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Pastoral Ethos
Knowing every boy is the key to our success.
Tutoring is at the heart of MGS life and deeply influences the distinctive character of the whole school.
In the Senior School, Tutors work with small groups of up to thirteen boys, enabling them to really get to know each boy and his family.
Every boy has a sympathetic mentor, with whom he can share his interests and voice any concerns, confident that he will receive support from someone who knows him well. We seek to create an environment in which every boy feels valued as an individual, and is challenged to fulfil his potential, whatever his talents and attributes.
The Junior School is a close community, where every boy is special and valued as an individual.
Although proud to be part of The Manchester Grammar School, we realise that young boys need to feel especially secure and nurtured.
A trained primary Form Tutor and Sixth Form prefect offer support and guidance, no matter how small the problem. We liaise closely with parents to deal with matters swiftly and sensitively.
Our Junior House system affords boys the opportunity to mix across the year groups and to pull together collectively. Every boy is able to represent an official team within our sports and activity programme. Boys throughout the Junior School are encouraged to take on roles of responsibility, ranging from Form Captains to Sports and House Captains. Our elected School Council members represent the opinions of their peers and all boys know that we take their views seriously.
All new boys benefit from our postcode 'buddy system', helping with travel arrangements and enabling relationships to be forged even before boys join us. This, combined with taster days, provides opportunities for boys to embark on their MGS school life with confidence and ease.
The Lower School at MGS consists of Years 7 and 8 and is all about developing scholars and gentlemen.
Our boys come from a diverse range of schools and backgrounds, and around half of our boys come from state primary schools.
Our community thrives upon this diversity. Our well-established postcode ‘buddy system’ ensures that every boy arrives knowing someone already at MGS.
A specialist Lower School Tutor will oversee your son’s development, guiding and supporting him and helping him to prepare for the challenges and opportunities of Middle School.
We keep intelligent and enthusiastic boys busy by providing them with a wide and varied curriculum which nurtures a love of learning, as well as opportunities for lessons to be learned outside the classroom. We have well over 100 weekly clubs on offer. We have trips specially tailored to developing friendships, like the annual form residential to Owls’ Nest and form trips to Castleton, Conwy and the Blackden Trust.
An important part of Lower School is the sense of community that we foster and this comes about through the friendships that boys develop with their classmates, their Tutor, Head of Year and Head of Section. As a Lower School team we set high, but realistic, expectations in all areas, and enjoy the diverse company of our enthusiastic and youthful cohort.
The Middle School at MGS consists of Years 9 to 11 and concludes with our boys’ first experience of public examinations.
The mantra for an MGS Middle School boy is to challenge himself in a variety of ways and the breadth of academic curriculum on offer is simply the start of this.
The Middle School is a time where MGS boys explore their academic interests whilst being challenged to fine-tune their strengths in preparation for IGCSE/GCSE examinations. Beyond this, Middle School boys play a great role in the co-curricular life of the School. From the Theatre to the Rugby field, from the concert stage to desert trek, Middle School boys take themselves out of their comfort zone, encountering new horizons and getting to know themselves and their peers better in the process.
Making the most of small tutor groups and a team of skilled pastoral staff, the boys in Middle School receive outstanding academic and pastoral support and enjoy three years in a dynamic and encouraging community.
Our aim is that all boys leave Middle School having experienced genuine challenges in a friendly and encouraging environment, able to make intelligent well-informed choices for the future, and looking forward to a brilliant Sixth Form career.
The Sixth Form is divided into five academic Colleges, containing roughly equal numbers of students from Years 12 and 13.
Each college is divided into small tutor groups, led by a Head of College. The person primarily responsible for the academic progress and pastoral welfare of students is the Tutor.
The Tutor will help each individual make the transition to the habits and discipline of Sixth Form study, and will also encourage him to develop the skills, competences and experiences which will prepare him for life beyond MGS.
The Tutor will also write the university reference for each of their tutees, and support them in making well-informed decisions about the future.
The Colleges are more than just an administrative group; they are also a focus for activities and opportunities to develop new skill sets, and take on roles of leadership, responsibility and service.
