Parkstone Grammar School (commonly abbreviated to "PGS") is a selective, all-girls academy school in

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

specializing in science and languages, on the southern coast of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Admissions

The school is situated in the northern end of the town (less than a mile away from

Poole Grammar School Poole Grammar School (commonly abbreviated to PGS) is a selective, all‐boys grammar school and academy in the coastal town of Poole in Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is a member of the South West Academic Trust (SWAT). The school wa ...

). The school has been a recognised science specialist college since 2003. Since 2008, it has also been a language specialist college. Approximately 1,300 students from school years 7 to 13 attend the school. The school caters for girls between the ages of 11 and 18, teaching all to

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

and a large proportion to

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

. The school currently has over 350 pupils in sixth form. To be accepted to Parkstone Grammar School all girls are required to sit an entrance test

History

Founded in 1905 as a co-educational school at Ashley Cross in

Parkstone Parkstone is an area of Poole, Dorset. It is divided into 'Lower' and 'Upper' Parkstone. Upper Parkstone - "Up-on-'ill" as it used to be known in local parlance - is so-called because it is largely on higher ground slightly to the north of t ...

by William Ernest Brennand. It was an independent school until

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

Council took it over in 1935Two years later, the schools in Poole were reorganised, and the boys from Parkstone Grammar were transferred to

, and the girls who were at Poole Grammar transferred to Parkstone Grammar. The two grammar schools both have very close links as they are only approximately 1,000 metres apart. The first headmistress, Miss W. M. Allen, was in post from 1937, just before the reorganisation, until 1959, by which time the current site at Sopers Lane had been chosen. She laid the foundation stone for the new school. Miss N. L. McGuinness was headmistress from 1960, when the school opened at Sopers Lane, until 1976. Charmian Birchett was head from 1976 to ? when Dr. Paula Haes took over, and then Val Morrison until 2001. Anne Shinwell was headmistress from 2001 to Easter 2013 when she retired and her position went to Tracy Harris. The school is a science and now a language specialist school. On 1 January 2011 the school officially gained academy status. After extensive discussions on the matter lasting a few years the school re-implemented a house system on 18 November 2015, after letting it lapse after its usage in the 1970s.

Additional information

The school first accepted pupils from the age of 11 (

year 7 Year 7 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is the seventh full year (or eighth in Australia) of compulsory education and is roughly equivalent to grade 6 in the United ...

) in 2013, after a large-scale change to the structure of schooling in Poole took place.

References

External links

* {{authority control Schools in Poole Grammar schools in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Girls' schools in Dorset Educational institutions established in 1905 1905 establishments in England Academies in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole