Portsmouth High School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

day school for girls in

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's s ...

, a district in the southern coastal city 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 ...

, England. Founded by the Girls' Public Day School Trust in 1882, it is one of the Trust's smaller schools. 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 ...

'' described the school as "a super no-frills choice: big enough to appeal to almost any girl, but not at the expense of the personal touch".

History

Portsmouth High School was founded by the Girls' Public Day School Trust (now the Girls' Day School Trust) in 1882. The school moved to its present premises on Kent Road in

in 1885, when the building was opened by Princess Louise. Dovercourt, the house built and lived in by the Southsea architect Thomas Ellis Owen, was acquired for the Junior School in 1927. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the school was evacuated to two country houses in

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 ...

Hinton Ampner Hinton Ampner is a village and country house estate with gardens within the civil parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, Hampshire, England. The village and house are 8 miles due east of Winchester. The name probably derives f ...

(Junior Pupils) and Adhurst St Mary (Senior Pupils), and became a boarding school for six years. After the war, the school became a direct grant grammar school under the Education Act 1944 and became independent during the mid-1970s when the scheme was abolished.

Academics

In 2021 Portsmouth High School’s A Level 5 year average A* to B was 79%. GCSE 5 year average for A*/A and 9-7 is 69% which is more than double the national average.

Structure

Portsmouth High School is split into 4 principal sections: A Pre-School for 3-4 year olds, a Prep School for 4-11 year olds (reception to year 6), a Senior School for 11-16 year olds (year 7 to year 11) and Sixth Form (year 12-13). The Pre-School and Prep School are based at 36 Kent Road, Southsea while the Senior School and Sixth Form are based at 25 Kent Road, Southsea. Portsmouth High School structured its years into a house system. In the Prep School there are four houses: Dolphin, Warrior, Nelson and Vernon while in the Senior School there were another set of four houses: Gaskell, Austen, Bronte and Eliot. The school organises regular inter-house competitions such as House Music and whole school Sports Days.

Portsmouth Politics Society

After the announced closure of the nearby St John's College in May 2022, it was announced in June 2022 that the long-running St John's Politics Society would be transferring to Portsmouth High School and rebranding itself as the "Portsmouth Politics Society". All meetings originally planned for the rest of 2022 are still scheduled to take place at the High School with their original dates and times and the intention is that future meetings will carry on as they have done. Before transferring to Portsmouth High School, the Politics Society was founded in 1977 at St John's College by Bernard Black (1934-2013) who was Head of Political Studies there from 1977 to 1999. Speakers over the years have included political big names such as former Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, former Prime Minister Harold Wilson,

Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...

, former Archbishop of Canterbury

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

Douglas Hurd Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, (born 8 March 1930) is a British Conservative Party politician who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1979 to 1995. A career diplomat and political secretary to P ...

, former leader of UKIP and Reform UK

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Brexit Party (renamed Reform UK in 2021) from 2 ...

, former Foreign Secretary

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

, former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales Caroline Lucas, former Prime Minister and former Home Secretary

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

, former Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, former Director of Liberty

Shami Chakrabarti Sharmishta "Shami" Chakrabarti, Baroness Chakrabarti, (born 16 June 1969) is a British politician, barrister, and human rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, she served as the director of Liberty, a major advocacy group which promote ...

, US Ambassador to the UK

Matthew Barzun Matthew Winthrop Barzun (born October 23, 1970) is an American businessman, diplomat and political fundraiser who served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He is a business executive who is known for his work with CNET Networks ...

and former President of the Supreme Court

Lord Neuberger David Edmond Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury (; born 10 January 1948) is an English judge. He served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2017. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary until the House of L ...

Notable former pupils

Lucy Foley Lucy Foley is a British author of contemporary, historical fiction and mystery novels. Her novels ''The Paris Apartment'' and ''The Guest List'' are ''New York Times'' best sellers. Education Foley studied English literature at University Col ...

, author of ''The Hunting Party'' ''The Guest List'' and ''The Paris Apartment'' * Samantha Davies, yachtswoman *

Kirsty Dillon Kirsty Dillon (born 1976) is an English actress who works in film, television and theatre. She is perhaps best known for her role as WPC Gail Stephens in the British television drama ''Midsomer Murders''. Early life and education Dillon was bor ...

, actress * Nancy Edwards, Professor of Medieval Archaeology * Anjana Gadgil, BBC reporter and presenter *

Meg Hillier Dame Margaret Olivia Hillier (born 14 February 1969), known as Meg Hillier, is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney South and Shoreditch at the 2005 general election, was a ...

, Labour MP for

Hackney South and Shoreditch Hackney South and Shoreditch is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Meg Hillier of Labour Co-op. History The seat was created in February 1974 from the former seat of Shoreditch and Finsbury. ...

Rachel Lloyd Rachel Elizabeth Lloyd (born 1975) is a British anti-trafficking advocate, author and the founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. She is known for her work on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking ...

, sex trafficking abolitionist and founder of

Girls Educational and Mentoring Services Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) is a non-profit organization that provides services to commercially sexually exploited and domestically trafficked girls and young women, typically underage youth exploited by pimps and traffickers. ...

Sarah McCarthy-Fry Sarah Louise McCarthy-Fry (' Macaree; born 4 February 1955) is a British Labour Co-operative politician. She was the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North from the 2005 general election to 2010. She was Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury ...

, politician * Gemma Spofforth, Olympic swimmer * Dr. Frances Saunders, Senior Civil Servant and scientist * Jane Collins, Chief Executive,

Marie Curie Cancer Care Marie Curie is a registered charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides care and support to people living with a terminal illness and those close to them, and campaigns for better support for dying people. It was established in 19 ...

* Jane Hill, writer *

Charlotte Jackson Charlotte Louise Jackson (born 29 June 1978)In the closet with Charlotte Jackson ''Sunday Express'' magazine supplement 23 October 2011, p.33 Accessed 9 January 2015 is an English journalist and television presenter, who was formerly a prese ...

British journalist and television presenter * Margaret Rock (1903–1983),

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...

codebreaker * Dame Mary Donaldson, the first woman Sheriff of the City of London and then in 1983 was elected Lord Mayor. She was appointed GBE in 1983

Mary Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Lymington Dorothy Mary Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Lymington, GBE, DStJ (née Warwick, 29 August 1921 – 4 October 2003), previously known as Dame Mary Donaldson, was the first female Lord Mayor of London (1983–84). Born at Wickham, Hampshi ...

* Denise Black, actress https://www.deniseblack.co.uk/

Denise Black Denise Black (born 16 March 1958) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in '' Coronation Street'' and ''Emmerdale'' and guest starring as ''Jessie Devlin'' Denny Blood's mother in '' ITV drama series '' Bad Girls''. Early lif ...

References

* https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/education/portsmouth-high-prep-school-pupils-host-picnic-celebration-for-her-majestys-platinum-jubilee-3716153

External links

*
Profile
on

MyDaughter MyDaughter was a British website set up by the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) offering advice to parents of daughters on all aspects of raising and educating girls. Advice was provided by headteachers from the member schools of the Girls' Scho ...

Profile
on the

ISC #REDIRECT ISC {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

website * ISI Inspectio
ReportsProfile
on the

GDST The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) is a group of 25 independent schools, including two academies, in England and Wales, catering for girls aged 3 to 18. It is the largest group of independent schools in the UK, and educates 20,000 girls each ye ...

website {{Schools in Hampshire Girls' schools in Hampshire Educational institutions established in 1882 Schools of the Girls' Day School Trust Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Independent schools in Portsmouth Secondary schools in Portsmouth 1882 establishments in England *