A website for former pupils and staff of Poundswick Grammar School / Poundswick High School, Wythenshawe, Manchester.
 

Poundswick Grammar School opened in September 1956 as Manchester's only co-educational Grammar School.  Under the inspired leadership of its Headmaster, Mr. Albert Gilpin M.B.E., Poundswick achieved exceptionally high standards and soon made its mark as one of Manchester's foremost Grammar Schools.  Poundswick survived as a Grammar School only until 1967 when its status changed to Comprehensive and its name changed to Poundswick High School.  For the next thirty-two years Poundswick ran a roller-coaster ride through tough and challenging times during which its character changed completely from the Grammar School era.  By 1999 its reputation was so tarnished that a change of name and the formation of a completely 'new' school was proposed.  Accordingly, at the start of the Autumn Term 1999 Poundswick was combined with South Manchester High School (formerly Brownley Green Secondary).  The South Manchester site was closed, its buildings demolished, and the 'new' combined school, which operated from the Poundswick site only, was renamed Parklands High School, thus severing the school's association with a local name that can be traced back to 1280.

With South Manchester gone, extra cash was made available for Parklands, and its management was replaced by an energetic, forward-thinking and and ably-led team which worked hard, and with some success, to rebuild the school's standards and ethos.  Externally, Parklands was given a face-lift by replacing the original maroon and blue-green curtain walling with a more stylish blue design.  Improvements were made internally too in an effort to emphasise the 'new school' status.

In 2008 it was announced that Parklands was to be replaced by a new 'Manchester Enterprise Academy', and that this would be housed in a completely new building.  Construction started in early 2009 in a corner of the original Poundswick site.  However, the Academy opened in September 2009 before the new building was complete, so for its first year of operation the Academy was housed in the Parklands High School (Poundswick) buildings.  The new Academy building opened in September 2010 and demolition of Parklands  started soon afterwards.  By Christmas 2010, just over fifty-four years after its opening, Poundswick was but a memory.

I was a pupil at Poundswick from 1957 (the year after the school opened) until 1965 and I started this website in March 2001 with the intention of gathering together history and memories of the School.  I started with a few short pages that were all my fading memory could muster. Since then a large number of enthusiastic "Old Poundswickians" have contributed to it, and continue to do so more than a decade later.  I warn you now that this site is full of nostalgia, and as you explore it you may have to fight back the tears.  Poundswick now exists only in our memories and there is still plenty of scope for you, former pupils and staff, to provide more dates, names, photographs, memorabilia and memories of your time at the school.  In particular, we could do with more material from the later years, especially the 80s and 90s, but please send whatever you have. All contributions to the site will be acknowledged on it.

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