King's School, Macclesfield

The King's School
Address
Map
Alderley Rd, Prestbury

, ,
SK10 4SP

United Kingdom
Coordinates53°16′35″N 2°09′52″W / 53.2763°N 2.16435°W / 53.2763; -2.16435
Information
TypePrivate day school
MottoChallenge, Develop, Foster, Support
Established1502; 521 years ago (1502)
FounderSir John Percyvale, Feoffees
Department for Education URN111473 Tables
Head of FoundationJason Slack
GenderMixed
Age3 to 18
Enrolment1,337 pupils
Houses4 (Gawsworth, Adlington, Tatton and Capesthorne)
Colour(s)
Websitehttps://www.kingsmac.co.uk/

The King's School, Macclesfield, is an independent school for day pupils in Prestbury, Cheshire, England, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It was founded in 1502 by Sir John Percyvale, a former Lord Mayor of London, as Macclesfield Grammar School.

History

The King's School was founded in 1502 within the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Macclesfield. It was re-founded by Edward VI in 1552 as the "Free Grammar School of King Edward VI". It moved to Cumberland Street, 300 metres further from the town square, in 1844. In July 2020 the school moved to a new location adjacent to its long-held Derby Playing Fields, on the outskirts of Macclesfield.

In 1844 a Modern School, with a more commercial and technical curriculum, was built by the governors to run in tandem with the Grammar School. It merged with the Grammar School in 1912.

The school operated as a direct-grant school and offered scholarships for boys from state elementary schools from 1926 until 1966, when its application to continue as a direct grant grammar school was refused and it became fully independent.

The boys' junior school was opened in 1947. In 1993 girls from age 11 to 16 were admitted and housed with co-educational juniors, and later infants, at the old Macclesfield High School site on Fence Avenue. The Sixth Form had been co-educational since 1986.

The King's School's 2020 development plans involved closing the two existing school sites in Macclesfield and opening a new single site school in Prestbury, near Macclesfield. The development plans involved selling off the two existing school sites for housing development to fund the new school site. The school acquired greenbelt farmland adjacent to its Derby Fields site for which it subsequently sought planning permission in order to develop the existing school site and the farmland for housing. Planning permission was granted to the school to build more than 250 houses on the greenbelt land in Macclesfield in July 2016. The new school was built on green belt land in nearby Prestbury. Planning permission for all sites was confirmed when the Secretary of State declined to call in the plans for further scrutiny in September 2016. In July 2020 King's School left Macclesfield after more than 500 years of continuous operation in the town and relocated to Prestbury.

Academia

The school follows the National Curriculum for GCSE in Years 10–11 and A-Levels in the sixth form. In 2012, pupils achieved A*/A in 41% of all exams and A* – B in three-quarters of exams. Pupils achieved the best-ever GCSE results in 2012 with 33% of grades at A* grade, more than 63% of grades at A*/A and 86% at A* – B grade.

In 2011, pupils achieved 75% A* to B grade at A-level, with a 99.7% pass rate, and 60% As and A*s at GCSE.

Extra-curricular activities

Music

In 2003 the school's Foundation Choir won BBC Songs of Praise Choir of the Year. It takes bi-annual trips to perform across Europe, having visited Barcelona, Levico Terme, Strasbourg, Lake Geneva and Budapest. In 2016 the choir performed in Prague. The choir and numerous bands also perform at nearby St Michael's Church. The school's music department is equipped with a recording studio and practice rooms and offers instrumental lessons to the students. The department also performs musicals such as The Revenge of Sherlock Holmes, a West End musical, in 2012.

Drama

The school performs two to three plays a year; one by the Boys' Division/Sixth Form, one by the Girls' Division, and one by the Juniors. Recent plays include Cinders, Arabian Nights, and The Ramayana.

School trips

Trips abroad are arranged by individual departments, including those by the History and Classics departments, in addition to annual foreign language exchange visits. Pupils are involved in biennial World Challenge Expeditions and recent expeditions have been to Morocco, Ecuador, India and most recently Namibia.

The school's Outdoor Activities Club organises regular trips to Yorkshire or the Peak District, that include walking, climbing and caving.[citation needed]

Sports

School sports include rugby, hockey, netball, cheerleading, and cricket.

Headmasters

  • 1502–1533: William Bridges (first)
  • 1533–1560: John Bold
  • 1560–1588: John Brownswerde
  • 1588–1631: William Legh
  • 1631–1648: Thomas Bolde
  • 1648–1662: Henry Crosedale
  • 1662–1666: Edward Powell
  • 1666–1674: Ralph Gorse
  • 1674–1676: Thomas Brancker
  • 1676–1689: Rev. John Ashworth
  • 1689–1690: Caleb Pott
  • 1690–1704: Timothy Dobson
  • 1704–1717: Edward Denham
  • 1717–1720: George Hammond
  • 1720–1745: Rev. Joseph Allen
  • 1745: Edward Ford
  • 1745–1749: Christopher Atkinson
  • 1749–1774: Rowland Atkinson
  • 1774–1790: Henry Ingles
  • 1790–1828: David Davies
  • 1828: Thomas Bourdillon
  • 1828–1837: Rev. Francis Stonehewer Newbold
  • 1849–1872: Rev. Thomas Brooking Cornish
  • 1837–1849: William Alexander Osborn
  • 1880–1910: Darwin Wilmot
  • 1910–1933 : Francis Duntz Evans
  • 1933–1966: Thomas Taylor Shaw
  • 1966–1987: Alan Cooper
  • 1987–2001: Adrian Silcock
  • 2001–2011: Stephen Coyne
  • 2011–2020: Simon Hyde
  • 2020–present: Jason Slack

Notable former pupils

Old Maxonian International Rugby Players
Name Country Caps First capped Last capped Notes
Steve Smith
(born 1951)
 England
United Kingdom British and Irish Lions
0928 19731973 19831983 professional club: Sale Sharks
Richard Pool-Jones
(born 1969)
 England 091 19981998 19981998 professional clubs: Biarritz Olympique and Stade Francais
Jos Baxendell
(born 1972)
 England 022 19981998 19981998 professional club: Sale Sharks
Tommy Taylor
(born 1991)
 England 021 20162016 20162016 professional clubs: Sale Sharks and London Wasps
Cameron Redpath
(born 1999)
 Scotland 022 20212021 20212021 professional club: Bath Rugby

Publications

Published books by King's School teachers:

  • Banner, Gillian (1999). Holocaust Literature: Schulz, Levi, Spiegelman and the Memory of the Offence. Vallentine Mitchell. ISBN 978-0-85303-371-4.
  • Palazzo, Lynda (2002). Christina Rossetti's Feminist Theology. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-92033-6.
  • Hill, David (2003). For King's and Country. Chameleon Press.
  • Wilmot, Darwin (1910). A Short History of the Grammar School, Macclesfield 1503-1910. Claye, Brown and Claye. ASIN B0028T2CMK.
  • Wilson, G. E. (1952). "History of Macclesfield Grammar School, 1503–1890". Leeds: MEd thesis. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

This page was last updated at 2023-10-03 17:43 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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