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The Portsmouth Grammar School is an independent school located in Portsmouth, England.

History

In 1732 William Smith former Mayor of Portsmouth and Physician to its Garrison, died and left his estate to Christ Church College Oxford. This came with instructions to build a new school in Portsmouth - The Portsmouth Grammar School (PGS) was founded.

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 Two, its conversion to co-education, and the abolition of boarding.

At the moment 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. The current Headmaster is Dr. T.R. Hands.

Internal Structure

Houses

In each section of PGS there are four houses, each represented by a colour. Although these colours remain the same, the names change in each section of the School:
Junior School
  • Hudson (Blue)
  • Jerrard (Yellow)
  • Nicol (Red)
  • Privett (Green)

Middle School
  • Barton (Blue)
  • Eastwood (Yellow)
  • Hawkey (Red)
  • Summers (Green)

Upper School
  • Grant (Blue)
  • Latter (Yellow)
  • Smith (Red)
  • Whitcombe (Green)

Uniform

Any aspects of uniform not specified are the same as any generic uniform - black socks and shoes etc. The uniform remains the same throughout the school, except for what is listed.

Boys
  • Black trousers (Black shorts for those in Junior School Years R to 4 with the optional trousers for pupils in Years 5 and 6)
  • White shirt
  • Black blazer with red piping and the PGS golden lion embossed on the left-breast pocket

In the sixth form the red piping is lost from the blazer.

Girls
  • Black skirt with red stripe (Red Tartan Kilt is worn in the Junior School for Girls in Years R to 6, with a white and red striped Summer Dress in the Summer Term)
  • White blouse
  • Black blazer with red piping and the PGS golden lion embossed on the left-breast pocket

In the sixth form the girls are given more freedom, and their uniform is based around a black skirt and jacket suit.

Ties
These are black, with red diagonal stripes across them. A third stripe, alternated with the red, corresponds with the house of the pupil. In the sixth form, the optional ties of black with the PGS emblem dotted across them can be worn.

Prefects
Chosen in Year 12 by a combination of discussions between teachers and the Headmaster and a student vote, around twenty pupils are awarded with diagonally-striped red and gold ties and silver buttons for their blazers. A few pupils have golden buttons, and these are the Deputy Senior Prefects. One select Senior Prefect is also chosen to preside over shared responsibilities.

Academics

The Portsmouth Grammar School is a selective independent school, only allowing those children of high academic ability, through the use of an entrance exam at the age of 11 (within the top 15% nationally in terms of ability). Hence, the school prides itself on its academic exellence, and it is known for being one of the best schools in the area, a view upheld by consistently good league table rankings, although one has to be more and more skeptical with the reliability and bias of these. For several years an average of a 98% A-C grade pass rate has been maintained at GCSE, with several board prizes awarded at this level each year.

A-Level results are also extremely good, with many candidates achieving straight A grades. As well as public exam results, each year, individual Olympiads especially in Sciences, and Advanced Extension Awards (AEA's) are successfully undertaken.

The school has a good entry rate to top universities, including Oxbridge, especially for very competitive subjects such as Medicine, Law, Engineering and History.

The Portsmouth Grammar School has been named by The Sunday Times as one of the top ten best value for money co-educational day schools in the country. The league table, published in the newspaper’s Money section, was based on last year’s A-level results and calculated by dividing each school’s termly fee by its pupils’ average A level points score to give the cost per point. Points are awarded on a scale from 120 for an A to 40 for an E.

Headmaster Dr Timothy Hands, said: “It is great to see PGS recognized as a school which delivers outstanding results at an affordable price in relation to other schools in the country.

“No league table can tell you the whole story about a school, and there is so much more on offer at PGS – excellent pastoral care and a superb range of extracurricular activities. But parents make a significant commitment to send their children here and they will be reassured to see us selected as one of the country’s best value schools and a proven deliverer of outstanding results.”

Discipline

Discipline within the school is mostly good, indeed the ISI inspection report of 2004 commented that in lessons, discipline is maintained with a soft touch due to the good relations between pupils and teachers.

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

  • On the lowest end of the scale, lunchtime and breaktime detentions can be administered,
  • For more serious breaches, after school detentions on Thursdays can be administered,
  • Above that Headmaster's detentions are carried out on Saturday mornings.
  • For the most serious of breaches of conduct (for example theft) the headmaster has the power to suspend and expel students.

At least two pupils were asked to leave during the academic year beginning in September 2005, and several suspensions have been administered.

Discipline outside the classroom is maintained mainly by the Surmaster Mr. N.F.C. Blewett.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Aside from the more common extra-curricular disciplines, at the school there is also CCF and several academic clubs, including a Debating Club and a Wildlife Club. For the more adventurous, there are clubs ranging from "Miniatures and Modelling Club" to "Middle School Textiles Club"

Sport

PGS has had numerous sporting successes in recent years, including the hockey team's victory in the National Finals in 2004 and their qualification for the final in 2005 (although they were unsuccessful on both occasions), and the U11 girls' Netball team's achievement in reaching the final of the IAPS National Championships for the second year running.

CCF

The School has a Combined Cadet Force open to pupils in Year 9 and above. This comprises of the Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy sections. CCF gives pupils the chance to learn many skills associated with military careers as well as provides excellent extra-curricular experience. Cadets can 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

The music at PGS is a major reason for pupils' entry to the school. There are several extremely good groups which perform regularly, many of these groups have been conducted by the school's associate conductor, Nicolae Moldoveanu.

Chamber Choir
One of the most prestigious groups of the school which has sung with the London Mozart Players and has sung many notable and increasingly difficult works, including Bach's St. John Passion, Handel's Messiah and Fauré, Verdi and Mozart's Requiems. They have also sung at extremely important events, including the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall in front of the Royal Family and various other dignitaries including the Prime Minister. There is also an annual tradition of singing Evensong at Christ Church College Oxford and it is common for the choir to be heard on the radio.

Swing Band
This is a highly skilled group featuring many of the best players in the school of their instruments. Several jazz, blues and swing numbers from famous composers are performed expertly. Also it has been mistaken for a swingers group that, at weekends, holds sessions in which married couples "swap" partners and fuck.

African Drumming Group
This relatively fledgling ensemble is polyrhythmically unrivalled and performs virtuosic pieces in the style of Ghana: complete with Master Drummer.

Gospel Choir
One of the most physically active groups in the school combines actions with music and praise. Many of the ensemble's finishing touches are suggested by members of the choir, and joint involvement is emphasised - paving the way for numerous solos and impromtu harmony.

Contemporary Music Group
"CMG" is currently comprised mainly of Year 11 pupils. Led by esteemed composer and pianist Dr. Adam Swayne.

Concert Band
The Concert Band was, at one stage, the pride and joy of PGS music. A combined tour with the Swing Band to Paris in 2004 was enjoyed by all. Locations of performances included a bandstand next to the Champs-Elysée and Disneyland.

Choral Society
This is a choir open to anybody which occurs for the first term and a half of a year and rehearses a piece or pieces for a large concert in the spring term with the Parents choir. Members of the chamber choir must be members of the choral society.

Orchestra
This is an extremely extensive ensemble which performs regularly at concerts.

String orchestra
This is another skilled ensemble comprising the string playing talent of the school.

Chamber Ensembles
  • Clarinet Quartet aka "Rob's Fantastic Four" - This is a quartet formed from the some clarinettists in the school.

  • String Quartet - This is a group comprised of the most talented string players. It is in much demand for performances

  • Woodwind Quintet - This is a talented group of musicians who meet regularly and play a mix of modern favourites and classical pieces.

  • Six hands at one piano - This is a skilled group who play demanding pieces of varying styles.

  • Madrigal Group - This is an enthusiastic group of singers who sing traditional English madrigals. They are led by the talented choral trainer Mr. P. Drew.

Student-run Music Groups
Pupils in the school also enjoy forming their own music groups, and many have played in charity concerts, competitions such as "Battle of the Bands", and other performances.

Other Groups
There are many other groups including smaller flute groups and student-run amateur bands.

All the new groups, including the aforementioned, were introduced to broaden the creative musical spectrum at PGS and to give the pupils more opportunities to do something they enjoy. The "Music from other Cultures" section of the GCSE syllabus is represented well within the department, and allows pupils the chance to experience this alternative style of composition and performance.

Concerts
Weekly "Lunchtime" concerts take place for soloists and chamber groups on Tuesdays. In addition to this "teatime concerts" take place on a monthly basis providing opportunities for longer programmes and larger groups.

The Gala concert takes place in the Autumn term and a Choral society - Parents choir - Chamber choir concert takes place in the spring term along with two concerts with the Chamber Choir and London Mozart Players under Nicolae Moldoveanu. This collaboration between professional musicians and school pupils broadens musical horizons and raises the level of music making in the school.

Music Teaching
Along side their primary role as academic staff, the three full time music teachers take and coach the groups. The school also employs a leading professional piano teacher, pianist and accompanist Karen Kingsley as the director of keyboard studies who raises the standard of music by not only teaching parapatetically but also working as an accompanist and coaching chamber groups.

The school also employs a choral scholar from the cathedral to work in the department.

The school has many parapatetic staff, some of whom take chamber groups.

Action This Day

In 2004, the School authorities used its available resources (including the pupils, contributing to their learning programme) to produce a book named, Action this Day, which is a collection of poetry and literature on interviews with old Portmuthian war veterans. This book had its foreword written by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and has been presented to the British Library and the Royal Library at Winchester Castle.

Headmaster

The current Headmaster is Dr. T.R. Hands. Dr. Hands was educated at Kings College London and later at St. Catherine's College Oxford.

Dr. Hands is the author on many books of nineteenth Century literature, these include three acclaimed studies of Thomas Hardy. He is also the editor of an award-winning edition of Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.

Dr. Hands was formally the Co-leader of the London Schools Symphony Orchestra and conductor of the Oxford University Chamber Choir, the Schola Cantorum.

He is currently a member of the HMC/GSA Universities Committee.

Dr. Hands has done much since his arrival for the school, he has enlarged the school and improved enormously all aspects to school life.

Other Events

Recently the school hosted an evening with the Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and sculptress Jilly Sutton in which she talked on the sculpture that she recently created of the poet and a bronze cast of which now resides in the school library. Mr. Motion then read some extracts from some books which are in production.

Previously, Mr. Motion had visited the school as part of a "Poetry Workshop" whereby students attending PGS and St. Luke's School (a school near to PGS, the league table results of which are known to be below average) would come together in the newly-refurbished Memorial Library. It was agreed to be a refreshing sight to see that Pupils from a high flying independent school were able to cooperate so well with pupils from St. Luke's School.

Alumni

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

Notable alumni

External links

Educational institutions established in the 1730s | Portsmouth | Public schools in Hampshire | Schools with Combined Cadet Forces | 1732 establishments

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "The Portsmouth Grammar School".

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