Bury Grammar School Girls

Bury Grammar School (Girls) is a private girls' day school in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, which was founded in 1884. The Headmistress since 2015 has been Jo Anderson. The previous headmistress, Bobby Georghiou, retired after 12 years in post. The Headmistress is a member of the GSA. The current school fees are £13,089 p.a. for senior pupils and £9,948 p.a. in the junior school. History Although no girls were admitted to Bury Grammar School when it was founded, on its re-founding by Rev’d Prebendary Roger Kay in 1726 he bequeathed money specifically for girls’ education, his bequest stating: "I charge my Estate called Warth in Rattcliff with the payment of five pounds yearly" in order that ten poor girls born, or to be born, in the parish and town of Bury might receive an education "to make them perfect in their Reading the Bible, to teach 'em to write well, and to be good Accountants to fit 'em for Trades or to be good Servants". The education provided under the terms of Kay's will remains unrecorded until, on 22 January 1884, Bury High School for Girls opened as a fee-paying school. Mr. Henry Webb, Bury's representative on the Hulme Trust, had moved a resolution that "it is desirable that a High School for Girls be formed." Initially, it was run by a private company of gentlemen with an interest in education. They appointed Miss Jane Penelope Kitchener, a cousin of General Lord Kitchener, as the first headmistress. The school was based in a townhouse in Bolton Street (since demolished), on a site opposite the Castle Leisure Centre. There were 23 girls in attendance and lessons (Latin, French, science, mathematics, English, music, needlework and games) were taught from 9.00am to 1.00pm, with a half hour break each day. In 1900, the school was taken over by the governors of the Grammar School and was renamed Bury Grammar School for Girls. Almost immediately, plans evolved for a new building, to be shared by the boys’ and girls’ schools. The new building was funded in part by the governors and in part by grants from the Hulme Trust; there were also donations of land and money from the Earl of Derby. The new buildings, of Accrington brick, were designed in a simple Neo-Renaissance style by William Venn Gough. In 1903 the boys' school moved from its existing premises in The Wylde to half of the current girls' school site; the following year, the cornerstone of the girls' school was laid.