Chopin in Manchester

On Friday last to Deansgate, Manchester, to represent MGS at the opening/installation of the Chopin Memorial Monument.  Two hundred years after the composer's birth, Manchester now boasts a statue of Frederic Chopin, who played in the city in 1848.  The links between Manchester (and the broader region of north-west England) and the Polish people are very strong, and the ceremony on Friday was attended by the Polish Ambassador in the UK, the leader of Manchester City Council, and the sculptor, Robert Sobocinski.  Of course, a number of MGS staff and pupils have Polish roots.

Under the drape, Chopin plays one of the earliest models of piano, whilst gazing across the keyboard at an unidentified muse.  The muse reclines on an eagle's wing, with the other wing forming the opened piano lid, incorporating a battle scene representing the Polish fight for freedom.

On Friday a selection of Chopin's music was played wonderfully in a Town Hall recital by Andrew Wilde.

Start of year

Welcome to the start of another school year.  It's hard to say which is the more nervous group: the new pupils in their shiny uniforms, or the band of new staff - teachers, administrators, language assistants, etc - who join MGS this September.  Best wishes to you all.  It will doubtless all soon seem familiar.

There have been big physical changes over the summer, with a new access point to the grounds from Old Hall Lane to facilitate bus loading and unloading, a new computer infrastructure throughout the buildings, and the completion of the new accommodation for the youngest new MGS pupils for over 60 years, the 7 and 8 year-olds joining the Junior School.  This is the new view looking west towards the Rectory (the boundary with Birchfields Park is to the right):

Facilities in the new building are bang up-to-date, and the youngsters even have a dedicated playground outside, MGS oddly having been designed without such a facility when the school moved to Fallowfield in 1931.

The olden days are much in our minds as we approach our 500th birthday in 2015, and our archivist, aided by staff in the Art department, has prepared a wonderful mounted exhibition of photographs of times past which is hanging in the Display Area near the Memorial Hall.  Do pop in and see it if you can.  Call into the Development Office on the same corridor while you're visiting - we'll be delighted to see you.  Here's a taster - milk, anyone?