Parrs Wood High School

Parrs Wood High School
East Didsbury
,
Greater Manchester

England
Information
TypeAcademy
Motto‘’Community Creativity Achievement‘’ and ‘’Believe. Achieve. Succeed.‘’[4]
Established1967
Local authorityManchester
TrustGreater Manchester Education Trust
Department for Education URN143260 Tables
OfstedReports
HeadteacherMark McElwee [1][2]
Staff250
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 18
Enrolment1,969
Capacity1838[3]
ColoursNavy blue and silver   
Trust CEOD. Owen
Websitewww.pwhs.co.uk

Parrs Wood High School is a coeducational secondary school in East Didsbury, Manchester, England, located off Wilmslow Road behind Parrs Wood Entertainment Complex. It educates pupils from the age of 11 to 18 years. A-Levels are taught at the Parrs Wood Sixth Form Centre, which is integrated with the main school.

History

Parrs Wood was the 4th largest school in the UK in 2008,[5] with 2,030 students and 450 in the sixth form centre.

In 2015, the governors of Parrs Wood decided to embark on the process of turning the school into an academy, despite opposition from staff and local politicians.[6]

It converted in 2016, the former school had community school status; its URN was 105556.

After the Manchester Arena bombing, the school's choir recorded the title track from Ariana Grande's My Everything to benefit the victims. The choir then performed the song at the One Love Manchester concert with Ariana Grande herself to further honour and aid the victims.[7]

The building

The original school building, built in 1967, was demolished in 2000 and was rebuilt from scratch on a site behind the original school; the contractors built the school building in exchange for a portion of the school grounds on which to build an entertainment complex.[8]

Sixth form

Parrs Wood Sixth Form Centre is part of the school campus. It opened in 2000 after the rebuilding of the main school. The centre is located in a Grade II listed building independent from the main school.

Ofsted

In 2007, an Ofsted inspection showed the school to be lacking in several areas, particularly in KS3 SAT results, and criticised the school management for failure to act to remedy the situation. The report reflected that this situation was unacceptable and the school was placed in special measures. In February 2010, OFSTED judged the school to be satisfactory and as such no longer required special measures.[9]

In its most recent inspection,[10] the school was graded as Grade 2 - Good.

Controversy

CS Gas Discharge (2007)

In May 2007, a canister of CS gas was discharged in the science area of Parrs Wood, which resulted in 58 students and staff being taken to hospital. The incident was described by Greater Manchester Police as an "idiotic prank".[11]

Casino (2011)

The school is directly opposite a branch of Grosvenor G Casinos in the Parrs Wood entertainment centre complex. Members of Manchester City Council's planning committee originally rejected the plans to build the casino after Didsbury residents objected due to a possible negative effect on the livelihood of pupils at the school: students would have to walk past the casino on a daily basis in order to attend.[12] Despite the original rejection, Grosvenor G Casinos were granted planning permission in March 2011. The Parrs Wood branch has been open as of June 2012.[13]

Governor Suspension (2012)

In 2012, Judge Peeling QC, found against the governing body of the school in a Judicial Review of a decision to suspend one of the governors.[14]

Free Palestine Antisemitism

In May 2021, a Year 8 student at Parrs Wood High School got excluded for half a day after yelling "Free Palestine" in a tech class. The school’s letter called it "racist abuse" and warned the parents to stop it happening again.[15] They later explained it wasn’t just the slogan and the shout was aimed aggressively at a Jewish classmate, and the two already had some beef.[16][17] The school saw it as targeted bullying based on religion/race, not punishing political speech, and handled it under UK anti-discrimination rules. It got a lot of backlash online.[18] Some Muslim advocacy groups said the school overreacted, was censoring pro-Palestine views, and might scare kids away from supporting Palestine amid Gaza issues. They often ignored the school’s claim it was personal and targeted. Mainstream reports supported the school, saying it was about aggression toward one person, not banning political talk but was just enforcing anti-bullying rules. No further action or changes happened afterward.[19]

Stabbing Incident (2023)

In January 2023, a 14-year-old girl suffered serious, though not life-threatening, injuries after being stabbed by a fellow student using a 'sharp instrument'. The perpetrator was arrested by police.[20][21] The boy was first let out on bail in February 2023 while police continued looking into it. On January 25, 2024, Greater Manchester Police said he’d been released with no charges after a full investigation showed no further action was needed.[22] Police didn’t share any extra info about why it happened or if the people involved knew each other beforehand.[23]

Notable former pupils

Pictures

  • School's main sports hall
  • Part of the open-plan school
  • A bird's-eye view of the Parrs Wood School campus
  • Parrs Wood House, a Grade II* listed Victorian building once belonging to the Parrs family, which houses the Sixth Form Centre

References

  1. ^ "Parrs Wood High School". Parrs Wood High School. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  2. ^ "Parrs Wood High School Summary". Department for Education Edubase. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  3. ^ "Parrs Wood High School Establishment Details". Department for Education Edubase. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  4. ^ "Parrs Wood High School Values". Advantage. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  5. ^ Towle, Nick (28 July 2008). "The school with two heads". The South Manchester Reporter. MEN Media. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  6. ^ Labour’s policy on academies takes a tumble in Manchester
  7. ^ "One Love Manchester, in pictures". The Telegraph.
  8. ^ "Super-head to quit for new role - Manchester Evening News". Manchester Evening News. 30 April 2005. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Parrs Wood High School" (PDF). Ofsted. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  10. ^ "Parrs Wood High School" (PDF). Ofsted. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  11. ^ "School gas leak 'idiotic prank'". BBC News. 11 May 2007.
  12. ^ Council throws out plans for 24-hour Parrs Wood casino
  13. ^ Grovesnor Casino due to open
  14. ^ Lexis report on Judicial Review
  15. ^ The New Arab Staff. "Manchester boy suspended from school after shouting 'free Palestine'". The New Arab. Archived from the original on 12 September 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  16. ^ "Manchester school clarifies why boy was suspended for shouting 'Free Palestine'". Asian Image. 17 May 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  17. ^ 5Pillars (RMS) (17 May 2021). "Manchester school denies excluding pupil for simply saying 'Free Palestine'". 5Pillars. Retrieved 26 February 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Herbert, Charlie (17 May 2021). "School responds to backlash after excluding pupil who shouted 'free Palestine' in class". Joe.co.uk. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  19. ^ Robson, Steve (16 May 2021). "School issues clarification after boy excluded for 'free Palestine' remark". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  20. ^ Scheerhout, John (24 January 2023). "Girl of 14 stabbed at Parrs Wood High School - a boy has been arrested". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  21. ^ "Girl, 14, stabbed at Didsbury school and boy arrested". BBC News. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  22. ^ Scheerhout, John (25 January 2024). "Boy, 14, arrested over school stabbing released without charge, police confirm". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  23. ^ Scheerhout, John; Blakey, Ashlie (2 February 2023). "Boy, 14, released on bail after girl stabbed at Parrs Wood High School". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 26 February 2026.
  24. ^ "Matt Crampton won't quit despite Games snub". Manchester Evening News. 29 June 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  25. ^ "Supermodel wins Cambridge place". BBC News. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  26. ^ Lucy's speech to Conference 2015
  27. ^ Pool, Hannah (8 November 2006). "As we file in to the classroom, I have a feeling of dread. What if the teacher asks me a question?". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  28. ^ Lucy Powell 10 key facts about the new shadow Education Secretary
  29. ^ "Drama & Theatre A Level" (PDF).
  30. ^ Hodgson, Derek (27 July 1995). "Fairbrother forces the pace". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2016.

53°24′30″N 2°13′01″W / 53.40833°N 2.21694°W / 53.40833; -2.21694

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