The Prescot School is a

coeducational 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 ...

secondary school located in

Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it lies about to the east of Liverpool city centre. At the 2001 Census, the c ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

, England. It was previously called Prescot Grammar School. It was announced in late 2015 by the headteacher, Judy Walker, that the historic name and the link to the school's near half-millennium of tradition (which had been deprecated between 2009-2015 by the local authority) was being restored as a consequence of a successful application by the school for academy status. The official opening of the reformed school was on 28 April. The main historical source is local historian F. A. Bailey's 40 page pamphlet published to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the school in 1944 and reissued in 1971 under the title ''PGS 1544 - 1971'' with postscripts by G. Dixon and the then headmaster, J. C. S. Weekes.

History

Foundation

The school was founded in 1544 by Gilbert Lathum, a local clergyman (later

Archdeacon of Man The Archdeacon of Man (sometimes incorrectly referred to as ''Archdeacon of the Isle of Man'') is a senior cleric second only to the Bishop of Sodor and Man in the Anglican Diocese of Sodor and Man (which comprises the Isle of Man). This is unusual ...

) who left £140 in his will to fund a schoolmaster (at a stipend of £7 per year) to run a free grammar school. The school was first based in Church Street, opposite the

Prescot Parish Church Prescot Parish Church, also known as St Mary's Church, is in the town of Prescot, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is an active Anglican parish churc ...

of St. Mary's. It then moved in 1760 to a site in High Street, where it remained until 1924. The next move was to the spacious site on St. Helens Road, accommodated in newly built wooden buildings which were originally intended to be temporary, but were expanded and augmented in the 1960s by a brick-built assembly hall ("Spencer Briggs Hall"), classrooms and purpose-built metalwork and woodwork workshops, and remained in use until 1978 when they fell victim to an arson attack by a disturbed former pupil. Famous headteachers include C. W. H. Richardson, who ensured its survival during difficult times in the 1920s and 1930s, and R. Spencer Briggs from 1937 to 1963. Geoffrey Dixon was a stalwart of the 20th century and taught at the school for 42 years from 1927 to 1969, reaching the position of deputy headmaster. By 1944, when the Butler Education Act brought the school into the free national system, the school was in fact charging tuition fees. At this point, entry criteria passed from the ability to pay to the ability to pass the 11+ exam. From the 1930s to the 1960s the school expanded under the leadership of headmaster R. Spencer Briggs to a peak of 650 boys. Briggs modelled his school superficially on the British public school model, with a 'house' system, prefects, school uniform, a heavy emphasis on games (particularly football and cricket), and indeed corporal punishment. There was also rich extracurricular activity: debating, amateur dramatics, choral and instrumental music, and a plethora of school societies. During this period the school applied for and was granted its coat of arms. The Latin motto ''"Futuram civitatem inquirimus"'' translates as "Seeking society's future". In other words: "Looking forward".

Becoming comprehensive and co-educational (merger with the Girls' Grammar)

In 1975, it became part of the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, and joined with Prescot Grammar School for Girls (founded 1955) to become Prescot School. The school moved to the girls' school site as a result of two arson incidents at the Boys' School site in St. Helens Road. The extensive playing fields of the boys' school in St Helens Road were sold off and are now covered by a housing development. In 2000 Prescot School gained specialist status as a

Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that succes ...

Merger with Higher Side

With funding from the Labour government's

Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. The programme was ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicia ...

initiative, the school was rebuilt, In September 2009 it merged with Higher Side School in Whiston to become officially named "Knowsley Park Centre for Learning, Serving Prescot, Whiston and the Wider Community" in 2009, listing as a compromise all the schools and communities merged into it. The name lasted seven years before its headmistress, who called the name "so embarrassing" cut it to simply "Prescot School" in 2016.

Notable alumni

Gill Burns Gillian Ann Burns (born 12 July 1964) is a former rugby union player who represented England between 1988 and 2002, including when they won the 1994 Women's Rugby World Cup. She also captained her country between 1994 and 1999. She was selecte ...

MBE, former English Ladies Rugby Captain * Paul Lewis, classical pianist, soloist at the 2005 Last Night of the Proms *

Dave McCabe David Alan McCabe (born 3 January 1981) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, the frontman of The Zutons and a former member of Tramp Attack. History McCabe was a member of Liverpool band Tramp Attack with Brookside actor Kristian ...

The Zutons The Zutons are an English indie rock band, formed in 2001 in Liverpool. The band are currently composed of singer, songwriter and guitarist Dave McCabe, drummer Sean Payne and saxophonist Abi Harding. They released their debut album, '' Who K ...

lead singer *

Colin Vearncombe Colin Vearncombe (26 May 1962 – 26 January 2016), known by his stage name Black, was an English singer-songwriter. He emerged from the punk rock music scene and achieved mainstream pop success in the late 1980s, most notably with the 1986 sin ...

, singer songwriter formerly known as the artist Black *

Rob Vincent Rob Vincent (born 26 October 1990) is a former English footballer. He is also a coach at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Academy. Career Youth Vincent spent time with Everton and Crewe Alexandra as a youth from 1997–2000 and 2000–2005, resp ...

, former professional footballer for

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

, in

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

Prescot Grammar School (both schools)

Alan A'Court Alan A'Court (30 September 1934 – 14 December 2009) was an English footballer who mostly played for Liverpool. He gained five caps for England and represented the nation at the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Playing career Born in Rainhill, Lancash ...

, England and Liverpool FC footballer *

Jack Aspinwall Jack Heywood Aspinwall (5 February 1933 – 19 May 2015) was a British Conservative politician. Career In the February 1974 and October 1974 elections, Aspinwall was the Liberal Party candidate for Kingswood in the rural county of Avon, co ...

, Conservative MP for Kingswood from 1979 to 1983 and for Wansdyke from 1983 to 1997 *

Dave Bamber John David Bamber (born 1 February 1959) is an English former professional footballer. He played for nine clubs during a fifteen-year career. Over half of his 148 goals in the Football League were scored during his three spells with Blackpool. ...

, Blackpool, Coventry City footballer *

Alan George Bamford Alan George Bamford CBE, (12 July 1930 – 18 June 2011) was a British academic. From 1985 to 1991, he was Principal of Homerton College, Cambridge. Bamford was educated at Prescot Grammar School and Borough Road College, London. He was a teac ...

CBE, Principal of

Homerton College, Cambridge Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the col ...

from 1985 to 1991 * Paul Blinkhorn, archaeologist, pottery expert and TV personality on programmes

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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