Blue Coat marches in celebration

THE entire Blue Coat School turned out to celebrate founder’s day.

Around 1,500 people, including the 1,300 pupils, around 100 members of staff and 80 guests took part in a march from the school in what is one of the most important years of its history.

The procession wound its way down Egerton Street, with head boy Matthew Smith and head girl Olivia Saunders carrying the school standard at its head.

It converged at Oldham war memorial, where wreaths were laid by last year’s head boy and head girl, Ryan Wan and Olivia Price, followed by a service at Oldham Parish Church.

The pupils were given the afternoon off, and school leaders and their guests enjoyed a celebratory lunch.

The school this year celebrates its 175th anniversary.

Its founder, hat manufacturer Thomas Henshaw, died in 1810, leaving £40,000 for the endowment of the Blue Coat School.

The foundation stone was laid in 1829, and the school was opened in 1834 as a boys’ boarding school, over the years evolving to become the voluntary-aided comprehensive school of today.