Sir Thomas Picton School

Sir Thomas Picton School was a secondary school in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, with around 1,250 students, 200 of whom were in Years 12 and 13. The school catered for pupils from all over Pembrokeshire, serving towns such as Haverfordwest and Neyland. The school closed in 2018 when it merged with Tasker Milward Voluntary Controlled School to form Haverfordwest High VC School.

History

The school was named after Sir Thomas Picton, (August, 1758 – 18 June 1815), a Welsh military leader who fought in a number of campaigns for Great Britain, and rose to the rank of lieutenant general. He is chiefly remembered for his exploits under the Duke of Wellington in the Iberian Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo, where he was mortally wounded while his division stopped d'Erlon's corps attack against the allied centre left, and so became the most senior officer to die at Waterloo.

The school was not built as a military hospital, but it was built with this use in mind, hence the single storey structure with very few steps, copying the basic Government design such as the old Odstock hospital. It was built in 1954, alongside the Government offices at Cherry Grove, as the new secondary modern school; the land was previously agricultural. The school recently improved its facilities, with new science laboratories and refurbished toilets. It was known for its sports facilities, including the onsite sports hall, the gymnasium, the tennis courts, the running track and athletics area and full size astroturf.

Due to budget concerns from Pembrokeshire County Council in addition to the underperforming GCSE and A Level results from both schools over a period of a few years, the decision was made to merge Tasker Milward V.C. School and Sir Thomas Picton School into a new School, Haverfordwest High VC School, using the Tasker site (now known as the Portfield Campus) for lower School and the Sir Thomas Picton site (now known as the Prendergast campus) for upper school and sixth form use, in addition with a completely new uniform consisting of ties and blazers, a contrast from what both schools uniforms were, which were polo tops and jumpers. Both Tasker Milward V.C. School and Sir Thomas Picton School ceased to exist in August 2018 and the new combined school opened in September 2018.

Facilities

Facilities included science labs, dedicated ICT rooms and an extensive range of vocational studies. The school operated under the North Pembrokeshire Federation, whereby the school could share resources with other nearby educational establishments, such as Pembrokeshire College and Tasker-Milward VC School.

The school was split into different wings and blocks, labelled from A-H.
* A-wing: special learning/additional needs, the art gallery, the assembly hall, reception, offices, etc.
* B-wing: English.
* C-wing: Mathematics.
* D-wing: Welsh, Science (Biology/Chemistry), the Bookbase (in-school library), and ICT.
* E-wing: Food Technology, Music, and Drama.
* F-wing: Art, Textiles, and Product design.
* G-block: Business Studies, ICT, and Science (Physics).
* H-block: Hair and beauty, Religious studies, Geography, French, and History.

Pupils

The school had 1,167 pupils on its roll as of June 2010, of whom 200 attended the sixth form. Pupil support was a very important aim of the school, so there were many facilities available in school to help pupils, such as a school counselling service, a peer mentoring system, and form tutor mentoring. Additionally, the school installed postboxes in every classroom into which suggestions, complaints, questions and concerns could be deposited. This fulfilled a dual purpose – as well as ensuring that all available budget was spent, it allowed pupil concerns to be ignored more efficiently. However, the postboxes fell out of use. A "Bully Button" on the Sir Thomas Picton website allowed children to submit statements about anything they felt unsafe about to a senior member of staff, who would speak to them in school.

Notable ex-pupils

* Duffy – female soul singer-songwriter
* Rob Evans (rugby player) – Welsh International Rugby Player
* Connie Fisher – singer, winner of the BBC
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