About Us
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL
The earliest records of education at St Gregory's date from 1840 when there was a Catholic Sunday School for 300 pupils, taught by 25 teachers in two rooms! By 1869 the school was well established in a building on Griffin Street. At this time there was a separate Boys' School and a Girls' School. The curriculum consisted of reading, writing, religious instruction, history, geography, drill and singing (which was taken by the Parish priest).
In 1894, the pupils moved to the present site, chosen because it was thought to be "sufficiently near the children's homes, removed from the noise of the streets, not hemmed in by other buildings, with a good aspect, sheltered from east winds, no fear from being overlooked, no smoke from factories, plenty of pure air and comparatively cheap." There was a Boys' School, a Girls' School and now an Infants' School. Poor health was a great problem and the schools were frequently closed. In 1897/8 the schools were closed for more than 6 months due to diphtheria and then later because of scarlet fever and influenza.
After the First World War, the raising of the school leaving age to 14 years necessitated the building of two huts for extra classes. Thus the school continued until it was reorganised in 1937 into an Infants' School, a Junior Mixed School and a Senior Mixed School.
On the outbreak of the Second World War the school was again closed for a long time because there were no air-raid shelters for the pupils. As these became available pupils came to school in shifts, 50 at a time for one hour a day. Eventually the school returned to normal and many evacuees were admitted, mainly from the London area.
In 1948, the school leaving age was raised again, to 15 years. More accommodation was required and so two new classrooms were built - these now form an ideal Nursery block. In 1950, the present canteen block was built.
The seniors left the site in 1967 for their beautiful new school on Longton Hall Road. In 1972, much of the old Junior building was demolished, followed by the building of the new block. In 1974, the new playing fields and all-weather pitch adjoining the playground were completed. In 1976, the older buildings of the school were modernised and altered to leave
the buildings of the school improved and updated.
In 2005 a major rebuild began and both the Junior and Infant buildings were either demolished or remodelled. After several years with builders on site, we moved into a new building (on the same site) as a unified St Gregory's Catholic Primary School. Extensive landscaping and redesign of the outdoor areas completed a major investment in St Gregory's. However, during 2011/12 builders returned to extend the school, building new classrooms and enlarging the assembly hall, dining area, staffroom etc, bringing the intake up to 60 per year group.
In November 2013, St Gregory's Catholic Primary School became St Gregory's Catholic Academy; part of the All Saints Academy. The school now works closely with our partner schools i.e. St Thomas More, St Augustine's, St Maria Goretti and Our Lady's, Fenton.
