The Perse School | |
---|---|
Address | |
, , CB2 8QF England | |
Coordinates | 52°10′51″N 00°08′19″E / 52.18083°N 0.13861°E |
Information | |
Type | Public school Private day school |
Motto | Latin: Qui facit per alium facit per se (He who does things for others does them for himself) |
Religious affiliation(s) | Nondenominational Christian |
Established | 1615 |
Founder | Stephen Perse |
Department for Education URN | 110923 Tables |
Chairman of the Governing Body | Jonathan W Scott |
Head | Edward Elliott |
Staff | 138 teaching, 117 support staff, 26 peripatetics[1] |
Gender | Co-educational |
Age | 3 to 18 |
Enrolment | 1,564 (2016) [2] |
Houses | 8[3] |
Colour(s) | Purple and black |
Publication | OP News Magazine |
Alumni | Old Perseans |
Website | http://www.perse.co.uk/ |
The Perse School is a public school (English fee-charging day and, in the case of the Perse, a former boarding school) in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1615 by Stephen Perse, its motto is Qui facit per alium facit per se, taken to mean 'He who does things for others does them for himself'. The School began accepting girls at 11 and 13+ in September 2010 and was fully co-educational by September 2012. 'Perse' is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, an association of the leading UK independent schools.
The organisation now comprises three schools, which together provide for children aged 3 through to 18. The Pelican is the Perse's nursery and pre-preparatory school, and accommodates pupils from 3–7. It is situated on Glebe Road, close to the main school site. Preparatory education for students aged 7 to 11 years old is provided by the Perse Prep, which is located close to the Upper School, just north of the junction of Long Road and Trumpington Road. In Year 7 pupils usually progress to the Upper School, where they sit GCSE examinations and A-Levels.
History
The school was founded in 1615 at its original site in Free School Lane, Cambridge. Its former buildings now house the Whipple Museum of the History of Science.[4]
Over 300 years later in 1960, the school moved to the site it now occupies as its 'Upper' school on Hills Road. There have been multiple phases of expansion, particularly in the 21st century. Among notable developments is the Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre, a 400-seat theatre, exhibition and rehearsal space designed by architects Haworth Tompkins,[5] which opened in 2018.
An old prospectus lists the fees as £3 per term in 1890.[6]
From 1945 to 1976 it was a direct grant grammar school, offering free places to 40% of pupils.[7] Following the abolition of the Assisted Places Scheme, The Perse no longer received any state funding and became independent.
The school was ranked 13th in the Sunday Times Parent Power league table in 2019[8] and 6th in the Daily Telegraph national table[9] of A Level, Pre-U and IB results with 83% A* and A grades from 175 candidates. In 2021, The Sunday Times also named The Perse School as the top independent secondary school in East Anglia, as the school had the best performance in the GCE A Level Examinations in the region.[10]
Motto
The school motto is Qui facit per alium facit per se, usually taken to mean "He who does things for others does them for himself". This is an example of a rebus motto, the Latin sentence ending in a word play on the founder's name "per se" and his benefaction. A blue plaque dedicated to the school's founder, Dr Stephen Perse, was installed in Free School Lane, Cambridge.[11]
Competitions, Olympiads and scholarships
Pupils have competed and scored highly in academic competitions and Olympiads, in addition to winning awards including Arkwright Engineering Scholarships[12][13] and Nuffield Research Placements (previously Nuffield Science Bursaries).[14][15] Students have won scholarships for summer placements at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel[16][17] and research institutes in Heidelberg, Germany.[18][19]
British competition results include:
- First place in the Pi Wars robot competition
- First place in the Schools' Challenge general knowledge competition
- First place (winning the Trinity College prize) in the National Cipher Challenge[20]
- First place in the Bank of England Target Two Point Zero interest rate challenge[21]
- Invitation to the British Physics Olympiad presentation afternoon (top 4 in the country in the AS Challenge)[22][23]
- Qualifying for the UKMT Team Maths Challenge final (winning the poster competition)[24]
- Qualifying for the British Informatics Olympiad final (top 15 in the country)[25][26]
- Qualifying for Round 2 (top 20 to 25 in the country) of the UK Chemistry Olympiad[27][28]
- Scoring Gold in Round 1 of United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad[29]
Students have also competed in international competitions including the International Mathematical Olympiad,[30] the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad,[31] the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad,[31] the Romanian Master of Mathematics competition,[31] the International Biology Olympiad,[32] the International Olympiad in Informatics,[33] the International Linguistics Olympiad,[34] the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics,[35] the International Rocketry Challenge,[36][37] the European Union Contest for Young Scientists[38] and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.[39]
Innovation
In 2018, The Perse School partnered with a Cambridge-based education technology entrepreneur, Rob Percival, to support the creation of an online artificial intelligence maths teaching platform. Blutick in association with The Perse School, exhibited at the BETT Show in London, 2019[40] to launch a free beta version.
Developments
The Perse School began accepting girls at 11+ and 13+ in September 2010 and became fully co-educational in September 2012 .
Since 2020, The Perse School Cambridge International (TPSCI) has liaised with partners to open up The Perse international schools outside of England. Currently, two international schools have been set up, namely The Perse School Singapore (opened in Jan 2020) and The Perse School Suzhou in China (opened in Sep 2021).[41]
Headmaster's blog
On his blog the headmaster, Ed Elliott, described his 'ten second challenge' in which he would give students who "commit occasional minor misdemeanours (such as forgetting a book) the opportunity to talk their way out of a punishment".[42] The story was quickly picked up by the mainstream media[43] who reported that pupils were "let off punishment for clever excuses".[44]
Notable Perseans
Academia
- Maurice Bloch, anthropologist
- Harold James, professor of history and international relations
- W. E. Johnson, logician[45]
- F. R. Leavis, literary critic[46]
- Michael Loewe, sinologist
- Edward Henry Palmer, orientalist
- G. L. S. Shackle, economist
- E. H. Warmington, classicist
Art
- Thomas P. Campbell, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Business
- David Tang, Hong Kong-based entrepreneur
Engineering
- Arthur Marshall, aviation engineer
- Anthony Michell, hydraulic engineer
Film and theatre
- Ranjit Bolt, translator and playwright
- Marius Goring, actor[47]
- Peter Hall, founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company
- Humphrey Jennings, film director
- Matthew Lloyd, theatre director, Royal Exchange, Manchester
- Colin McFarlane, actor
- Jeremy Silberston, film director
Law
- Mark Potter, Appeal Court judge and President of the Family Division
Media
- Simon Akam, author, writing on military history and the British Army since 9/11
- Mel Calman, cartoonist
- Rodney Dale, writer and publisher
- John Gross, critic and editor
- Tom Harwood, journalist for Guido Fawkes, The Daily Telegraph and GB News
- Tom Rosenthal (publisher) (1935–2014), publisher and art critic
- Mark Saggers, BBC sports broadcaster
Military
- Group Captain William Neil McKechnie, George Cross recipient
- Ralph Lilley Turner MC, 2nd/3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles
Music
- Pete Atkin, singer/songwriter
- David Gilmour, singer/songwriter and guitarist of Pink Floyd
- Spike Hughes, jazz musician and journalist
- Ronnie Ross, jazz musician
- John Woolford, first boyfriend of Benjamin Britten
Politics
- Anthony Browne, Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire
- Rajani Palme Dutt, leading figure in the Communist Party of Great Britain
- Julian Huppert, Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge 2010-2015
- David Steiner, New York State Commissioner of Education
- Donald Tebbit, diplomat, British High Commissioner to Australia[48]
- Quentin Thomas, civil servant, head of the British Board of Film Classification
Religion
- John Polkinghorne, physicist and theologian
- Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down and Connor
Science
- Gustav Victor Rudolf Born, pharmacologist
- Sarah Martins Da Silva, gynaecologist and scientist
- Associate Professor Anthony Lowe, mathematical physicist and actuary
- Brian G. Marsden, astronomer
- Ronald G. W. Norrish, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967
- George Paget Thomson, Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937
Sport
- Zaman Akhter, cricketer
- Charles Clayton, cricketer
- Owen Giles, Northampton Saints rugby union player[49][50][51]
- Alex Coles, Northamption Saints rugby union player[52][53]
- Horace Gray, cricketer
- Richard Hesketh, cricketer
- Tess Howard, field hockey player
- Reimell Ragnauth, cricketer
Staff
Headmasters
- George Griffith, MA - died 1686
- Frederick Heppenstall, MA - 1864 to 1874
- Dr W. H. D. Rouse, MA, LittD (Cantab) - 1902 to 1928. Formerly a fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge
- H. A. Wootton - 1928 to 1945
- Stanley Stubbs, MA - 1945 to 1969. Formerly a housemaster at Gresham's School
- Anthony E. Melville - 1969 to 1987.[54] Formerly senior history master at Haileybury[55]
- Dr Martin Stephen - 1987 to 1994. Subsequently, High Master of Manchester Grammar School from 1994 to 2004 and then St Paul's School from 2004 to 2011. Director of Education for GEMS Education UK.[56][57] Non-Executive Chairman of the Clarendon Academies Group[58][59][60]
- Dr Nigel P. V. Richardson - 1994 to 2008. Headmaster of The Dragon School from 1989 to 1992. Chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference in 2007. Governor of Magdalen College School[61] and Haileybury.[62] AGBIS board member.[63] Author of the biography Thring of Uppingham: Victorian Educator[64][65]
- Mr Edward C. Elliott, MA - 2008 onwards. Joined the school in 1997 as head of sixth form and was senior deputy head before being appointed headmaster[66]
Notable staff
- Henry Caldwell Cook, (1886–1939) educationalist
- Frederick Crossfield Happold DSO (Cantab.)
- Lilly Frazer (1854/5 – 1941) French teacher and writer[67]
- Glenn Kirkham, captain of the England national field hockey team and Perse's Director of Sport in September 2017.
- Helen Richardson Walsh, hockey gold medalist[68]
References
- ↑ "Teaching". www.perse.co.uk. The Perse School. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ↑ "Independent Schools Inspectorate The Perse School". www.isi.net. ISI. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ↑ "The House System | the Perse School Cambridge". Archived from the original on 17 December 2021.
- ↑ The original Perse School (now the Whipple Museum)
- ↑ Tompkins, Haworth (13 March 2018). "Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre". Haworth Tompkins. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ↑ "Old prospectus from 1890 for the Perse School in Cambridge found in loft". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. 1 April 2015. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
- ↑ "History | The Perse School Cambridge". www.perse.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
- ↑ Times, The Sunday. "Parent Power 2019: Best UK Schools Guide". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ↑ Kirk, Ashley (25 August 2018). "Best independent schools in the UK: Compare league table results for A-levels". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ↑ Haygarth, Dan (3 December 2021). "The Cambs schools ranked among region's best in Sunday Times guide". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
- ↑ "Stephen Perse blue plaque in Cambridge". openplaques.org. Open Plaques. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ "Webtec awards first Roy Cuthbert Arkwright Engineering Scholarship to Theo Ashcroft, from the Perse School, Cambridge - Webtec Products Limited - Webtec Products Limited". www.webtechydraulicvalveflowmetertester.co.uk. Webtec Products Limited. November 2013. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "School takes the technological pole position". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. 24 November 2003. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "Scientists of the future: sixth formers showcase summer science projects at the Babraham R... - Cambridge Network". www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk. Cambridge Network. 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ Margarita Kolchagova (3 December 2014). "Hamza Wahid presented his DNAdigest research project - DNAdigest.org". dnadigest.org. DNA digest. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ Julian L. Huppert. "Julian L. Huppert CV". jcsu.jesus.cam.ac.uk. Jesus College Student Union. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "Weizmann Institute of Science Scholarships". www.perse.co.uk. The Perse School Cambridge. July 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "International Summer Science School Heidelberg: Research Institutes". ish.diplixhost3.de. Heidelberg. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "288-Newsletter-4-July-2014-Final.pdf" (PDF). www.perse.co.uk. The Perse School Cambridge. 4 July 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "Leader Board". www.maths.soton.ac.uk. University of Southampton. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
- ↑ Philip Aldrick (21 March 2015). "Perse School triumphs with 'daring' rate rise". www.thetimes.co.uk. The Times. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ↑ Terry Chambers (29 April 2010). "Photo Gallery". www.physics.ox.ac.uk. British Physics Olympiad. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "British Physics Olympiad Awards". www.thomas-hardye.net. The Thomas Hardye School. May 2010. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "Newsletter 43.pdf" (PDF). www.ukmt.org.uk. UKMT. September 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "Cambridge pupil Thomas Read makes it to final of British Informatics Olympiad at Trinity College". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
- ↑ "The 2004 British Informatics Olympiad 2004-09-18". www.olympiad.org.uk. British Informatics Olympiad. 18 September 2004. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
- ↑ "ROUND 2 PARTICIPANTS" (PDF). www.rsc.org. Royal Society of Chemistry. 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "Microsoft Word - Document3 - Round 2 Participants_tcm18-216372.pdf" (PDF). www.rsc.org. Royal Society of Chemistry. 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "The Perse School on Twitter: "Congratulations to students for Linguistics Olympiad success: 7 Bronze, 2 Silver & our 1st ever Gold medal @PerseMFL"". twitter.com. Twitter. 24 February 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "16th International Mathematical Olympiad, German Democratic Republic, 1974, Report by David Monk (UK Deputy Leader) (Science Teacher volume 18 number 1 pages 4, 5 and 9)". www.imo-register.org.uk. UK IMO Register. 14 February 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- 1 2 3 "BMOS/BMOC: Past News and Events". www.bmoc.maths.org. UKMT. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ↑ "ranking final de IBO.xls - results-2006.pdf" (PDF). www.ibo-info.org. 2006. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "UK call-up to international informatics olympiad for Perse student". 29 April 2022. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ↑ "Silver lining for Perse student at International Linguistics Olympiad". 19 August 2022. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ↑ "Gold for Perse student at international astronomy and astrophysics olympiad". 29 November 2021. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
- ↑ "PERSE SCHOOL WINNERS OF UK NATIONAL ROCKETRY CHALLENGE BLAST OFF TO NASA". www.adsgroup.org.uk. ADS. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ Freddo (2 June 2012). "Rocket boys off to NASA". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "The National Science and Engineering Competition 2012 Winners". www.thebigbangfair.co.uk. The Big Bang Fair. 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "Nuffield Research Placement student Kirtana Vallabhaneni named Young Scientist of the Year". www.nuffieldfoundation.org. Nuffield Foundation. 19 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ "Blutick Line-By-Line Intelligent Feedback System". Bett Show 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ↑ "The Perse expands family of schools". The Perse School Cambridge. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
- ↑ Ed Elliott (20 November 2012). "The ten second challenge goes viral". theperseschool.wordpress.com. The Perse School. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ↑ John-Paul Ford Rojas (16 November 2012). "Silver-tongued pupils given ten seconds to talk their way out of trouble". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ↑ "Perse School pupils let off punishment for clever excuses". www.bbc.com. BBC. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
- ↑ "Johnson, William Ernest (1858–1931), logician | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34206. Retrieved 21 June 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ "F R Leavis". www.perse.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ↑ "Goring, Marius (1912-1998) Biography".
- ↑ "Sir Donald Tebbit - Telegraph". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. 10 October 2010. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ↑ "Class of his Owen". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ↑ "Owen Giles Photos - Northampton Saints Photocall - Zimbio". www.zimbio.com. Zimbio. 7 August 2008. Archived from the original on 7 March 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
- ↑ "Northampton Saints : Squad 1st XV 2008-09". www.northamptonsaints.co.uk. Northampton Saints. Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- ↑ "Alex Coles earns England under-18s call". Cambridge Independent. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ↑ World, Rugby (4 November 2020). "Hotshot: Northampton lock Alex Coles". Rugby World. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
- ↑ Tom Roper (25 March 2009). "Tom Roper's Weblog: Most highly flavoured gravy". www.roper.org.uk. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
- ↑ James, Patricia (2006). Population Malthus : His Life and Times. London: Routledge. p. xiv. ISBN 0415381134. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
- ↑ "Martin Stephen". www.gemsedsolutions.com. GEMS Education Solutions. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ↑ "Martin Stephen – Telegraph Blogs". blogs.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ↑ "The Gold Standard Charitable Trust Website". www.goldstandardcharitabletrust.co.uk. The Gold Standard Charitable Trust. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ↑ David Marley (16 March 2012). "Financiers want to run 2,000 state schools - with bonuses - News - TES". www.tes.co.uk. TES. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ↑ "Martin-Stephen.pdf" (PDF). www.schoolproprietors.co.uk. School Proprietors' Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ↑ "Governing Body". mcsoxford.org. Magdalen College School. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ↑ "Governors & Council". haileybury.com. Haileybury. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ↑ "About Us". www.agbis.org.uk. AGBIS. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
- ↑ "Thring of Uppingham: Victorian Educator". www.uppingham.co.uk. 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ "Thring of Uppingham: Victorian Educator". ubpl.buckingham.ac.uk. The University of Buckingham Press. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
- ↑ "Deputy to take head role at Perse School". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. 8 June 2007. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
- ↑ Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/66458. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/66458. Retrieved 28 December 2022. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ "Olympians Glenn Kirkham and Helen Richardson-Walsh join Perse sport staff | The Perse School Cambridge". The Perse School Cambridge. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.