The school includes a sixth form and years 7 to 11. Almost two-thirds of pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, and approximately 30% have a first language other than English, significantly above the national average.[1]
The first head master was Albert Dakin. The first foundation stone of the school was laid on 1 July 1927. The building, built by Lancashire County Council, cost £40,745. The boys' school opened on 12 September 1928, and was officially opened on 23 October 1928 by Eustace Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Newcastle, and was on Great Stone Road west of Lancashire's cricket ground. The girls' grammar school, named Stretford Girls' High School, opened in 1923 on Herbert Street.
In January 1941, the site of the girls' school was destroyed by the bombing. Nearby Trafford Park produced important war materials, including Rolls-Royce Merlin engines made at Ford's factory. A new girls' school was built on a different site near Longford Park and south of Edge Lane (A5145); the former site was converted into playing fields. The school was administered by the Stretford Divisional Executive of the Lancashire Education Committee until April 1974, when it was taken over by Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council.
Until its merger in 1986 with Stretford Grammar School for Boys, it had been known since 1960 as Stretford Grammar School for Girls (the schools changed their names at the same time). The site of the boys' grammar school then became Stretford High School, a community secondary school.
Plans to build a CTC on the boys' school site in 1988 were dropped. At the time of the merger, six secondary schools closed in Trafford, resulting in the loss of 4,500 school places.
Academic performance
Academically, the school's exam results are above national averages, with 92% of pupils achieving A*–C in at least five GCSEs (including English and Mathematics).[2] The school's value added score is below the local authority average.[citation needed]
In March 2009, Stretford became the first grammar school in the UK to be placed under special measures, following a critical Ofsted report[3] that cited low-level behavior problems, inadequate teaching, and poor leadership and management.[1] The school had been assessed as "satisfactory" in its March 2006 Ofsted report[4] and exited Special Measures Status in March 2010. In 2012, two-thirds of students achieved the target of 5A/A* grades, and a quarter of students achieved at least 10 grades at A/A*.[citation needed]
Notable former pupils
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article and are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(January 2024) ( Learn how and when to remove this message )
Ernest Marples, UK Conservative Minister of Transport from 1959 to 1964, and MP for Wallasey from 1945 to 1964. Marples was responsible for introducing parking meters, yellow no-parking lines, and motorways.[5]
John Mulkern CBE, JP, managing director and board member British Airports Authority 1977–1987, Chairman British Airports International 1978–82, President Western European Airports Association 1981–83[6]
↑ Dutton, D. J. (2007), The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press
↑ "Mulkern, John", Who's Who 2010 (onlineed.), A & C Black, 2009, archived from the original on 29 December 2023, retrieved 18 February 2010
↑ "Trythall, Rear-Adm. John Douglas", Who's Who 2010 (onlineed.), A & C Black, 2009, archived from the original on 29 December 2023, retrieved 18 February 2010
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