Portsmouth Grammar/ Portsmouth High

[toastedmarshmallow]

Does anyone have personal experience of either of these schools?

We are considering them for our DD. She is currently year 5. I'm planning to go to open days,etc. but want some inside info if possible not just all the marketing. I don't know anyone whose children go as we're a little outside of the area.

My Dad went to PGS in the 60s/70s and 5 of my cousins were there in the 90s/00s.

I think it's a fantastic school but my overwhelming impression of it whenever I visited as a child was sport, sport, sport and not much else. But that could well be because my cousins were sport, sport, sport and not much else! Mind you, 2 of them are now doctors and 2 more something high up in the financial world and all 5 went to top universities so I don't think the education there is to be sneezed at either. They were bright, reasonably motivated teenagers but they worked hard because it was the school's culture to not because they were intrinsic lovers of academia.

I think St John's is generally felt to be better lower school than upper. I know staff and pupils from both PGS and PHS and both are good schools but there is a bit of an 'attitude' from PGS staff as well as pupils. They are quite ruthless in the way they treat pupils who will not achieve A/A*. However Ryde is a nice school and pupils commute there from Pompey. PHS is very small though and I have been told that breaking into friendship groups can be difficult for new pupils, a lot of the girls have been there since 3.

I commute from Seaview to Pompey for work and it is not the easiest commute. Wightlink are very unreliable and the hover is off in bad weather and passengers have to get up the pier and buy a ticket. I have had to lend children going to school the money more than once. I believe PHS have a chaperone on the hover for the little ones.

Good luck with your decision, I am glad my children are out of school as the state situation is dire on the island at the moment.

I must say I don't think I would make that sort of journey for St Johns or Mayville (and I do think both schools are fabulous and would choose them above PGS any day) but they are not different enough IMO to travel for.

PGS and PHS have excellent facilities but I have heard that PHS are not that great if sport is important, PGS are excellent for that.

Really depends what you want, as my DCs will have been at an independent school since age 3 I wouldn't send them to a 6th form attached to school anyway as I feel they need to move away from the place they would have been since such a young age but if I was moving them at seniors then I would probably want a 6th form.

I hope you find somewhere you both love!

I has thought the commute would be quite straightforward! I wonder how often the hover gets cancelled.

The smallness of PHS would have positive and negative aspects, less choice of friends being the main negative to me. I know a few teenagers who have been to a very small school (smaller than PHS) and although they enjoyed school they would have preferred more people to socialise with.

Will have to find out more about sports at PHS. DD is good at most sports and a very good athlete. Her main concern would be having enough different sports to participate in rather than the standard of competition.

I'm hoping a school ( independent or state) will just stand out for us when we look round. We have a very good chance of getting into the only decent state secondary, so hopefully we will like that as well.

Second the view of the other old girl who said she was shocked by how much it had changed.

PHS used to be the girls school and PGS for boys - which meant they both got a very academic bunch of students. With PGS being co-ed it creams off the brighter girls, leaving PHS with lower numbers and results.

It depends what you're looking for really? I have no desire for my dd to experience what I did (a very pushy academic girls school where only the prizewinners were given any attention), but the school it has become isn't very appealing either IMO.

Results seem similar to me, unless I'm trading the data incorrectly?

I guess what I want is a school that encourages and stretches DD, where she achieved the best she can academically. I also would like her to really enjoy school and have opportunities and experiences that are enjoyable and challenging. She is a natural leader so a school that would help her develop and refine those skills. I would like to be at a school where the ethos its to work hard and be fuly involved.

DD would like a school where the staff and pupils are nice and where there is lots to do.

I went to a really crap school and although I did fairly well academically I hated most days. I want DD to love her school. I might be asking to much!

Reading not trading!

PHS have 64% GCSE grades A*/A and PGS have 71%. Plus PGS offer a far wider breadth of subjects - something their size enables them to do.

Thanks hatsy

What its out about PHS that doesn't appeal to you?

Is it stupid phone!

I went to PGS for 6 th form. It was many years ago now! I also comes from the IOW. I don't remember ever missing school (apart from when we were asked to help out with a practice drill!) because of the ferries but we were late occasionally. When it was too rough for the catamaran, the car ferry used to call at the pier head.

I found the school much more academic than the school I was at before and I did struggle a wee bit making the transition. I didn't really bother with the sport as I didn't have to!

It didn't bother me having friends on the mainland, but I guess I was a bit older so could pop over and see them without too many problems!

The problem is the ferry service has deteriorated drastically over the 11 years I have commuted. I would say the hover reliability depends on the weather so a windy winter means a lot of cancellations. The whole of March is difficult due to servicing on Wightlink and then half the boats miss the train so a 40 minute wait at the pier head or a walk down. It might be 40/50 mins but only if it all joins up/ running on time and you are totally reliant on the weather. I live less than a 10 minute drive and park at the pier head but would say it averages a 2 hour commute. It is a serious commitment and over 50% of the adults I commuted with have relocated to the mainland over the past two years. It would have to be an amazing school for me to put a child through it.

Sounds a bit of a nightmare agggghast! I would definitely do a few practice runs before a made a final decision. So much to bear in mind.