Stockport School – Term Dates

The school was established in 1888 and moved to its present site in 1938. In its time it has played many parts. In the 1880s Stockport was a hatting and cotton manufacturing town and education was provided by Stockport Sunday School and Mechanics Institutes. There were the old private grammar schools but the need was felt to have a technical school. As, it was felt, none of these classes was able to cope with the increasing technical demands of local industry. From 1884 local manufacturers and tradesmen agitated for some more advanced form of education for a Technical or Trade School. On 25 February 1887, Joseph Leigh, acting as Mayor convened a meeting, where Alderman Ephraim Hallam, proposed that to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign "That it is desirable to establish a Technical and Art School in this town, to enable its inhabitants to acquire..........that special teaching requisite, to maintain its position amongst the industrial towns of this country." It was financed by subscription, then the Technical Instruction Act, 1889 allows the town to finance it on the rates.