The Portsmouth Grammar School has an outstanding reputation as a school in which young people are inspired to learn and develop the confidence to believe in their ability to make a positive difference to the world.

STRATEGIC PLAN 2013-2016

We wish our pupils and our staff to be happy and successful, in that order.

We wish our pupils and our staff to be happy and successful, in that order. And in the spirit of our founder, Dr William Smith, in a nurturing environment focused on individual development, we encourage our girls and boys to think not only about where they will be at 18 but where they aspire to be at 25. Portsmouth is, after all, a city concerned with destinations.

We are keen to see the school itself continue to develop to ensure that we are equipped to meet the needs of a new generation and to provide an outstanding educational experience for pupils in the future.

The new Sixth Form Centre, due to open in September 2014, will accommodate a new e-library, a superb café and social space and dedicated careers and exhibition facilities. It is a building designed to support a more independent and versatile approach to learning, and will complete a multi-million pound development at the heart of the school campus, made possible thanks to the support of our alumni, which includes 19 state-of-the-art laboratories and a 125-seater lecture theatre in the recently-opened Bristow-Clavell Science Centre.

We have been giving careful consideration to what makes PGS such a happy and successful school and how we believe the school could become even stronger in the future. We have been helped in this by extensive feedback from current parents, pupils and staff; by considering the insights given by ISI Inspection teams; by researching best practice in other leading schools; and by considering the expectations of universities and employers.

We are a dynamic and exciting community with a Junior School of around 400 girls and boys, a Senior School of 1,100 pupils and a Sixth Form of over 300 students. We have a superb body of teaching and support staff and we play a significant part in the life of the city. All of this we are keen to sustain in the future whilst responding to the changing needs of young people and the world in which they will lead their lives.

Our Strategic Plan acknowledges that The Portsmouth Grammar School caters for many different stages in each child’s development- from 2 ½ to 18, and even to 25 and beyond- but importantly it considers PGS as one school.

Excellent Teaching and LearningBy 2016 the quality of teaching and learning, supported by confident middle leadership, will be consistently good and frequently outstanding.We have a fantastic reputation for teaching and learning, but we understand how important it is to ensure consistency and to inspire and nurture each child’s passion for learning. We regularly observe teaching and learning to share best practice and to support the continuous professional development of our staff, and we monitor closely our pupils’ value-added performances, not only in public examinations at 16 and 18, but in the early stages of their development in the Nursery and Junior School as well.

Innovative use of ICT By 2016 we will be confident, creative and efficient in our use of ICT in teaching and learning, thanks to a whole school approach which encourages innovation and shares best practice through training.ICT offers exciting opportunities for pupils’ learning and we are encouraging our teachers and pupils to be creative and ambitious in their approach to the use of new technology. Significant changes in provision, however, need to have been researched and tested; training and support put in place; and children’s e-safety ensured. In this way, we aim to deliver genuine educational benefits for our pupils as technology moves ever forward.

Pupil engagementBy 2016 a culture will have been established in which pupils acknowledge themselves to be instrumental in shaping their learning and in which they play a full role in the life and leadership of the school.Young people are increasingly eager to take responsibility for their own learning and we are keen to support them in this, giving our pupils more opportunities to become resourceful and independent learners, and growing their confidence to take the lead and to think creatively for themselves.

A prioritised programme of building and refurbishmentBy 2016 we will have further improved our teaching environment and created outstanding new facilities for the Sixth Form. We will have in progress a medium to long term programme of phased development which has been carefully prioritised to allow the school to deliver an outstanding educational experience at all stages.We have a number of exciting ideas for how the school’s facilities can continue to develop, and recognise the importance of having a master plan which ensures that each project- whether refurbishment or a new build- will deliver excellent value for money and have a positive and lasting impact on the education we provide.

A fully integrated approach to marketing and admissionsBy 2016 a fully integrated approach to admissions and marketing will enable us, in a time of continuing economic challenge, to ensure that our recruitment into both the Junior and Senior School thrives.The continuing vibrancy of PGS depends to a large extent on how well we can communicate to prospective families all that makes PGS distinctive, including our desire to develop the whole person. We are keen to share the good news about our pupils’ progress and achievements, and to provide an informative and positive experience for parents and young people wishing to find out more about the school.

A dynamic Development OfficeBy 2016 we will have fully refreshed our programme of events for alumni and donors, grown our alumni database, and successfully launched a long term bursary fundraising campaign designed to expand our provision of means-tested support.

The PGS family is a rapidly growing one. Former pupils, parents and staff are keen to keep in touch with the school, and it can be inspiring for current pupils to learn about the lives and careers of those who have gone before them. We have plans to invite each year group back for a reunion when they are 25. We are piloting a mentoring programme supported by Old Portmuthians, and we will be seeking the support of alumni in helping us to expand our bursary programme and thus continue to transform the lives of young people here in Portsmouth and the wider region.

STRATEGIC PLAN 2013-2016

STRATEGIC PLAN 2013-2016

023 9236 0036