| Motto | Veritas |
|---|---|
| Established | 1641 |
| Type | Independent school |
| Rector | Dr Kenneth M Greig |
| Location | Beaton Road Glasgow G41 4NW Scotland |
| Students | 2000 (approx) |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Website | www.hutchesons.org |
Hutchesons' Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in the southside of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded by the brothers George Hutcheson[1] and Thomas Hutcheson in 1641 and was opened originally to teach orphans, starting with "twelve male children, indigent orphans".[1]
In 1876 a girls' school was opened on Kingarth Street. The Boys' and Girls' schools amalgamated in 1976 at Beaton Road, leaving Kingarth Street to house the primary school. In 2001, the school expanded into Glasgow's West End when it merged with Laurelbank School and created a nursery and primary school on Lilybank Terrace, although this has since closed and the building suffered heavy damage in a fire in November 2008.
Today, "Hutchie", as the school is known informally, has around 2,000 pupils at Kingarth Street and Beaton Road.
The current rector is Kenneth M Greig MA, PhD.
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The history of Hutchesons' Grammar School offers an insight into the history of Glasgow over the past four centuries. When George and Thomas Hutcheson set aside money in 1641 for their school, they started an educational enterprise which continued to flourish.
The brothers originally intended the School to be for orphans. Archibald Edmiston, an orphan himself, became the School's first pupil in 1643 and, seven years later, the School had "12 boys on the roll", to whom the school song refers.
The brothers built Hutchesons' Hospital Building in the Trongate – right in the heart of Glasgow – survived the devastating fire that destroyed so much of the city in 1652. It also survived the earlier Civil Wars before peace was restored.
After a stuttering beginning, Hutchesons' Grammar School began to grow in size and reputation – requiring several moves to accommodate its multiplying numbers. It twice changed address before Ingram Street became home to the school in 1802. By 1815, the year of Waterloo, the roll had risen to 76. By 1839 it stood at 120 which prompted the Patrons' decision to build a new school in Crown Street, Gorbals. The location was described as 'possessing quietness of situation, good air and a roomy open site'. The new building was opened in 1841 and remained in use until 1960.
In 1876, Hutchesons' Girls' School opened its doors for the first time in Elgin Street. The Girls' School was extremely successful and the number of pupils enrolled was far greater than the building was designed to hold. One final move saw Hutchesons' Girls' Grammar School, as it was now known, re-located in 1912 to the present primary school building in Kingarth Street.
Beaton Road in Crossmyloof became home to Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School half a century later in 1960. It was seen then as an extremely fashionable building, with windows and a playground included.
Despite these many changes to the schools over the centuries, the single most significant change occurred in 1975. The year marked the amalgamation of Hutchesons' Girls' Grammar School and Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School, to form Hutchesons' Grammar School, the co-educational institution which remains in this form today. The girls' site in Kingarth Street became the mixed primary school with all the secondary pupils at what had been the boys' school in Beaton Road.
Rapid changes have occurred at Hutchesons' in the last two decades. In 1991, a new 3-storey Science Block was erected in the Beaton Road carpark while 1994 saw the construction of a new Infant Block at Kingarth Street. A new multi-million pound Sports Building was developed on the Playing Fields at Beaton Road in 1998, allowing the old gymnasium in the Senior School to be converted into a state-of-the-art library in 1999.
The new Millennium saw the newly-purchased Pollokshields United Reformed Church, in Beaton Road, developed to create the Fotheringay Centre, with new classrooms and offices for the Music and IT departments, the Network Administration staff as well as music practice rooms and a multi-purpose auditorium and lecture theatre.
The school has a number of different Sports teams and competes in many interschool tournaments.
Fees range between £7,613 and £9,709 per annum.
The school includes a large number of Jewish and Muslim pupils who constitute approximately 15% of the senior school roll. There is a Jewish assembly every Thursday and a Muslim assembly one Thursday a month. A new sports track was completed in September 2009 and a new drama complex is currently being built, due to open around Christmas 2011.
On 11 November 2011, Hutchesons' Grammar School became the Scottish Independent school of the year.