Perse School for Girls
| The Stephen Perse Foundation | |
|---|---|
| Perse Girls | |
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| Motto | "Discovering a love of learning" |
| Established | 1881 |
| Type | Independent school |
| Gender | Co-ed 3-7, Female 7-16, Co-ed 16 - 18 |
| Affiliation | Non-denominational |
| Founder | Miss Street |
| Principal | P M Kelleher |
| Students | circa 700 |
| Location | Union Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, CB2 1HF |
| Colours | Blue |
| Newspaper | The Persepective |
| Website | www.stephenperse.com |
 Perse Girls School nature reserve |
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The Stephen Perse Foundation is an independent, fee-paying day school situated near the centre of Cambridge, England. The Foundation is made up of four schools: The Stephen Perse Pre-Prep School, for boys and girls aged 3-7, Perse Girls Junior School,for girls aged 7-11, Perse Girls Senior School, for girls aged 11-16, and the Stephen Perse Sixth Form College, for boys and girls aged 16-18. The Stephen Perse Foundation has a strong reputation for academic excellence.
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[edit] History
The Perse School for Girls was founded in 1881 by Miss Street. The name of Dr Stephen Perse, a fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (who died in the 1600s) is associated with the school. The School will be celebrating its 130th anniversary in 2011.
[edit] Houses
The Perse School for Girls implements the house system. All girls in the Junior and Senior Schools are put into one of the six houses; Cattley (dark blue), Clark (yellow), Kennett (red), Pollock (white), Rose (green) and Street (light blue). Houses take part in term competitions, as well as a Sports Day, which takes place on the last day of the Summer Term.
[edit] Site and Facilities
The school site occupies a city "block", three sides bordered by residential streets and the fourth by the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry. The school recently redeveloped the school hall, dining room and library.
The Perse Girls Junior School (7-11) occupies a site close to the main secondary school.
In September 2008, the school established the co-educational Stephen Perse Sixth Form college in Shaftesbury Road. The school teaches both A-level and IB, and was voted the IB school of the Year by The Sunday Times newspaper.
In September 2010, the school established the Stephen Perse Pre-Prep School after purchasing Madingley School Pre-Prep on the retirement of the previous owners. The Stephen Perse Pre-Prep is situated in Madingley,a village outside Cambridge.
The site includes a brand new dining room, hall, library, visual arts centre and a new sick bay, with renovations in other classrooms. All classrooms contain interactive whiteboards. There is a class 3 listed gymnasium on site too, as well as four ICT rooms which are available to use before school, at lunch time and after school.
The school also contains a fenland nature reserve, astroturf playing fields and a pavilion.
[edit] Students
There are currently approximately 780 students, with 50 in the Pre-Prep, 140 in the Junior School and 140 in the Sixth Form. In the Senior School, There are four classes in years 7, 9 and 11, but 5 classes in years 9 and 11. In the Junior School there are two classes in years 3 to 5, with 3 classes in year 6.
The Student Forum offers students the chance for their views to be heard. Each form elects two representatives to sit on the forum. The Student Forum meets once every half term to discuss issues that are affecting the lives of the students. This enables the school to know what issues the students want addressed.
Girls are given the chances in their final year to hold responsibilities. These include sitting on one of the school's committees, mentoring the younger years, and creating the school's yearbook. The Year 11's give their responsibilities over to the Year 10's when they start their exam period in the Spring Term. The Head Girl is chosen in Year 10, elected by both her peers and her teachers. The Head Girl's responsibilities include leading the Student Forum and reading at the Carol Service. A Student President is also elected in the same manner for the Sixth Form. The Student President acts as a liaison between staff and sixth formers, as well as monitoring the work of the sixth form student committees and ensuring the link remains between the sixth form and the senior school.
Form groups lead an assembly every year, and also run charity initiatives for that Term's charity. The class that raises the most money is given a certificate in a frame, which they can hang up in the classroom for the rest of the term.
[edit] Curriculum
There is a large range of opportunities for learning at Perse Girls. Students learn French and Spanish from year 4, and can choose to learn German, Italian or Russian from year 8. For GCSE, there are many options available, with students taking 10 or 11 GCSE's. All students take Maths, English Language and English Literature IGCSEs, and Biology, Chemistry and Physics GCSE's. Students also take a GCSE in either French or Spanish. Students then choose up to four options from History, Geography, Religious Studies and Philosophy, German, Italian, Russian, Art, Drama, Design and Technology, Music, Latin, and Greek, and take an ECDL in ICT. Critical Thinking is taught as a non-examined course, as is Physical Education. Students can take a short course Physical Education GCSE as an extra-curricular activity.
[edit] Sport and the Arts
Sport is played throughout the school. In the younger years, girls play hockey, netball, rounders and tennis. When students reach Year 9, they are given more choice of sports, and they can be instructed in rowing, volleyball, basketball, squash, badminton, cricket, touch rugby, lacrosse and dance. Several Perse Girls teams compete regionally in hockey, rounders, netball and tennis and several students compete at National level in their chosen sports.
Drama is taught throughout the school. Every year group is given the chance to perform in a play, or help backstage or with lighting. Every other year, Years 10- U6th put on a musical, which is performed at the Mumford Theatre. Recent musicals have included 42nd Street, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Les Miserables.
Visual Arts are taught in the Visual Arts Centre. Girls have the chance to try Fine art, Textiles and Digital Media.
Music is also an important part of the school. There are many orchestras and choirs that girls can join. The Singers, a choir open from Year 10, regularly goes on choir tours in Europe, and sometimes sings Evensong at Ely Cathedral. Girls are given the chance to sing or play at the Christmas carol service at Great St Mary's Church, the spring concert at West Road, and Jazz on a Summer's Evening. Individual Music Tuition is readily available.
[edit] Extracurricular activities
The Perse School for Girls holds the British Council International School Award in recognition of the work the school undertakes with schools in Finland, Hungary, Portugal, Italy, France, Russia, Spain, Germany and Japan. The Comenius project aims to bring the teaching of Classics into the modern world. The school hosted a week on the topic of Metamorpheses in 2010, in which students from the sister schools came to Cambridge to take part in workshops including dance, drama, art and textiles. The Comenius project in 2011 will be hosted in Bruges, Belgium.
There are many opportunities to take part in Residential trips. Year 6 students go to Brancaster. At the beginning of Year 7, students and year staff go to Grafham Water to take part in team building exercises. This helps the year to get to know each other and become closer. In Year 10, all students go to Flanders, for a cross-curricular trip. Exchanges take place for all modern languages taught; The French Exchange in Year 9, and the others in Year 10. The Year 9 Ski trip is also very popular.
The school is connected to The Gambia, and each year money is raised by initiatives such as the Journey to Africa walk, and Soup days. The school also raises money for Barnados with Barnados Day, when form groups dress up themselves and their classes according to a theme. The class who raises the most money is given the Barnados bear. Sometimes, students steal the bear and keep it for themselves.
[edit] Notable former pupils
- Margery Allingham (1904-1966), writer
- Anne Atkins, novelist, broadcaster and journalist
- Vicki Butler-Henderson (b. 1972), racing driver and TV presenter
- Stephanie Cook (b. 1972), modern pentathlete, 2000 Olympic gold medallist
- Christine Hamill (1923-1956), mathematician
- Sharon Hunt (b. 1977), equestrian and 2008 Olympic medal-winner
- Bridget Kendall (b. 1956), BBC diplomatic correspondent [1]
- Nicola Lindsay, novelist, broadcaster and actor
- E. Jennifer Monaghan, reading educator and historian of literary education
- Philippa Pearce (1920-2006), children's author[2]
- Jean Rhys (1890-1979), writer
- Angela Rumbold (b. 1932), politician
- Rosalind Runcie, pianist and wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury
- Phyllis Starkey (b. 1947), former MP, biomedical researcher
- Meriol Trevor (1919-2000), writer
- Barbara Wootton,(1897-1988) economist, sociologist, Labour politician
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ BBC News
- ^ Nettell, Stephanie (2 January 2007). "Philippa Pearce". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1981016,00.html. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
[edit] External links
- The Perse School for Girls — official website
Coordinates: 52°11′49″N 0°7′33″E / 52.19694°N 0.12583°E
