Priory School, Portsmouth
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Priory School is a secondary school in Southsea, Hampshire, England. It is situated in the northern area of Southsea bordering Fratton, and lies close to Fratton railway station on the A2047. Stewart Vaughan is the Headteacher at the school.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Priory school is an academy and part of the Bohunt Education Trust.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
The current site was originally purchased by the Portsmouth School Board in May 1890 for £3000, at the time the area was known as "The Wilderness" due to the lack of development activity. On the site were several buildings in a heavy state of disrepair, among the buildings were Howard's Cottage reputedly the oldest building in Portsmouth and home to the ghost of Lady Temple.<ref name="wild">Template:Cite web</ref>
The construction of the school cost £9,704 and took two years, the buildings were completed in May 1892.<ref name="guide">Template:Cite web</ref> Later extensions of the school site led it to cover the site of an old priory and a farm called Priory Farm.<ref name="wild"/>
In 1905 it was decided that the Francis Avenue School for girls should move to a building next to the boys school. This school, which cost £25,000 to build, was opened on 4 November 1907.<ref name="guide"/>
During the First World War, the building was requisitioned by the War Office to create the 5th Southern General Hospital, a facility for the Royal Army Medical Corps to treat military casualties.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During the 1920s the school became heavily over-crowded and an extension to the girls school was completed in 1934.<ref name="guide"/> Portsmouth was considered a high-risk target during the Second World War and the girls school moved to Salisbury.<ref name="guide"/> On 10 January 1941, German bombing led to the destruction of the boys school and the extension at the girls school.<ref name="guide"/> The boys moved to the St Ronan's Road School, with the old boys school being left as a bombed out wreck for the next twenty years.<ref name="guide"/>
In 1946 the girls school became the Portsmouth Southern Grammar School for Girls. The Southern Grammar School for Boys was on Eastern Road and went on to be part of Portsmouth College.<ref name="guide"/>
In the late 1950s the boys school was demolished and replaced with a gymnasium for the girls school.<ref name="guide"/> A lecture theatre was completed in the 1960s.<ref name="guide"/>
In 1974 the boys school returned to the site, this time merging with the girls school to form Priory comprehensive school.<ref name="guide"/> The school became a specialist sports college with the opening of the Priory Tennis Centre in 2006 and it became an academy, sponsored by the Bohunt Education Trust, in September 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Notable former pupils
- Prof Jim Al-Khalili OBE, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Surrey<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Ben Close, professional footballer who plays for Doncaster Rovers FC
- Ola Labib, comedian
- Tommy Leigh, professional footballer who plays for Accrington Stanley FC
- Stephen Morgan, MP For Portsmouth South
- Dan Nlundulu, professional footballer who plays for Southampton FC
- Jake Thomson, former professional footballer
Portsmouth Southern Grammar School for Girls
- Marilyn Cole, January 1972 Playmate of the Month, and Playmate of the Year 1973
Notable former teachers
- Mary James (educator), 1970-4 (at the girls' school)
References
Further reading
- Brian L Davies, A Short History Of Priory School (Southsea) (1997)
External links
Template:Bohunt Education Trust Template:Schools in Hampshire