Hyde Park Junior School

Infobox UK school
name = Hyde Park Junior School


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established = Spring 1904
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type = Junior School
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head = Mrs Bernie Evans
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street = Hyde Park Road
city = Plymouth
county = Devon
country = England flagicon|England
postcode = PL3 4RH
LEA = Plymouth City Council
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staff = 12 teachers
enrollment = 360
gender = Co-Educational
lower_age = 7
upper_age = 11
houses = Meavy color box|green, Tamar color box|blue, Lynher color box|yellow and Plym color box|red
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website = http://www.hydeparkjuniorschool.co.uk/
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Hyde Park Junior School (HPJS), founded in 1904, is a state junior school located on Hyde Park Road in Plymouth, Devon, England. Catering for around 360 boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 11, it is housed in the same building as its partner school, Hyde Park Infants. [ [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/portal/site/Internet/menuitem.7c7b38b14d870c7bb1890a01637046a0/?urn=113274&providerCategoryID=4096 "Hyde Park Junior School"] , Ofsted, "accessed 6 March 2008"]

History

Hyde Park School is built on the site where, in the 1590s, Thornhill House stood, which was occupied by Sir Francis Drake. Drake's Leat also ran past nearby. [http://www.hydeparkjuniorschool.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=38 Hyde Park Junior School] ]

The school officially opened on May 27 1904, at which point there were three separate schools or departments (Hyde Park Boys, Hyde Park Girls, and Hyde Park Infants) housed on three floors. By 1908, there were 1548 children registered at the school: 475 boys, 465 girls and 608 infants. During the First World War, Hyde Park along with Salisbury Road School, was used as a hospital and convalescent home. In the 1920s and 1930s, the school continued to run as three separate schools and it was common for there to be 50 children in a class.

On March 20 1941, during the Plymouth Blitz, the school was hit by an incendiary bomb and part of the building was destroyed by fire. The former pitched roof has never been replaced and the building now has a flat roof. The children continued lessons in local church halls and also shared half day sessions with other schools - the boys with Montpelier and the girls with Laira Green. Some children were evacuated with their teachers to Cornwall. In 1942, some returned to Hyde Park and a Nissen hut was erected in the front playground, it was used as a British Restaurant and then later as accommodation for the school. It was eventually dismantled in 1959. According to a short news item in The Times, the school was re-opened after the air raid damage by the Duke of Kent on 14 February 1942 as a social centre, the funds for which had been supplied by the British War Relief Society of America. [Citation
title = News in Brief
newspaper = The Times
pages = 7 col B
year = 1942
date = 1942-02-13. Online at [http://infotrac.galegroup.com The Times Digital Archive] (subscription required).]

By the early 1950s, the rebuilding of the school was complete. An inspection report from 1954 noted that there were nearly 1250 on roll in the Junior and Infant school, and that the building was shared by the two schools.

In 2004, it was said that Hyde Park had the largest population of ethnic minority pupils among primary schools in Plymouth. [Cite news| url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-14090374_ITM| title=Week of activities broadens pupils' horizons| author=Western Daily Press| publisher=Europe Intelligence Wire| date=2004-10-20]

2005 saw a modernisation of the school as broadband internet access reached the school, every classroom received an interactive whiteboard [Cite news| url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-18570933_ITM| title=The white way to learn their lessons| author=Western Daily Press| publisher=Europe Intelligence Wire| date=2005-01-12] , and the old cloakroom was renovated into a new modern library. Headteacher Bernie Evans said the new location and modern feel of the room was intended to give reading status and the library a more prominent location. The old library was transformed into two smaller cloakrooms. [Cite news| url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12190810_ITM| title=New chapter in life of school| author=Western Daily Press| publisher=Europe Intelligence Wire| date=2005-12-28]

Academic standards

Following their June 2004 inspection, Ofsted wrote "This is a good school. It provides good value for money. Effective leadership and management and good teaching ensure that pupils achieve well. The school provides a verysupportive community with a very positive ethos in which all pupils thrive. Pupils enjoy school and have very positive attitudes to their work."

The school's catchment area extends across a lively and bustling part of the late Victorian and Edwardian suburbs of Plymouth including Mutley and Mannamead. There is high parental encouragement and support. A high proportion of pupils get places at first choice community colleges, many take and pass the 11 plus which is the point of access to the three residual state grammar schools in the city, and several pupils each year start their secondary education across the road at Plymouth College which is an independent school.fact|date=July 2008

Awards

* Schools Achievement Award
* International Schools Award
* FA South West Charter Mark
* Choose Health Award (Canteen)
* Basic Skills Quality Mark [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/pdf/?inspectionNumber=256532&providerCategoryID=4096&fileName=\\school\\113\\s10_113274_20040910.pdf "Inspection report - Hyde Park Junior School"] , Ofsted, 10 September 2004]

Road safety initiative

To assist road safety for their pupils, the school have designed fashionable high-visibility jackets. [Cite news| url=http://moreresults.factiva.com/results/index/index.aspx?ref=EVEHER0020051113e1bc0000i| title= Bright idea to make school travel safer| publisher=Evening Herald| date=2005-11-12]

Notable alumni

* Wayne Sleep, dancer, choreographer and director. [ [http://www.myvillage.com/plymouth/celebs&gossip-wayne_sleep.htm "Wayne Sleep"] , MyVillage.com, 17 July 2003]

References

*

External links

* [http://www.hydeparkjuniorschool.co.uk Official site]