Portsmouth Grammar School

[bellabina]

Any comments regarding this school would be appreciated.

I was a nanny for two children who went to this school (they are still there).

It is an excellent school and they were doing very well there.

The school run is painful though unless you get there early.

I went to Portsmouth high School -but had loads of friends from PGS. Looked like a great school - they were as academically challenged as we were (PHS branded as more academic/ PGS had a more all round branding). Had fantastic facilities and a good atmosphere which produced well rounded kids - was more expensive tho.

Ccally - was also at PHS.... back in the day when PGS was boys only.

Kids I babysat for (boy and girl) both went right through PGS and had a ball. Think it attracts bright kids (PHS really suffering now as most birght girls go to PGS?) and offers a well rounded education. great sports facilities for example.

school run would be painful if going by car - train and bus would be fine. lots of school buses coming in from all surrounding areas these days...

We live in the area and my daughter has friends there. I have been in the music department for various events.

They have some excellent departments there -the music department is really extremely good. They have some lovely facilities. They seem to be a part of the community, helping with local events. They have good links with the cathedral where they go regularly for services. Good sports too, from what I hear. They get absolutely excellent results.

My only reservation (and this may be true to a certain extent in many schools) is that there is tremendous pressure on them to achieve highly. My daughter knows more than one girl who is bulimic or self harms because of the awful pressure. But to be fair, they do come from families where very high achievement is expected at all costs, so it may not all be down to the school.

CCally is right, traffic anywhere in Portsmouth is a nightmare, especially at rush times, and especially getting down to PGS to which there is no easy or quick route. But it's not too far from the station and there are excellent bus routes.

Depends on how old your child(ren) are but most of the senior kids walk alone from the train station (lots coming in from Chichester etc). It's a less than ten minute walk.

I know nothing about the school itself, other than that some of the senior kids are really obnoxious in their use of the surrounding pavements (walking 25 abreast etc).

I know 2 children who are in the senior school. They are rude, spoilt and pretty unpleasant to know.
This may be more down to the parents than the school.

Is there a lot of traffice driving to PHS in the morning?