Private School News

Peterborough High School Announces Expansion of its Co-educational Provision

Following year’s of outstanding success, Peterborough High School will be expanding from September 2010 to allow the admission of boys into Years 7 and 12, becoming the City’s only independent co-educational school for pupils aged 4 to 18.

To reflect this, the School’s name will also change so that, from next September, the School will become known as ‘The Peterborough School’.

This development comes from the School being in a position of strength; recruitment is good and pupil numbers are consistent. As a registered charity, the School is required to generate a surplus to allow for re-investment in facilities and this has been achieved in the last nine years. This has allowed the Governors to plan for the future development and growth of the School and to secure future investment in facilities and in curriculum development.

At the same time, the School has been petitioned by current and prospective parents to extend the current co-educational Preparatory provision into the Senior School. Currently there is no independent provision for boys in the City and this decision is taken in response to that need.

Boys who are already at the School will progress from Year 6 into the Senior School, along with the girls who have traditionally moved through in the same way. External applicants for Year 7 – both boys and girls – will sit the Entrance Examinations in January 2010. All pupils, whether current or prospective, who wish to be considered for Academic, Music or Art Scholarships, will need to sit the Scholarship papers and/or audition on January 22nd .

Current Year 11 boys and girls wishing to enter the Sixth Form at Year 12 will be offered places depending on their predicted GCSE grades following registration.

The School’s key strength lies in its ability to nurture pupils through its strong pastoral care, small class sizes and dedicated staff and the School will retain this commitment. Although pupil numbers are expected to increase, Peterborough High School will still remain a small school with class sizes staying at around 15 pupils and the maximum form size being 20 pupils.

It is accepted that one key aspect of successful co-educational provision lies in the scope and quality of the sports offering for both boys and girls and significant developments will take place at the School in the near future both in terms of new staff and new facilities.

This exciting development will also allow significant curriculum enhancement, which will be phased over the next five years and which will involve a greater array of subjects on offer and the increased provision of associated facilities and staff.

The news has been welcomed by current parents, particularly those currently with girls in the Senior School and boys in the Preparatory Department: “We chose Peterborough High School for our children because of the quality of education it offers. We were not specifically looking for a girls only school after the age of 11! This development means that our son can now benefit from the same excellent education that our daughter has received and to have them both in the same place is a huge bonus. We are very pleased that Toby will not now need to change schools”.

Headmaster, Adrian Meadows commented: “We are delighted to be developing from such a position of strength since we are so frequently asked to provide education for both boys and girls post-11. We are confident of a very stimulating and exciting future and our Group Charity, Woodard Schools, supports us wholeheartedly in this change”.

For further information please contact Liz Hodgkinson, Marketing Manager, Peterborough High School, Thorpe Road, Petrborough PE3 6JF. 01733 343357 or email lho@peterboroughhigh.co.uk