Perse School for Girls

Infobox Secondary school
name = The Perse School for Girls
native_name = "Perse Girls"

motto =
established =1881
address =
city =Cambridge
state = Cambridgeshire
country =England
campus =
type =Independent school
gender =Female
lower_age = 7
upper_age = 18
affiliation = Church of England
affiliations =
headmaster =
founder =
chairman =
head_label = Headmistress
head = P M Kelleher
faculty =
students =circa 700
grades =
district =
oversight =
accreditation =
mascot =
colors =
colours = Blue
newspaper =
yearbook =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = [http://www.perse.cambs.sch.uk/ www.perse.cambs.sch.uk]
footnotes =
picture =

The Perse School for Girls is an independent, fee-paying day school for girls aged 7–18 (also accepting boys 16-18 from 2008) situated near the centre of Cambridge, England. ( [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=cb2+1hf&ll=52.196718,0.126085&spn=0.003067,0.007298&hl=en MAP] )

The Perse Girls', as it is known, has a strong reputation for academic excellence (see GCSE results 2004) ^{[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4170183.stm]} .

History

The Perse School for Girls was founded in 1881 and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2006. The name of Dr Stephen Perse, a fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (who died in the 1600s) is associated with the school.

ite

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.

tudents

There are currently approximately 700 students, with 180 in the Junior School and 80 in the Sixth Form. The site includes a brand new dining room, hall and library. They are all very fashionable and brightly coloured. The school has just had an inspection and has had outstanding reports back.

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.

Several Perse Girls teams compete regionally in hockey, rounders and netball and several students compete at National level in their chosen sports. In 2002, the school's equestrian team won the National Show Jumping Competition at Hickstead.

Music is also an important part of the school. Individual instrumental teaching is available on a range of instruments and concerts throughout the year are held, sometimes in the University of Cambridge's West Road Concert Hall. A special service and evensong for the school's 125th birthday was held in King's College Chapel.

Trivia

Trivia|width=full|date=January 2008.
Ronald Searle has suggested that the Perse School for Girls was an inspiration for his St. Trinian's novels, alongside the Cambridge High School which is no longer in existence.

There are six school houses- Cattley, Clark, Kennett, Pollock, Rose and Street. Each has its own colour - respectively, royal blue, yellow, red, white, green and light blue.

Notable Alumnae

* Vicki Butler-Henderson (b. 1972), racing driver and TV presenter
* Stephanie Cook (b. 1972), modern pentathlete, 2000 Olympic gold medallist
* Bridget Kendall, BBC diplomatic correspondent ^{[http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ifs/hi/newsid_3230000/newsid_3239300/3239304.stm]}
* Philippa Pearce (b. 1920, children's author)
* Rosalind Runcie, pianist and wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury
* Margery Allingham, writer
* Jean Rhys, writer
* Angela Rumbold, politician
* Kathleen Haddon, writer
* Christine Hamill, mathematician
* Sharon Hunt, equestrian and 2008 Olympic medal-winner

ee also

* Perse School

External links

* [http://www.perse.cambs.sch.uk/ The Perse School for Girls] — official website
* [http://www.persegirls.net/ The Perse School for Girls] — Web Applications Site----