Philips High School

Philips High School is a community secondary school located in Whitefield, Greater Manchester, on the site of Stand Grammar School for Girls. The current Headmistress is Tina Owen.HistoryThe school's origins lie in the history of Stand Grammar School. The grammar school was founded in 1688 under the will of Henry Siddall and had close connections with the Unitarian Chapel on Ringley Road. Indeed, so strong was this connection that, in the 18th century, it was a school of choice in the north west for parents from dissenting families who did not want to send their children to Anglican schools.In the early years of the 20th century, the governors ran into financial difficulties. In 1908, the Lancashire Education Committee assumed responsibility for its management. The Committee purchased seven acres of land on Church Lane from the Earl of Derby and built a new school, which was opened on 6 September 1913 by Alderman J R Ragdale. When the new building was opened the Old Standians Association erected a memorial to the school’s distinguished former pupil—Clive of India.As a condition of the takeover by the LEC, the school began to admit girls but, in 1937, a separate school—Stand Grammar School for Girls—was opened on Higher Lane, with Miss Grace Lobjoit as the first headmistress. The town of Whitefield became part of the new Metropolitan Borough of Bury on 1 April 1974. Both the boys' and the girls' schools flourished until 1979, when the borough council decided to adopt the comprehensive education system. The boys' and girls' schools were merged as Philips High School, a co-educational comprehensive school, on the Higher Lane site. The former boys' school building on Church Lane became a sixth form college, which was later absorbed into Bury College and the Church Lane buildings were demolished in 2001.