Purbrook Park School is a
comprehensive co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
secondary school situated in
Purbrook
Purbrook is a village and local government sub-division located in Hampshire, England. Purbrook is on the outskirts of Waterlooville just north of the Portsmouth city Boundary. Purbrook village is part of Purbrook Ward which also includes Widley ...
, north of
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
. The school has an enrollment number of 840 pupils, aged 11 through to 16. It became a
trust school in April 2009.
Ofsted judged the school to be a "Good School" in May 2015.
History
The main building has existed on the site since 1769. The original building was built for
Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to:
Arts
* Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
* Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing
Politi ...
MP by the Palladian architect
Sir Robert Taylor
Sir Robert Taylor (1714–1788) was an English architect and sculptor who worked in London and the south of England.
Early life
Born at Woodford, Essex, Taylor followed in his father's footsteps and started working as a stonemason and sculptor ...
, who was also the architect of the first
Bank of England. The estate was bought by John Deverell in 1839 and remained within the Deverell family until 1919, when the estate was sold off at auction because the cost to run it was too great. The house and its 4 acres worth of grounds were sold at auction to Maurice Hill. The house remained empty until 1924 before County Authorities bought the house and its grounds for £11,000.
The house was converted into a
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
in September 1924 and was known as Purbrook Park County High School. A new hall and gynamsium were created in 1928 and 1935, respectively. Further outbuildings were made throughout the twentieth century to accompany specialist subjects.
In about 1960, the school’s name was changed from Purbrook Park County High School to Purbrook Park County Grammar School.
The school reached its largest enrolment in the 1970s with over 1000 pupils, until the Sixth Form was disbanded as part of the conversion from a grammar school to a comprehensive. This conversion began in 1974 with the first intake of comprehensive pupils into what is now known as Year 7. The school’s name was then changed from Purbrook Park County Grammar School to simply Purbrook Park School. The Sixth Form finally ended a few years later, and the number of pupils gradually fell to below 900 to its current level.
In 2016, a new Discovery Wing was added at the front of the school, with new classrooms, a new Discovery Centre, and a new restaurant and cafe.
Since 1 April 2009, the school has been a
trust school.
Notable students
*
Raymond Dobson, Labour MP for
Bristol North East from 1966 to 1980
*
Clive Green, professional footballer
Portsmouth F.C.,
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
and
Maidstone United. England Under-18 schoolboys.
* Sir
David Hopwood, John Innes Professor of Genetics at the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
from 1968 to 1998, President of the
Genetical Society from 1985 to 1987, and of the
Society of General Microbiology from 2000 to 2003
*
Alan Lerwill, athlete, Commonwealth Games Medal Winner in long jump (bronze 1970 and gold 1974), former British high jump record holder
*
André Usborne, athlete, Luger in the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and Team Captain for Great Britain in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary
*
Mason Mount
Mason Tony Mount (born 10 January 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking or central midfielder for club Chelsea and the England national team.
Mount began his senior club career with Chelsea, and joined Vite ...
, professional footballer
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...
,
SBV Vitesse,
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
and
England national team
*
Reginald Rainey OBE, entomologist, President of the
Royal Entomological Society of London
The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists.
The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of Londo ...
from 1979 to 1981
*
Sarah Smith and
Sean Smith, singers in pop group
Same Difference
Same Difference were an English bubblegum pop duo from Portsmouth, England, made up of siblings Sean Smith and Sarah Smith. They came to prominence in 2007 when they finished third in the fourth series of the ITV talent show, ''The X Factor'' ...
, who came 3rd in
X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003) ...
in 2007
*
Kim Winser
Kim Winser, OBE (born 11 March 1959) is a British businesswoman and Founder and CEO of the eponymous womenswear label, Winser London. Winser was the youngest-appointed female commercial divisional board director at Marks & Spencer Plc, a former C ...
(née Haresign) OBE, businesswoman
References
External links
Official Website
{{authority control
Secondary schools in Hampshire
Educational institutions established in 1906
Borough of Havant
Foundation schools in Hampshire
Robert Taylor buildings
1906 establishments in England