Plymouth High School for Girls

Infobox UK school
name = Plymouth High School for Girls


size =
latitude = 50.379
longitude = -4.136
dms =
motto = "Non scholae sed vitae discimus" (Latin:For life not school we learn)
motto_pl =
established = 1874
approx =
closed =
c_approx =
type = Community Grammar
religion =
president =
head_label =
head = Mary Utton
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label = Chair of Governors
chair = David Walters
founder = Frederick Temple
founder_pl =
specialist = Technology (from Spring 2003) Languages (from April 2008)
specialist_pl = yes
street = St Lawrence Road
city = Plymouth
county = Devon
country = England flagicon|England
postcode = PL4 6HT
LEA = Plymouth City Council
ofsted = 113532
staff =
enrollment = 780
gender = Girls
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses = Antony color box|green, Kendall color box|blue, Latimer color box|yellow and Temple color box|red
colours =
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.plymouthgirls.plymouth.sch.uk/
website_name = www.plymouthgirls.plymouth.sch.uk

Plymouth High School for Girls (PHSG) is a girls' grammar school founded in 1874. It is located on St Lawrence Road in Plymouth, Devon, England close to Mutley Plain and Plymouth city centre.

History

In February 1874 the Devon and Cornwall Girls' School Company was formed, opening a school for girls in Sherwell House, North Hill (only a few hundred metres from the school's current location), on September 14th of that same year. It was intended that the school should move to other premises and for this purpose a fund had been set up to purchase a suitable site. Land surrounding a detached property known as 'North Hill' was chosen and the first part of these new premises were opened by the Bishop of Exeter, Doctor Frederick Temple, on January the 21st 1878. North Hill house became the home of the headmistress, Miss Kendall. A new building was designed by a Mr Paull and erected by Messrs Blatchford of Tavistock. £3,000 was expended on the purchase of the site and a further £10,000 on the buildings.

North Hill house was demolished in 1939 for the construction of a new wing. Around 1976 the school expanded into the adjacent block. This building, now referred to as 'The Annex', had previously been The South Devon and Cornwall Blind Institute, built in 1876. [cite web
url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Schools-Late%2019C-Plymouth%20High%20School%20Girls.htm
title=Plymouth High School for Girls
publisher=www.plymouthdata.info
accessdate=2008-03-05] The building is also believed to be located roughly where a fort stood during the siege of Plymouth in the Civil War of the 1600s, and before that to have been the location of The Maudlyn, a leper house.

It would also seem that Plymouth High was once a fee paying school, at least up until the 1940s. [cite web
url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/72/a3927972.shtml
title=BBC - WW2 People's War - Memories Of Life At Plymouth High 1940-1946
publisher=www.bbc.co.uk
accessdate=2008-03-05]

During World War Two an 'Emergency High School' was set up amalgamating Plymouth High School for Girls, Devonport High School for Girls and the now defunct Stoke Damerel High School for Girls with the PHSG Head Mistress, Miss V Turner, as its head teacher. [cite web
url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/14/a7540814.shtml
title=BBC - WW2 People's War - Evacuation with Plymouth High School
publisher=www.bbc.co.uk
accessdate=2008-03-05] The school was also one of the 19 food centres open in Plymouth by April 1941. The school was one of the three of these centres which served a two course meal between noon and 2:30pm and again between 5:30pm and 7:30pm for the price of 9d (nine pence). [cite web
url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Second%20World%20War-1941.htm
title=Plymouth, Second World War - 1941
publisher=www.plymouthdata.info
accessdate=2008-03-05]

In recent times PHSG has seen the building of the Newman Hall, the Science and PE blocks, the Metcalf building and a sixth Form centre.

The school's motto is "Non scholae sed vitae discimus", which roughly translates as 'For life not school we learn'.

The School's crest which features on the uniform is made up of four symbols, which are displayed equally on a shield and include:
*An owl representing wisdom.
*A beehive representing a busy and productive community.
*An emblem of the school's initials.
*Four towers symbolising the school's location (they also feature on the coat of arms of Plymouth).

Present day

Catering for pupils from year 7 (age 11) up to year 13 (age 18) PHSG is a single sex grammar school requiring pupils to pass the eleven plus exam in order to gain entry. The school draws its pupils mainly from the city of Plymouth but about a third come from outlying areas of Devon and Cornwall. Although pupils’ attainment on entry is high, the school takes pupils from a wider range of ability than many othergrammar schools. [cite web
url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Internet/menuitem.7c7b38b14d870c7bb1890a01637046a0/?event=getReport&urn=113532&inspectionNumber=279191&providerCategoryID=8192&fileName=\\school\\113\\s5_113532_20060612.xml
title=Plymouth High School for Girls - Inspection Report 2006
publisher=www.ofsted.gov.uk
accessdate=2008-03-05]

The aim of the school is to "promote, achieve and celebrate the highest possible standards in all forms of achievement, throughout the school, and particularly in the specialist subjects: Mathematics, Science, Design Technology and Information Communication Technology".

Ms Utton became Headmistress in January 2008 after the departure of Mrs. Martin, the Head Teacher from 1999 to 2007, who in turn was preceded by Mrs Stogall. During the interim periods the school was led by Mr Holden, the Deputy Head Teacher. The school's 6th Form has been led by Mr Callaghan since April 2008 after the retirement of the previous Head of 6th Form Mrs Caroline Enoch who had taught at the school for 25 years.

Curriculum

Girls can choose from a wide range of subjects at GCSE level and generally take 11 or 12 subjects. In some subjects, especially able girls can choose to skip the GCSE and move straight to the AS level. From 2009 Plymouth High School has been chosen as the first school in the city to teach the International Baccalaureate, an alternative to the A Level. Several other local schools have decided to follow this lead.

International links

Plymouth High School gained the full International Schools Award in October 2006. This is a prestigious award given to schools that have shown a commitment to international activities across the curriculum and have developed strong partnership with schools in other countries. PHSG has links with schools in Ghana (particularly Ahantaman Secondary School) as well as New Zealand, Germany, France and Russia. The school also runs an Amnesty International club for pupils.

Uniform

The majority of girls wear the original school uniform of a navy blue skirt. Recently however, a trouser suit consisting of navy trousers and a navy blazer with the school logo was introduced as an alternative to the skirt. Girls are only permitted to wear the trousers if they are wearing the blazer, although the blazer may be worn with a skirt in the place of a school jumper. All girls wear a white v-neck blouse with or without the blue and white striped school tie. Year 11 Student Leaders have a lighter plain blue tie to show their position within the school. There are other various restrictions in relation to coats, shoes, make-up and jewellery.cite web
url=http://www.plymouthgirls.plymouth.sch.uk/
title=Plymouth High School for Girls
publisher=www.plymouthgirls.plymouth.sch.uk
accessdate=2008-03-05] In the past the uniform used to feature a hat; an example of which can be seen in the Plymouth Museum.

School houses

The school has 4 houses:

Each house elects a house captain from the sixth form. The school houses play a large part in school life, for instance they compete in many annual house events:
*Sports day (usually taking place in the summer)
*Swimming gala (also usually occurring in the summer term)
*Music festival
*Science festival
*Drama festival
*Gym and dance festival (usually taking place in the winter term)
*Interhouse netball, tennis, science and hockey competitions

Academic standards

Plymouth High School consistently ranks as one of the top performing schools in Plymouth (and indeed the whole of Devon and Cornwall) in terms of examination results. In 2007 94% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*-C grade GCSEs, including English and Mathematics. [cite web+

-
url=http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_07.pl?No=8794155&Mode=Z&Type=SC&Phase=1&Year=07&Base=b&Num=879 -
title=Plymouth High School for Girls -
publisher=www.dcsf.gov.uk -
accessdate=2008-03-05] The Plymouth LEA average is 44.1% and the national average is 46.7%, the Cornwall LEA average is 44% and the Devon LEA average is 46.6%.

Notable alumni and Old Girls Association

*Notable alumni include the playwright, actor and poet Rebecca Lenkiewicz, step daughter of the painter Robert Lenkiewicz. [cite web
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/jun/29/theatre.features
title= The interview: Rebecca Lenciewicz, The Guardian
publisher=www.guardian.co.uk
accessdate=2008-08-14]

Plymouth High School for Girls has an Old Girls association with around 260 members. The association meets for a dinner in the spring and again at the school in the autumn for a buffet and AGM. The member of staff designated as the PHS link to the Old Girls is Mrs Cowan.

References

External links

* [http://www.plymouthgirls.plymouth.sch.uk/homepage.htm School website]