Hutchesons' Grammar School

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Hutchesons' Grammar School

Type Independent day school; Scottish charity (educational endowment)
Founded 1641
Founder(s) George Hutcheson and Thomas Hutcheson
Registration ID SC002922 (The Governors of Hutchesons' Educational Trust)
Headquarters 21 Beaton Road, Glasgow G41 4NW
Location Glasgow, Scotland
Services Nursery, primary and secondary education
Registration Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
Key people John MacLeod (chair of governors); Mark Ronan (rector)
Website https://www.hutchesons.org/

Hutchesons' Grammar School (known as "Hutchie") is an independent, fee-paying day school on the south side of Glasgow. It traces its origins to Hutchesons' Hospital, founded in 1641 by the brothers George Hutcheson and Thomas Hutcheson.[1] It is run by The Governors of Hutchesons' Educational Trust, a Scottish charity registered with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) as SC002922, at 21 Beaton Road, Glasgow G41 4NW.[2]

History

According to Wikipedia, Hutchesons' Hospital was founded in 1641 to care for "twelve indigent orphans", and the trust's Hutchesons' Hall in Ingram Street was built in 1802–05 to designs by David Hamilton. The separate boys' and girls' schools were amalgamated in 1976, and the school merged with Laurel Park School in 2001. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, the Independent Schools Council and the Scottish Council of Independent Schools. Its motto is Veritas.[1]

The former Elgin Street building

In May 1916 the Jewish National Movement Committee decided to rent the former building of Hutchesons' Girls' Grammar School in Elgin Street, at the southern edge of the Gorbals, after the girls' school had moved to larger premises in Kingarth Street.[3] In 1923 the Talmud Torah, newly amalgamated with Nathan Morris' Hebrew School, moved into the former school, which had been bought for £4,000; the building also briefly housed the Jewish National Institute and a Hebrew College.[4]

Governance and finances

OSCR lists the charity as an educational endowment registered on 24 January 1992, with the object "the advancement of education". In October 2026 the register listed eleven trustees: Michelle McCargo, Asif Haseeb, Bruce Thompson, David Morgan, John MacLeod, Michael Sloan, Abid Faqir, Dorothy McFarlane, Norman MacLeod, Vivienne MacLaren and Andrew McFarlane.[2]

The trustees' report for the year to 31 July 2025 names the bodies that nominate governors:[5]

The same report names Mark Ronan as rector (appointed in February 2024, in post from August 2024), Jill Galloway as Director of Operations and clerk to the governors, and Lindsay Heeps as Director of Finance. The auditor was Wbg (Audit) Ltd and investments were managed by RBC Brewin Dolphin.[5]

Income and expenditure (OSCR register)[2]
Year to 31 July Income (£) Expenditure (£)
2022 16,428,449 16,431,238
2023 16,355,772 18,108,048
2024 18,279,567 18,847,944
2025 18,682,794 20,914,098

For 2024–25 the school reported a roll of 1,158 (69 nursery, 284 primary and 805 secondary), 42 fewer than the year before, which it attributed to the introduction of VAT on school fees in January 2025. It gave means-tested bursaries of £722,401 to 77 pupils and fee remissions of £522,300 to 84 pupils. It reported a deficit of £2,189,259, with total funds falling to £16,491,178 from £18,680,438, and a £2 million overdraft facility with the Bank of Scotland. In November 2025 the trustees announced the sale of the Kingarth Street primary site, with an expected book loss of £867,577.[5] OSCR records 284 staff.[2]

In its risk register the report lists "Radicalisation / Religious Bigotry" and states that the "Current conflict in the Middle East has made this an increasingly significant risk".[5]

Fees for 2026–27, including VAT, range from £15,822 a year in Primary 1 to £20,395 in S3–S6.[6]

Jewish community links

Jewish assemblies and the Jewish Society

The school has held separate Jewish and Muslim morning assemblies. A Daily Record report named Claire Singerman as the co-ordinator of the Jewish assemblies.[7]

A research report for the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council's Community Futures Project, by Fiona Frank with Conrad Cohen and Shani Zour (April 2013), says its researchers ran activities "during the Jewish assemblies" at Mearns Castle High School and Hutchesons' "alongside the UJIA (United Jewish Israel Appeal) Glasgow Youth Worker, Matthew Goldring". It describes them as "the two secondary schools with the largest population of Jewish children", and says 28 pupils were seen at Hutchesons' and 36 at Mearns Castle.[8]

Powerbase has separate pages for the Hutchesons' Grammar Primary School Jewish Society and the Hutchesons' Grammar Secondary School Jewish Society. Both are linked to the United Jewish Israel Appeal's Jewish Activities in Mainstream Schools (JAMS) programme.

UJIA and JAMS

In 2015 the Jewish Chronicle reported that the UJIA had taken over JAMS in about 2013. It said UJIA funded school Jewish societies' running costs, food, speakers and a calendar of events each term, and that at least 20% of their time was given to Israel. The programme reached 1,200 students in 23 London schools, plus eight schools in Manchester and Glasgow.[9] In 2021 the Glasgow community directory said UJIA Scotland ran "JAMS (Jewish Activities in Mainstream Schools) sessions at five schools", but did not name them.[10] A 2025 article by David Miller in Al Mayadeen said JAMS operated in four schools in the Glasgow area, Mearns Castle "and the other three are private schools", without naming the private schools.[11] The current directory entry says the Scottish Jewish Youth Alliance, "a project of Glasgow Maccabi, and supported by UJIA launched in January 2024", "has taken over the remit of youth education and engagement from UJIA".[12]

The school magazine reported that Julie-Rae King of UJIA gave the Jewish presentation at an interfaith assembly on fasting for S1–S3 pupils in 2015.[13] In 2012 Primary 6 pupils visited a synagogue,[14] and the 2023 Culture Week included a Jewish dancing workshop and hamantaschen for Purim.[15]

Jewish Chronicle reports, 1961–2012

  • In May 1961 the Jewish Chronicle reported that about 100 Jewish pupils attended a Founders' Day commemoration at Langside Synagogue, addressed by Samuel M. Lipsey.[16]
  • In April 1962 it reported that Jewish pupils had planted 23 trees in Israel to commemorate the inauguration of Founders' Day at Hutchesons' Boys' Grammar School.[17]
  • In April 1991 it reported that the rector, David Ward, praised the teaching at the Glasgow Yeshivah at the yeshivah's prize day.[18]
  • In October 1994 it reported a row over a Succot visit by two Lubavitch representatives, Mendel Jacobs, 19, from Glasgow, and an American Lubavitch student, who addressed pupils at the Jewish assembly with the permission of the teacher who took the assembly, David Jacobs ("no relation"), and gave each pupil the lulav and etrog to bless. The chairman of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, Harvey Livingston, said the visit was "ill-judged and ill-conceived"; the teacher said he was "shocked" at the reaction of the Jewish community.[19]
  • In March 1998 it reported that, "after a break of almost 30 years", the school would again hold its annual founder's day service in a synagogue, at Garnethill Synagogue on 20 March, as "a tribute to the Jewish community". The guest speaker was to be Lord Justice Balcombe.[20]
  • In September 2007 it reported a school statement that boys may wear kippot and turbans.[21]
  • In January 2008 it reported that Limmud Scotland was holding its fourth Limmud Day at the school on 10 February 2008, with the theme "Expanding Horizons".[22]
  • In January 2009 it reported: "Pupils at a Muslim assembly at a top Glasgow school, Hutchesons' Grammar, were last week asked to raise their hands if they hated Jews." It said the assembly leader, Asgher Mohammed, a parent, "told them that their anger was misplaced and it was the Israeli army who deserved their anger". The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities commented: "It may not have been advisable to approach the subject as he did but Mr Mohammed appears to have been making the entirely correct point that foreign conflicts should not be allowed to create hatred between local communities."[23]
  • In February 2010 it reported that Christine Haughney, head of Calderwood Lodge, was moving to be Hutchesons' head of primary.[24]
  • In April 2012 it reported that a firewalk at the school raised over £21,000 for WIZO and the Targu Mures trust, and that Jim Murphy MP took part.[25]

Prizes, lecture and donors

The school awards the Pamela and Martin Livingston Salver "for Service to the Jewish Community of the School".[26][27] It holds an annual Sir Alexander Stone Memorial Lecture, named after the former pupil Alexander Stone, and the school magazine thanked the Alexander Stone Foundation among the donors to a refurbishment.[28]

Pupil composition

The Scottish Government's annual pupil census, which publishes pupil ethnicity figures, covers publicly funded schools and excludes independent schools such as Hutchesons'.[29] The school's 2025 accounts say it "aims to attract pupils from all backgrounds, ethnic groups and financial circumstances" but give no religious or ethnic breakdown of the roll.[5] School-level figures have been published in the Jewish Chronicle (1998) and the Daily Record:

Published figures on the school's pupils
Group Figure Source
Jewish pupils, March 1998 "a total pupil roll of 2,000, of whom 10 per cent are Jewish" Jewish Chronicle, 13 March 1998[20]
Muslim pupils "around seven per cent of the school roll" Daily Record (online date 1 July 2012)[7]
Jewish pupils "Around six per cent" Daily Record (online date 1 July 2012)[7]
Roll, 2024–25 1,158 (nursery 69, primary 284, secondary 805) Trustees' report 2025[5]

The Daily Record article carries an online date of 1 July 2012, but its text refers to fighting in Gaza "which has left nearly 1000 Palestinians dead", to the "368-year-old school" and to fees of "around £9000 a year".[7] The 2013 Community Futures report describes Hutchesons' and Mearns Castle as "the two secondary schools with the largest population of Jewish children", without giving numbers.[8]

Area context (not school data)

The figures below are for the whole population of Glasgow City, where the school is, and the neighbouring council area of East Renfrewshire. They come from Scotland's Census 2022 and are not figures for the school.

Scotland's Census 2022: religion and ethnic group, whole population (%)[30]
Category Glasgow City East Renfrewshire
Church of Scotland 13.3 21.0
Roman Catholic 20.7 20.6
Other Christian 4.7 3.8
Muslim 7.9 5.5
Jewish 0.2 1.6
Hindu 1.3 1.3
Sikh 0.6 0.6
Buddhist 0.5 0.3
Other religion (including Pagan) 0.6 0.3
No religion 43.2 38.0
Religion not stated 7.1 6.9
White (all groups) 80.7 87.5
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British 11.1 9.5
of which Pakistani 5.0 5.2
African 3.6 0.5
Mixed or multiple 1.7 1.2
Caribbean or Black 0.2 0.1
Other ethnic groups (including Arab) 2.7 1.3

Notable former pupils

Former pupils in Zionist and Jewish communal organisations

  • Henry Lovat, president of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, lists Hutchesons' Grammar School in the education section of his LinkedIn profile.[47]
  • Alexander Stone: in May 1967 the Jewish Chronicle described him as a former pupil who had endowed a £100 scholarship "open to sixth-year pupils in the Hutchesons' Grammar Schools", and said he had "served as secretary of the Glasgow Zionist Organisation".[48] The paper described him as chairman of the Scottish branch of the British-Israel Chamber of Commerce in 1980 and 1983.[49][50] Its obituary says he attended Hutchesons' and describes him as "A lifelong Zionist" who gave to the Joint Israel Appeal.[51]
  • Myer Galpern, Lord Provost of Glasgow (1958–60) and later a Labour MP, was educated at Hutchesons'.[52][53][54] In May 1958 he was instrumental in building the first bayit (clubhouse) of the Glasgow Habonim, which Braber describes as "an organisation of Zionist youth".[55]
  • Arthur Manfred Shenkin, consultant psychiatrist, was educated at Hutchesons' and Glasgow University, where, according to his Psychiatric Bulletin obituary, "his fierce commitment to socialism and Zionism" competed with his studies. His Jewish Chronicle obituary says he was "educated at Hutchesons' Grammar School and Glasgow University, where he developed his keen life-long interest in politics, socialism and Zionism".[56][57][56]
  • Dr David Gordon (1915–2006), general practitioner and brother of Ezra Golombok: his Jewish Chronicle obituary says he "won a scholarship to the prestigious Hutcheson's Grammar School", changed his surname from Golombok to Gordon, and was "A lifelong Zionist".[58]
  • Meta Ramsay, Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale, chaired Labour Friends of Israel in the House of Lords.[59] See also below.
  • John Buchan aligned himself with Zionism from 1930.[60] In 1934 he spoke at a mass demonstration organised by the Jewish National Fund, and his name was inscribed in the Fund's Golden Book.[61][62] Chaim Weizmann wrote to him in February 1938.[63]
  • J. David Simons, novelist, is listed in the school magazine as a former pupil (class of 1970).[64] According to Wikipedia, he worked as a cotton farmer on Kibbutz Ashdot Ya'akov Ichud in Israel.[65]
  • Muriel Harris (née Links, 1924–2011), class of 1941, emigrated to Israel with her husband Sidney Harris in 1949. According to her school obituary, she taught English for 25 years at the Katznelson Secondary School in Kfar Saba.[66]

Other former pupils named in the Jewish Chronicle

The following are named as former pupils in Jewish Chronicle reports:

Former pupils in intelligence and security

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wikipedia, "Hutchesons' Grammar School", accessed 29 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, The Governors of Hutchesons' Educational Trust (SC002922), Scottish Charity Register, accessed 29 October 2026.
  3. ↑ Kenneth E. Collins, Second City Jewry: The Jews of Glasgow in the age of expansion, 1790–1919, Glasgow: Scottish Jewish Archives, 1990, p. 201.
  4. ↑ Ben Braber, Integration of Jewish immigrants in Glasgow, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 1992.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 The Governors of Hutchesons' Educational Trust, Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 July 2025, via Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, accessed 29 October 2026.
  6. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, Fees 2026–2027, accessed 29 October 2026.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Daily Record, "Race row at top Scots private school after Muslim kids are asked about Jews", dated online 1 July 2012, accessed 29 October 2026.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fiona Frank, with Conrad Cohen and Shani Zour, Research Report and Recommendations to the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council Community Futures Project, April 2013, pp. 35, 50, accessed 29 October 2026.
  9. ↑ Jewish Chronicle, "Lunchtime learning with a side of lox? Join the club", 5 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "United Jewish Israel Appeal", jewishglasgow.org, archived 18 April 2021, accessed 29 October 2026.
  11. ↑ David Miller, "The rise and fall of Zionism in Scotland, part 1", Al Mayadeen, 23 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "Scottish Jewish Youth Alliance", jewishglasgow.org (Glasgow Jewish Representative Council), accessed 29 October 2026.
  13. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, The Hutchie Herald, October 2015, p. 7.
  14. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, The Hutchie Herald, June 2012, p. 9.
  15. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, "Culture Week", 10 March 2023, accessed 29 October 2026.
  16. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 5 May 1961, p. 14, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  17. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 6 April 1962, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  18. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 5 April 1991, p. 9, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  19. ↑ Arnold Markson, The Jewish Chronicle, 7 October 1994, p. 14, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lindy Markson, "School's service in shul", The Jewish Chronicle, 13 March 1998, p. 21, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  21. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 21 September 2007, p. 17, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  22. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 18 January 2008, p. 45, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  23. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 16 January 2009, p. 9, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  24. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 26 February 2010, p. X06, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  25. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 6 April 2012, p. X07, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  26. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, The Hutchesonian, 2019, p. 98.
  27. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, The Hutchesonian, 2020, p. 98.
  28. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, The Hutchie Herald, May 2016, pp. 7, 16.
  29. ↑ Scottish Government, "Background notes – Pupil and teacher characteristics 2025", accessed 29 October 2026.
  30. ↑ National Records of Scotland, Scotland's Census 2022, output area data, tables UV205 (Religion) and UV201 (Ethnic group), summed to council area using the council codes in the NRS Census 2022 output area layer; cell values are perturbed by NRS for disclosure control, so totals may differ slightly from published council-area tables. Accessed 29 October 2026.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Janet Adam Smith, John Buchan, London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1965, pp. 30–32.
  32. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, The Hutchie Herald, September 2013, p. 12.
  33. ↑ Middle Temple, "The Hon Lord Fairley", Masters of the Bench, accessed 29 October 2026.
  34. ↑ Scottish Legal News, "Five new Senators of the College of Justice appointed", 21 November 2019.
  35. ↑ BBC News, "Who is Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar?", accessed 29 October 2026.
  36. ↑ BBC News, "Who is Humza Yousaf, Scotland's new first minister", 2023, accessed 29 October 2026.
  37. ↑ Nick Mathiason, "From blue chips to the green dream", The Observer, 3 February 2008.
  38. ↑ Management Today, "McKinsey's new global managing partner Kevin Sneader", 26 January 2018.
  39. ↑ "Susskind, Prof. Richard Eric", Who's Who, 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U36710.
  40. ↑ "STEWART, Iain Aitken", Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, 2013.
  41. ↑ "Mr David Weitzman", The Times, 8 May 1987, issue 62763, p. 16.
  42. ↑ Birkbeck, University of London, "Baroness Elizabeth Smith of Gilmorehill".
  43. ↑ The Herald, "Ringing the changes", 17 July 1996.
  44. ↑ The Daily Telegraph, "Louis Shenkin" (obituary) (archive).
  45. ↑ The Herald, "Alexander Stone" (obituary) (archive).
  46. ↑ Law Society of Scotland, "A new ball game" (in-house interview with Adam Lovatt), Journal of the Law Society of Scotland, 14 August 2017, accessed 29 October 2026.
  47. ↑ Henry Lovat, LinkedIn profile, education, accessed 29 October 2026.
  48. ↑ "Scholarship gift", The Jewish Chronicle, 5 May 1967, p. 13–14, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  49. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 1 August 1980, p. 15, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  50. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 18 February 1983, p. 10, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  51. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 10 April 1998, p. 23, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  52. ↑ Albert Benjamin, obituary of Lord Galpern, Jewish Chronicle, 8 October 1993, p. 13, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  53. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 16 May 1958, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  54. ↑ Kenneth Collins, The Jewish Experience in Scotland: from Immigration to Integration, Glasgow: Scottish Jewish Archives Centre, 2016, p. 128.
  55. ↑ Ben Braber, Jews in Glasgow, 1879–1939: Immigration and Integration, London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2007, p. 176.
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 Jewish Chronicle, 15 March 2002, p. 27.
  57. ↑ Psychiatric Bulletin, "Arthur Manfred Shenkin" (obituary).
  58. ↑ "David Gordon", The Jewish Chronicle, 15 September 2006, p. 32, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  59. ↑ Labour Friends of Israel, "LFI honorary parliamentary officers", 19 December 2025.
  60. ↑ Christopher Hitchens, "Between Kipling and Fleming stands John Buchan, the father of the modern spy thriller", The Atlantic, March 2004.
  61. ↑ Ursula Buchan, Beyond The Thirty-Nine Steps, London: Bloomsbury, 2019, p. 300.
  62. ↑ Janet Adam Smith, John Buchan, London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1965, p. 317.
  63. ↑ The Letters and Papers of Chaim Weizmann, Series A, vol. 18, Jerusalem: Israel Universities Press, 1979, pp. 320–321 (letter 285, Weizmann to Tweedsmuir, 22 February 1938).
  64. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, The Hutchie Herald, June 2022, p. 24.
  65. ↑ Wikipedia, "J. David Simons", accessed 29 October 2026.
  66. ↑ Hutchesons' Grammar School, The Hutchie Herald, December 2011, p. 21.
  67. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 17 February 2012, p. 24, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  68. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 28 January 1994, p. 17, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  69. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 21 April 1995, p. 16, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  70. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 10 December 1948, p. 12, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  71. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 5 June 1981, p. 16, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  72. ↑ The Jewish Chronicle, 15 January 2010, p. 24, via Jewish Chronicle archive.
  73. ↑ The Herald, "Scotland's 'Queen of Spies' and Labour peer Baroness Meta Ramsay dies", 2026, accessed 29 October 2026.
  74. ↑ 74.0 74.1 The Daily Telegraph, obituary of Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale, 28 May 2026, accessed 29 October 2026.
  75. ↑ The Times, "Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale obituary: intelligence officer", 9 June 2026.
  76. ↑ Julia Langdon, "Lady Ramsay of Cartvale obituary", The Guardian, 19 June 2026.
  77. ↑ Intelligence and Security Committee, "Committee Membership" (previous committees, 2005–2010), accessed 29 October 2026.
  78. ↑ John Charteris, At G.H.Q., London: Cassell, 1931.
  79. ↑ Office of the Governor General of Canada, "Lord Tweedsmuir of Elsfield".
  80. ↑ The Herald, "Kenneth Munro" (obituary).
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