Hillcrest Grammar School

Hillcrest Grammar School
Established 1940
Type Other Independent School
Headmaster Mr Richard Mace (MA)
Location Beech Avenue
Stockport
Greater Manchester
SK3 8HB
 England Coordinates: 53°23′44″N 2°09′23″W / 53.39544°N 2.15633°W
DfE URN 106145
Gender Coeducational
Ages 3–16
Houses 2: Warren & Heaton
Colours Red & Black
Website www.hillcrestgrammar.co.uk

Hillcrest Grammar School in Cale Green, Stockport, Greater Manchester was an independent day school with around 200 pupils aged 3 to 16. The school was founded as a boys' preparatory school in 1940 in Bramhall. It became co-educational in the 1950s and also started to take pupils up to age 16 and added Grammar to its title. [1] The school moved in 1983 to the former "Stockport High School for Girls" building built in 1910[2] in the Cale Green district of Stockport, close to Davenport railway station. The old part of the building is locally listed. A sports hall with four badminton courts was built in 1994 and a new pre-preparatory department in 2003. A new Preparatory Building with facilities for the Nursery was opened by Olympic Swimmer Michael Rock in October 2009. The school closed in July 2014 due to financial issues that began in 2007.

Hillcrest was accredited by the Independent Schools Council.[3] The school was owned and operated by a registered charity "Hillcrest Grammar School (Bramhall Educational Trust Limited)",[4] which is also a limited company.[5]

The last headmaster was Mr Richard Mace. Mr Mace has an MA in Education, a PGCE and a BA in History and Archaeology from the University of Exeter. After completing an EAL diploma, Mr Mace taught in South Africa and Poland after which he taught at West Buckland School, Brighton College and S. Anselm's School. Mr Mace took up his post in September 2012.

Notable former pupils and history

Past pupils include TV presenter Yvette Fielding, known especially as the youngest presenter of Blue Peter, former professional footballer Nicky Summerbee, Anabel Kutay, dancer and finalist on BBC's "So you think you can Dance" and Robert Garside[6] the first person to run around the world.

Hillcrest occupied the site of the former Stockport High School for Girls. Stockport High was founded in 1894.[7][8] It merged with Fylde Lodge High School in 1974, to form Priestnall School (at the time, a single sex comprehensive school with a sixth form). Priestnall occupies the old Fylde Lodge site. The Stockport High School site has been used by Hillcrest since 1983. Stockport High School for Girls was the inspiration for Dame Joan Bakewell's novel "All the Nice Girls".[9]

Uniform crest and motto

Hillcrest pupils, both boys and girls, wore a black blazer with a red braid around the edge and a black tie, crest embedded with gold and red stripes.[10] The school crest consisted of a flaming torch with the motto "Ad Lucem".

References

  1. ↑ "Independent Schools Inspectorate report, 2004". Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  2. ↑ "Hillcrest Grammar School, Advert for Deputy Head (google cache)". Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  3. ↑ "Hillcrest Grammar School, Independent Schools Council". Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  4. ↑ "Hillcrest Grammar School(Bramhall Educational Trust Limited), Charity Commission". Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  5. ↑ "Hillcrest Grammar School(Bramhall Educational Trust Limited), Company No. 00859128, Companies House". Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  6. ↑ Cooper, Lisa (4 March 2003). "Globetrotter hits final leg of record race". Stockport Express (M.E.N. Media). Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  7. ↑ Payne, Eileen (7 January 2004). "Can you still picture your school days these days?". Stockport Express (M.E.N. Media). Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  8. ↑ "No. of Company: 41353; Stockport High School for Girls, Ltd., Piece details BT 31/5887/41353, The national Archives catalogue". Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  9. ↑ Williams, Jennifer (17 December 2008). "Joan draws on school days for debut novel". Stockport Express (M.E.N. Media). Retrieved 26 December 2008.
  10. ↑ "Uniform". Retrieved 25 October 2009.

External links