October 2022
“I hope this email finds you well. I felt obliged to email you following an incident which happened this morning on our road. Our elderly neighbour had fallen on her own driveway in the pouring rain this morning. Once we realised what was going on we went out to help and several of your students were already helping, one girl had folded her blazer up as a head cushion and one young lad had already dialled for an ambulance. My girlfriend took over the call and the lad stood there drenched and waited until the call had finished. All of them who helped were amazing and a credit to themselves and the school. A head of year walked round and he was fantastic too and was so understanding with the pupils and also recognised how fantastic they had been. As a former pupil of Mile End I know kids don't always get the praise they deserve when wearing the uniform outside of the school grounds but those involved this morning went above & beyond and really helped an old lady. I hope you are able to recognise this somehow and tell them how grateful our neighbour will be, as we are, for their fast thinking. She is now over at Stepping Hill and will hopefully make a speedy recovery. Kind regards."
Mr W, Stockport.
October 2022
“Dear Mr. Irwin, I hope you will excuse this letter from a complete stranger. Yesterday evening I returned home after guiding a group of your students and their teachers around some of the Great War battlefield sites of France and Flanders. I'm writing now to tell you what a good impression your students made. They were excellent listeners, clearly engaged with the subject and their questions showed that they were thinking about what they were seeing and hearing. They were well-mannered, too, considerate and friendly towards each other. They made a big impression on me, and I wanted to tell you that they were a credit to you and the school. It was a pleasure to guide them.The group leader, Mr J. Sims, and his colleagues carried out their supervisory duties very conscientiously, always in just the right places when it came to things like moving a large group around and across busy streets in a foreign town, where there can be many things to distract the students' attention – not just supervising their behaviour, but looking after their safety. It was nice not to have to remind teacher of their responsibilities in this respect.From the point of view of discipline, of keeping the students in order, the teacher didn't seem to have to do much. I never heard any raised voices. They made it look easy. I was a Head Teacher myself and I know that such a good teacher-pupil relationship is the result of high standards of respect and behaviour being consistently expected and insisted upon. I formed the opinion that Stockport School must be a very good school."
Mr T Morgan Wednesbury, West Midlands.
April 2020
“My son’s report has reduced me to tears - happy tears! Outstanding attitude to learning in all subjects, I'm so proud I could burst! We are so grateful to you as a school because from day one my son has been valued and appreciated for who he is and he has been fully supported to thrive. I remember having a disagreement in primary school when they told me he was "OK". He was so unhappy it was unbelievable and I reminded them OK wasn't OK for my son, they had a responsibility to help him and every other child in their school to help them reach their full potential. That is exactly what Stockport School has done for our son and we are so grateful.”
Year 11 Leavers - July 2017
“I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported my daughter through the last few months at school ... You have gone out of your way to be understanding, supportive and flexible. Without your support and assistance I don't think she would have got through the last few weeks . As her mum I was always reassured that she was well looked after while in your care and I cannot begin to express my gratitude but please be assured I hold you all in very high regard.”
Parent of ES, Student Parent
Year 11 Leavers - July 2017
“Dear Mr Irwin,
Thank you to you and your staff for the 5 happy years my daughter (JG) has spent at Stockport School. She has been supported and nurtured every step of the way and has grown into a confident and articulate young lady. In particular I would like to mention my sincere gratitude to Miss Stone, my daughter’s drama teacher. She has been the most supportive role model and my daughter has looked up to her consistently over her time at Stockport. She is a truly amazing teacher and I wanted to express my gratitude to her. Hopefully my younger son will also in time, be fortunate enough to secure a place at Stockport School as I do believe it is one of the most effective educational establishments in the north west. I have filled in the ofsted questionnaire and wish you and your staff a relaxing summer. Sincerely, thank you.”
JG's mum, Student Parent
Community Awards Evening – 13.07.17
“We just wanted to say that we really enjoyed last night's Award Evening. It was great to see how proud the pupils were with their nominations and achievements. With categories such as overcoming adversity and young carers, this highlights just how much Stockport School supports the children both inside and outside school, which is great to see. The layout with the tables meant that we were able to mix with other parents - haribos are a great way to break the ice! We could clearly see how much the award meant to one of the winners in overcoming adversity and her dad, who were also sat with us. On another note, Vanessa Gilbert from Stockport Family was in our school a week or so ago (Windlehurst) and had visited a group of your Year 9s. She was telling us how impressed she was with Stockport School, how polite the children are and how the staff really do know and look after the children. The reception staff were friendly and had made her feel very welcome. The enthusiasm and dedication of the staff is evident at any of the events we have attended. As parents we can see how much they love working at Stockport! Our daughter has had another fantastic year at school, has really grown in confidence and becomes more sure of herself as time goes on, in any decisions she makes. Understandably, now she spends more time at school than at home! Our younger son, Sam is due to start in September and although he is apprehensive, being the only boy from his primary school, we are rest assured as parents he will be well looked after. Enjoy your well earned summer break!”
Mr & Mrs C, Student Parents
Intergenerational Dementia Choir Concert – June 2017
“Morning Ian. Just wanted to say I went to the Plaza last night with some of our students and their families. We watched your children perform in the intergenerational choir and later dance to The Twist! I just wanted to let you know I thought they were amazing. Jacob was a brilliant soloist and spoke really well to the audience too. Please pass on my congratulations to the students and staff involved - they were excellent role models for your school and showed how dementia is not a debilitating disease but rather a condition that many people live with positively.”
Mrs J Lowe Headteacher, The Kingsway School
Intergenerational Dementia Choir Concert – June 2017
“Hi, I just wanted to say I am in awe of Stockport School, once again they have exceeded what I thought possible. You should be so so proud of the students and your good selves. The public speaking, the intergenerational choir, the dancing - just brilliant. I had to take to social media last night as I need people to know what a difference the school makes on intergeneration and community working and how well behaved and disciplined the students are….. I could go on and on! I was sat in the audience with a number of young ladies whose behaviour and ability to engage was most impressive. I do have some photos and videos I will forward ASAP. A massive well done.”
Sharon Fellows Community Capacity Worker, Stockport Adult Social Care
Christmas Concert – December 2016
“Mr Irwin, Thank you once again ... what a fantastic range of talent and a stunning atmosphere! There's such a lovely feeling of 'team music' hooray!Many thanks once again for somehow keeping the 'extra-curricular plates' spinning. These are the things the students will carry with them... and learn from.Feel lucky that Stockport School values the creativity in our young ones and keeps it thriving in the community.Very best wishes to all of your team, staff and students alike.”
Year 11 Parent, Dec 2016
Offerton Dementia Drop In – December 2016
Thanks so much for bringing the young people who were tremendous. I was so impressed that they just got on with chatting to the older people. It’s very humbling to find that so many pupils have been affected in some way by dementia and that they really want to help make a difference. They are all a credit to the school.”
Bev Sellen Community Capacity Worker, Stockport Adult Social Care
Tennis Festival/Competition – November 2016 - We wanted to say a BIG thank you for letting us take part in the Tennis Festival/Competition. We all thoroughly enjoyed the morning at Stockport School. We also wanted to say how outstanding the Year 8’s were, they were extremely helpful, kind and supportive. They represented Stockport High School incredibly well. We all also wanted to say a BIG thank you to Ben for organising such a brilliant event. Many Thanks
Janice Stone – Enrichment and Events Manager, PE Co-ordinator/Sports Coach
Gemma Healey – PE Subject Leader Great Moor Infant School
I would like to extend a very grateful thank you to you, your colleagues and your students. They were inspiring and so well behaved, everyone, from the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England, the Ronald Dahl charity, the NHS and Public Health England noted the skill and expertise of the school staff and the professional manner in which the children were supported throughout the day. You have really made an impression. We had a debrief after the event and many facilitators noted the talent in the room. The artist Beci, was blown away by some of the art work and has kept some to add to the portfolio of evidence for the day. She asked the young people to sign what they had done, anticipating that these early works may be valuable in the future!! Best wishes and thank you again
Dr J Livesley, University of Salford
Healthy Mental Health Day – Nov, 2016 It was lovely to make a little visit back into school after a long few weeks in college to see that something amazing had been organised by staff and visitors for the Stockport School community. Myself and James were very grateful to be invited back into school by Mr Modral, to see all the time and hard work he had put into organising a ‘Healthy Mental Health Day’ – a rota of activities and workshops set up for each year group to get them talking and learning about mental health and relationships. We started off by listening to Mr Williamson speak about dementia, helping to raise awareness to the students by introducing them to ‘Dementia Friends’: an organisation that encourages them to be part of a wider local community outside of school, to engage with older people in the area who may frequently feel distant from the rest of the society, and to help challenge the stigma of mental disorders among the elderly. Next, we visited the Mental Health Fayre that took place in the gym, where visitors from outside of school had set up stalls focusing on different issues surrounding mental health and relationships, and this was successful in enlightening and educating the students on many topics that aren’t widely spoken about on a day to day basis, perhaps in lessons or with friends and family. We also visited a workshop where couples came into speak to the students about their own relationships and how to be a good boyfriend/girlfriend. This was our personal favourite; it was lovely to see them speak about each other and their relationship with such comfortableness and intimacy, and it was also refreshing to see the students acting maturely, engaging with them and plucking up the courage to ask them questions about their lives and how they made their relationship last. Finally, Mr Modral introduced a new smartphone app to the students that looked amazing: it provided complete confidentiality whilst offering a network for the students to talk about how they were feeling and activities to help better their mental health, like reading inspirational and uplifting quotes, meditation, steady breathing or visiting the ‘Zen Garden.’ It looks like something that will be hugely popular with the students and that will make them more comfortable when it comes to talking about feelings! All in all, it was an incredible day of workshops that had been set up for the students – we were only there for an hour, but the school looked extremely busy and like it was thriving in the vast amount of activities that were on offer to them. It was so nice and reassuring to see the school taking a huge step in dealing with the stigmas surrounding the issues of mental health, getting the students talking about it and doing so successfully, as it looked like a fun and enjoyable day for all involved!
Fariyal Qureshi, ex-Student
I would like to extend a very grateful thank you to you, your colleagues and your students. They were inspiring and so well behaved, everyone, from the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England, the Roald Dahl charity, the NHS and Public Health England noted the skill and experitse of the school staff and the professional manner in which the children were supported throughout the day. You have really made an impression. We had a debrief after the event and many facilitators noted the talent in the room. The artist Beci, was blown away by some of the art work and has kept some to add to the portfolio of evidence for the day. She asked the young people to sign what they had done, anticipating that these early works may be valuable in the future!!
Please could you pass on my thanks to all the performers, those backstage, the band and all the staff and helpers involved in the production of Grease for a wonderful evening of entertainment. I was so impressed with the enthusiasm and talent of the young people involved. It was a great way to end the half term and there is no question at Stockport School, Grease is the word!
Phil Beswick, Director of Education, Stockport LA
A number of students on Wednesday 2nd Nov attended Offerton Dementia Group at Offerton Community Centre. The students are an absolute credit to the school. They were fantastic and perfectly behaved, showing empathy, understanding and patience. The feedback from people with dementia and their carers was great and they absolutely enjoyed them attending. One carer was in tears, she said to see him so happy engaging with young people is amazing. This kind of intergenerational work is the way forward within community working, thank you so much for making a difference to all concerned.
Sharon Fallows, Community Capacity Worker, Cheadle and Bramhall SMBC - Adult Social Care.
March 2015
Hello, I just wanted to thank you and all your staff on a very impressive evening last night. It has set our minds at rest, as we had been stressing. The strategies given will help immensely and even got us talking on the way home!! Very rare these days :-). Our Son will be very much making use of the extra help during and after school and in the holidays.. Keep up the amazing work, from a very thankful parent.
"Dear Mr Irwin
Just a quick note to say how helpful we found last night's Year 11 event. We had been to the Town Hall evening earlier in the week, and although we learned a lot about our sons future education progression, we came away from Stockport School's event feeling confident about the future. My youngest son has just started in Year 7 in another secondary school (he choose to be with his friends as he attended a Bramhall primary school) and the difference in the two schools is immense. Stockport School offers a whole extended family of support, which shone through last night. Thank you for the continued support."
Year 11 Parent (16.10.14)
"I'm not sure if I'm contacting the right person, but wanted to let the school know that one of your pupils behaved beautifully on the 192 bus this morning. I was on the bus with my puppy - her first bus and she was nervous. Your pupil was very friendly towards her and polite to me, and then gave me his seat when we got on the bus, as it was very crowded. I used to work in a school myself, and know that often you get to hear about the bad stuff in the community more than the good, so I wanted to just let you know how impressed I was with this boy's manner."
"Every day I take my young daughter past the High School. As we travel at peak times for the school traffic, we are always having to squeeze past groups of students. I have found your students to be unfailingly good-tempered at the obstruction and inconvenience we must cause them, and they will often smile and excuse themselves despite the fault being mine. I am astonished at their politeness and good humour. This afternoon particularly, several young people, noticing us hot on their heels, alerted their friends and asked them to step aside so we could career past. I had to ask one thoughtful group if their headmaster was aware what a lovely bunch they were, and it has spurred me on to inform him. These were mostly older students - year nine, perhaps, or upper school, on their way home after the headlong flight of lower school, so I am very hopeful about the good example they set for their younger peers. I hope that you get the opportunity to thank them for me, as a group. They are a great set of kids to have as neighbours."
"Dear Mr Irwin I meant to send this email to you before Christmas, so apologies that this is now dated but I hope it will still be welcomed and fed back to those involved. I saw students from your school performing carols and Christmas songs at the Tesco store at Handforth Dean and wanted to tell you how fantastic they were. They were enthusiastically spreading Christmas cheer. They appeared happy, polite and well behaved, engaging with members of the public. The two adult teachers/supervisors with the students seemed relaxed in their company, talking and laughing with them. With so many negative things said about teenagers (and teachers!) it was really nice to see. I sat for a while and watched with my own two small children who were kept well entertained. This is the first time I’ve ever sent an email like this, but I felt compelled to make you aware of the good impression the students and staff made whilst representing their school. "
"Since my daughter started Stockport school in September we have been completely overwhelmed at the support she has been given, and extremely pleased with the emails and awards she’s been receiving for her hard work, they are showing that her effort is being recognised. She has settled in very well and her confidence is growing week on week and I truly believe this is down to the hard work and dedication of the staff at Stockport. I’m so pleased we chose Stockport school and want to thank you for providing her with a brilliant education."