Portsmouth Grammar School

The Portsmouth Grammar School
Motto Praemia Virtutis Honores
Established 1732
Type Independent school
Headmaster Mr. James Priory
Chairman of the Governors Mr. Brian Larkman
Founder Dr. William Smith MA
Location High Street
Portsmouth
Hampshire
PO1 2JN
England
Coordinates: 50°47′30″N 1°05′59″W / 50.791784°N 1.0998°W / 50.791784; -1.0998
Staff ~172
Gender Mixed
Ages 2–18
Houses 4
Colours      Red
     Gold
     Black
Publication The Portmuthian
School hymn All My Hope on God is Founded
Former pupils Old Portmuthians
School blog Portsmouth Point
Website www.pgs.org.uk
Frontispiece, The Portsmouth Grammar School

The Portsmouth Grammar School is a co-educational independent school in Portsmouth, England, located in the historic part of the city. Founded in 1732 as a boys' school, it has become one of the top independent schools in the UK[1] consistently ranking highly in national reviews of teaching quality and examination results. It is widely regarded as the best school in the area and is known for its consistent 100% GCSE pass rate.[2][3]

History

The old Grammar School building now houses the Upper Junior School

In 1732, William Smith, a former Mayor of Portsmouth and previously the garrison physician, died and left his estate to Christ Church, Oxford. His will contained instructions to build a new school in Portsmouth and thus, The Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS) was founded. The will of the founder is reflected to this day in that two Governors continue to be nominated by Christ Church. The school also retains its naval links, with The Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command nominating one further Governor.

Since then it has undergone a series of changes - including slight alterations to its location, some of which were due to bombing in World War II, its conversion to co-education, and the abolition of boarding.

As of 2010 the Upper Junior School (Years 5-6) is situated in a Victorian building (which once contained the whole Grammar School) close to part of the University of Portsmouth. The Nursery, Lower Junior School (Reception to Year 4), Middle School and Upper School are located across the road on the High Street. The majority of that area used to be the Cambridge Barracks: a building used by the army which was ravaged by fire after bombing by the Luftwaffe.

The school colours are red, black and gold, and the school motto is Praemia Virtutis Honores (English: Honours are the rewards of virtue). The current Headmaster is Mr J Priory. The school recently spent £6 million[4] on a new Science building.

Academic performance

The school is academically strong,[5] with an average AS/A level point score of 939.1 in 2009, which is almost 50% over the national average.[6]

Over 90% of pupils achieve a place at their first choice university and most go on to study at Russell Group universities; up to 20% go on to Oxbridge.[7]

Internal structure

Portsmouth Grammar School consists of three sections: Nursery (ages 2-4), Junior School (Reception to Year 6) and Senior School (Year 7 to Sixth Form).

Houses

The Main Arch, The Portsmouth Grammar School

In each section of PGS there are four houses, each represented by a colour and named after a former schoolmaster. Although these colours remain the same, the names change in each section of the School:

Junior School Middle School Upper School
Hudson Barton Grant
Jerrard Eastwood Latter
Nicol Hawkey Smith
Privett Summers Whitcombe

Houses form the basis of the school pastoral system and provide a continued 'home' throughout a pupil's time at the school. In the Upper School, each house has its own common room. Sixth Formers have their own common area and cafe, known as the Sixth Form Centre. Sixth Formers also have their own library.

Discipline

The ISI inspection report of 2004 commented that "discipline is maintained with a soft touch due to the good relations between pupils and teachers."

Real bad boys are treated like royalty.

It is PGS's policy to deal with serious breaches of its code of conduct and school rules severely:

Prefects

Prefects also perform a minor role in school discipline, performing duties such as monitoring classroom and the tuck shop during breaks and ushering pupils at large school events. They are expected to set an example to younger pupils and are given the authority to issue lunchtime detentions. Chosen in Year 12 by a combination of discussions between teachers and the Headmaster and a student vote, around forty-five pupils are awarded with diagonally-striped red and gold ties. A few pupils have golden buttons; these are the Deputy Senior Prefects. A Senior Prefect is also chosen to preside over shared responsibilities, however since 2012-13, two Senior Prefects have been selected to jointly lead the team.

Co-curricular activities

Pupils take part in trips each term to visit various countries. Pupils have visited France, Germany, Spain, Ireland, The United States, Syria, Russia, Norway, Hungary, Uganda and a number of other countries. Exchanges take place as a part of the Modern Languages programme each year, with pupils spending time in France, Spain or Germany and receiving a visit from their counterpart. Additionally, sports teams travel each year to various locations, which have included South Africa and Australia.

Aside from trips abroad, extracurricular activities include the Combined Cadet Force (see below), a Debating Club, Wildlife Club, "Stock Market Club", "Model Rockets", and "Middle School Textiles Club".

The school was involved in the establishment of the education charity United World Schools and since 2010 has funded a Partner School in Cambodia through co-curricular activities.[8]

Drama

GCSE and AS/A-level assessment performances take place on weekday evenings to an audience of parents and friends of the pupils involved. In terms of extracurricular drama, the scene is varied; a great deal of change has occurred within the Drama Department recently, with the building of a new theatre and several new ventures being undertaken. Annual drama events include:

Sport

Within the school grounds are a sports centre containing a multi-purpose hall, gymnasium, squash courts, weight lifting room and dance rooms.

The school also has extensive sports grounds at Hilsea, which include tennis courts, cricket and rugby pitches, and an all-weather astro-turf pitch as well as a pavilion. The school sometimes uses the HMS Temeraire grounds, and Governors Green in Portsmouth.

Sports offered rugby, cricket, hockey, tennis, netball, squash, shooting, fencing, rowing and croquet.

CCF

The School has a Combined Cadet Force open to pupils in Year 9 and above. This comprises the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy sections. Cadets learn skills of navigation, leadership, drill, outdoor survival, adventure training, flying, sailing and shooting as part of the CCF. Each section has its own residential camps based around the country throughout the year, with opportunities to shoot on ranges, sail, fly in planes and adventure training.

Music

In an article in the September 2006 BBC Music Magazine, the following was written about the music at PGS:

“ At Portsmouth Grammar School, the musical opportunities put those of other, better known establishments to shame. With its own composer in residence...Links with the London Mozart Players mean that scholars get the chance to perform a concerto with a professional ensemble... Commissions for the school include works by Sally Beamish, Lynne Plowman, and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. ”

There are several ensembles that perform regularly, many conducted by the school's associate conductor, Nicolae Moldoveanu. The PGS Chamber Choir sang at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in 2005 and went on tour to Salzburg at Christmas 2006. The Choir also sings regularly with the London Mozart Players and upholds an annual tradition of singing Evensong at Christ Church, Oxford.

Weekly lunchtime recitals are held in the Music Department for soloists.

Politics

PGS runs its own Model United Nations which meets weekly. The school also hosts an MUN Conference annually and are joined by local school delegation teams.[9] The school has run mock elections for notable elections that have occurred at the time. In recent years, the History & Politics Department have organised school elections for the 2010 UK election, where the school narrowly elected the Conservative Party,[10] whilst in the 2012 US election the school voted in favour of the Democrats[11]

Old Portmuthians

Alumni are known as Old Portmuthians and may join The Old Portmuthian Club, founded in 1885. Notable OPs include

References

  1. ↑ A-Level Exam Results 2009 in The Daily Mail
  2. ↑ 2008 A-Level Results and GCSE Results in The Times, 2008
  3. ↑ League tables: GCSE and A-Level results for Portsmouth in The Guardian, 15 January 2009
  4. ↑ "New Science Centre". Pgs.org.uk. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  5. ↑ Top 100 Independent Schools 2004 in The Guardian, 27 August 2004
  6. ↑ "Performance results for The Portsmouth Grammar School". BBC News. 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
  7. ↑ University and Beyond | PGS Website
  8. ↑ Nassif, Aline (23 May 2012). "Dancers raise thousands". Portsmouth News. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  9. ↑ PGS Model United Nations on Facebook
  10. ↑ Prospective Mini MPs Canvas for Votes in Mock Election from the PGS Website, cached by ZoomInfo
  11. ↑ "Obama Re-elected by US and PGS". Portsmouth Point. 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2012-12-06.

External links

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