his role for services to education.
Alan Crompton was Head Master from 1994 to 2005, whereupon he retired. Crompton had previously worked at Copley High School. He was widely regarded as one of the most outstanding Head Masters of his generation. When Crompton retired he was succeeded by Stephen Turner, who joined the school having been Head at Golborn High School Wigan - he retired in 2012. The current Head is Jeanette Saw was appointed in June 2013. Previously, Saw had been the school's Associate Headteacher with Richard Andrew. In 1989, Audenshaw became one of the first Grant Maintained (GM) schools in England under the leadership of Locke and the then Chair of Governors T. Hall.[5] The school had faced the threat of a merger and then closure. The LEA attempted to sell the school land but a High Court ruling overturned this action. The school opted out of LEA control in 1988; parents voted for the maintenance – 86% of those eligible voted; 91% of them voting in favour of the school receiving grant maintenance.[6] This followed the Parents Action Group campaign. Mr T Hall was awarded the MBE for services to Education and he remains the Chair of Governors.
In the mid-1960s pupils of Audenshaw Grammar School formed a branch of the Peak Forest Canal Restoration Society. Founding members W. Lear, N. Markham, and W. Morgan began their efforts in the summer of 1965 with the objective of cleaning, restoring and reopening the then derelict Ashton Canal. Successful in their ambitious aim, the canal was eventually reopened on 13 May 1974 by Denis Howel, then Member of Parliament for Birmingham Small Heath and the Minister for Sport.[7]
Audenshaw Grammar School lost its sixth form in the late 1970s due to ‘reorganisation’ within the LEA. However, an adjoining sixth form college was opened in 1997, the same year the school was granted foundation school status but this time it was co-educational rather than single sex. The school also became fully comprehensive in the late 1970s.
In 1999, Audenshaw School won the inaugural – and only – schools' series of Channel 4's daytime quiz show Fifteen to One.[8]
The Queen Mother visited the school in 1959 to present colours to the Manchester Regiment. In 2007, the school celebrated its 75th anniversary with a visit by HRH The Princess Royal who officially opened the Sixth Form extension.
World War II
A number of old boys and a master were killed during active service during World War II. Their names are remembered on the Roll of Honour in the main hall.
Remember with Pride and Gratitude
E T Alwood RN W Bradley RA (a master) L Carr MN H W Cooper RAF T Cusack MN E Davy RAC A B Fawcett RAF E J Hartley RAF J L Harvey MN J Heyworth RAF W Hooper RAF K Howard RAF J Key RAF D J Kilner RAF A E Leach RAF C C Procter RAF D Ryan RAF F T M Sidebotham RAF P S Thomas RAF J D Thornton RAF
Noted alumni
- Sporting
- Eric Evans (1921–1991): captained England's rugby team[4]
- Danny Hall (b. 1983): Professional footballer who has played for Gretna, Oldham Athletic and Shrewsbury Town among others.
- John O'Driscoll (b. 1953): Ireland international and British Lions rugby player of the 1970s and 1980s[2]
- Stephen Parry: (b. 1986) Lancashire and England cricketer.[9]
- Ellis Plummer(b. 1994): Professional footballer currently playing for Manchester City
- Dean Schofield (b. 1979): plays professional rugby for Sale Sharks and England Saxons (England A)[10]
- James Tunnicliffe (b. 1989): Professional footballer currently playing for Stockport.
- Gene Ormsby (b. 1992): Plays professional rugby for Warrington Wolves in Super league.
- Other
- Mark Hunter (b. 1957): MP for Cheadle since 2005[11]
- Mick Hucknall (b. 1960): lead singer of the band Simply Red[2]
- Professor Sir Alexander Markham, Professor of Medicine at the University of Leeds, Director of the Molecular Medicine Institute at St James's University Hospital, and a former Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK. Recipient of the Queen's Award to Industry for his work in the development of genetic fingerprinting.
- Neil Markham, Chief Executive of the Cresceres private wealth management group, above. Markham was a pioneer in the chemical and construction industry and the first to realistically harness the power of the internet in business, and was the creator of the first ever "virtual" chemical company. Markham has founded and grown a series of enterprises, recently selling his US Chemlogics Group ownership to the international chemical giant Solvay, a deal reported by the WSJ to be in excess of a billion pounds.[12]
- Col Needham (b. 1967) (Founder and CEO of IMDB)[13]
- Sir Ralph Riley (1924–1999): botanist and geneticist[14]
References
Notes
- ↑ Audenshaw School, retrieved 2013-07-01
- 1 2 3 Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, Facts about Audenshaw, Tameside.gov.uk, retrieved 2009-09-03
- ↑ The 1930s, Tameside Advertiser, 9 October 2003, retrieved 2009-09-02
- 1 2 3 4 Audenshaw School: History, AudenshawSchool.com, retrieved 2009-09-02
- ↑ Audenshaw School, AudenshawSchool.org.uk, retrieved 2009-09-02
- ↑ House of Commons Hansard Debates for 13 Nov 1991, Parliament.uk, 13 November 1991, retrieved 2009-09-02
- ↑ Frangopulo 1977, p. 50.
- ↑ Fifteen-to-One – Schools 01, Quizplayers.com, archived from the original on 2008-11-20, retrieved 2009-09-02
- ↑ Ostick, Chris (9 July 2010), Lancs in five-wicket victory over Yorks, Manchester Evening News, retrieved 2010-07-10
- ↑ School Rugby: Sharks give Audenshaw School 'Insider' track (84), rfutouchline.com, November 2006, retrieved 2011-03-28
- ↑ Mark Hunter, Liberal Democrats, archived from the original on 2011-06-29, retrieved 2009-09-03
- ↑ http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304171804579120803643789162
- ↑ "I am IMDb: The millionaire film geek from Denton behind the world's top movie website", The Manchester Evening
- ↑ "Sir Ralph Riley", The Guardian, guardian.co.uk, 13 October 1999, retrieved 2009-09-03
Bibliography
- Frangopulo, Nicholas Joseph (1977), Tradition in Action: The Historical Evolution of the Greater Manchester County, Wakefield: EP, ISBN 0-7158-1203-3