The Park School (Yeovil) was an independent, co-educational day school, near

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. It had 250 students from

Reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

and was the only independent school in Yeovil. Based in Yeovil since its foundation in 1851, the school moved to

Chilton Cantelo Chilton Cantelo is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Yeo north of Yeovil and east of Ilchester in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 445. The parish also includes the village of Ashingto ...

in 2017–2018 where it maintained Junior, Senior and

Sixth Form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

departments. The school closed in May 2020.

History

The school was founded in 1851 by Mrs Bennet, who was headmistress from 1851 to 1919. It was originally an all-girls school, before becoming a co-educational school in 1991. In 2017 the school acquired the buildings and grounds of the former

Chilton Cantelo School Chilton Cantelo School was a small profit-making mixed private school located in the village of Chilton Cantelo (near Yeovil and Sherborne) in Somerset, England. The school was briefly owned and operated by the Cognita Group. Set on of groun ...

and relocated the junior school and boarders in September 2017, followed by the senior school and sixth form in September 2018. The final head was Jane Huntington, who had been appointed in 2011 following Paul Bate's retirement.

School format

The school was independent, co-educational with a Christian foundation. Founded as an evangelical Christian foundation, before it became a registered charity. Students were predominantly from the local area.

School houses

Students and staff (apart from P.E teachers, and headteachers) were placed into one of four school houses. Families were always put into the same house. The houses were: (house colour in brackets) *Müller (formerly Ashley) (green) *Slessor (yellow) *Shaftesbury (red) *Livingstone (blue) Ashley House was formally changed to Müller following a school referendum in 2014. Head of House, Mr. Richard Coles, suggested that a change of name would be a suitable way to mark the centenary of the start of WW1. The other three houses were named after Christian philanthropists. Ashley, however, was named after Ashley Down in Bristol, which was the location of the George Müller's children's homes. The prefects in the interwar years felt that it was unfitting to have a house with a Germanic name, but still wanted to recognise the work of Müller.

Closure

In April 2020 the school was placed into administration following the withdrawal of a loan offer due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

pandemic. It closed in May 2020.

References

External links

School WebsiteProfile
on the

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website
Profile
on the ''

Good Schools Guide ''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and independent. Overview The guide is compiled by a team of editors which, according to the official website, "''comprises some 50 editors, writers, researchers and contri ...

'' Defunct schools in Somerset Yeovil Boarding schools in Somerset Educational institutions established in 1851 1851 establishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 2020 2020 disestablishments in England {{Somerset-struct-stub