Wikipedia

The Perse School

Not to be confused with Stephen Perse Foundation.

The Perse School is a private school (English fee-charging day and, in the case of the Perse, a former boarding school) in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1615 by Stephen Perse, its motto is Qui facit per alium facit per se, taken to mean 'He who does things for others does them for himself'. The Perse School took girls for Sixth form only from 1994, began accepting girls at 11 and 13 in September 2010 and was fully co-educational by September 2012. 'Perse' is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, an association of UK independent schools.

The Perse School
The school's coat of arms
Address
Map
Hills Road

Cambridge
,
Cambridgeshire
,
CB2 8QF

England
Coordinates52°10′51″N 00°08′19″E / 52.18083°N 0.13861°E / 52.18083; 0.13861
Information
TypePublic school
Private day school
MottoLatin: Qui facit per alium facit per se
(He who does things for others does them for himself)
Religious affiliation(s)Nondenominational Christian
Established1615; 409 years ago (1615)
FounderStephen Perse
Department for Education URN110923 Tables
Chairman of the Governing BodyJonathan W Scott
HeadEdward Elliott
Staff138 teaching, 117 support staff, 26 peripatetics[1]
GenderCo-educational
Age3 to 18
Enrolment1,564 (2016) [2]
Houses8[3]
Colour(s)  
Purple and black
PublicationOP News Magazine
AlumniOld Perseans
Websitehttp://www.perse.co.uk/

The organisation now comprises three schools, which together provide for children aged 3 through to 18. The Pelican is the Perse's nursery and pre-preparatory school, and accommodates pupils from 3–7. It is situated on Glebe Road, close to the main school site. Preparatory education for students aged 7 to 11 years old is provided by the Perse Prep, which is located close to the Upper School, just north of the junction of Long Road and Trumpington Road. In Year 7 pupils usually progress to the Upper School, where they sit GCSE examinations and A-Levels.

History

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The school was founded in 1615 at its original site in Free School Lane, Cambridge. Its former buildings now house the Whipple Museum of the History of Science.[4] In 1890 it moved to a site on the corner of Gonville Place and Hills Road, in 1960 moving to the site it now occupies as its 'Upper' school on Hills Road.[5] There have been multiple phases of expansion, particularly in the 21st century. Among notable developments is the Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre, a 400-seat theatre, exhibition and rehearsal space designed by architects Haworth Tompkins,[6] which opened in 2018.

An old prospectus lists the fees as £3 per term in 1890.[7]

From 1945 to 1976 it was a direct grant grammar school, offering free places to 40% of pupils.[8] Following the abolition of the Assisted Places Scheme, The Perse no longer received any state funding and became independent.

The school was ranked 13th in the Sunday Times Parent Power league table in 2019[9] and 6th in the Daily Telegraph national table[10] of A Level, Pre-U and IB results with 83% A* and A grades from 175 candidates. In 2021, The Sunday Times also named The Perse School as the top independent secondary school in East Anglia, as the school had the best performance in the GCE A Level Examinations in the region.[11]

In 2015, two boys from the school were convicted of stealing items found at Auschwitz while on a school trip. [12]

Motto

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The school motto is Qui facit per alium facit per se, usually taken to mean "He who does things for others does them for himself". This is an example of a rebus motto, the Latin sentence ending in a word play on the founder's name "per se" and his benefaction. A blue plaque dedicated to the school's founder, Dr Stephen Perse, was installed in Free School Lane, Cambridge.[13]

Competitions, Olympiads and scholarships

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Pupils have competed and scored highly in academic competitions and Olympiads, in addition to winning awards including Arkwright Engineering Scholarships[14][15] and Nuffield Research Placements (previously Nuffield Science Bursaries).[16][17] Students have won scholarships for summer placements at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel[18][19] and research institutes in Heidelberg, Germany.[20][21]

British competition results include:

Students have also competed in international competitions including the International Mathematical Olympiad,[32] the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad,[33] the European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad,[33] the Romanian Master of Mathematics competition,[33] the International Biology Olympiad,[34] the International Olympiad in Informatics,[35] the International Linguistics Olympiad,[36] the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics,[37] the International Rocketry Challenge,[38][39] the European Union Contest for Young Scientists[40] and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.[41]

Innovation

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In 2018, The Perse School partnered with a Cambridge-based education technology entrepreneur, Rob Percival, to support the creation of an online artificial intelligence maths teaching platform. Blutick in association with The Perse School, exhibited at the BETT Show in London, 2019[42] to launch a free beta version.

Developments

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Since 2020, The Perse School Cambridge International (TPSCI) has liaised with partners to open up The Perse international schools outside of England. Currently, two international schools have been set up, namely The Perse School Singapore (opened in Jan 2020) and The Perse School Suzhou in China (opened in Sep 2021).[43]

Headmaster's blog

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On his blog the headmaster, Ed Elliott, described his 'ten second challenge' in which he would give students who "commit occasional minor misdemeanours (such as forgetting a book) the opportunity to talk their way out of a punishment".[44] The story was quickly picked up by the mainstream media[45] who reported that pupils were "let off punishment for clever excuses".[46]

Notable Perseans

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See also: Category:People educated at The Perse School

Academia

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Art

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Business

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Engineering

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Film and theatre

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Law

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Media

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Military

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Music

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Politics

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Religion

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Science

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Sport

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Staff

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Headmasters

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Notable staff

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References

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  1. ^ "Teaching". www.perse.co.uk. The Perse School. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Independent Schools Inspectorate The Perse School". www.isi.net. ISI. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  3. ^ "The House System | the Perse School Cambridge". Archived from the original on 17 December 2021.
  4. ^ The original Perse School (now the Whipple Museum)
  5. ^ S. John D. Mitchell (1976). A History of the Perse School, 1615-1976. ISBN 9780902675711.
  6. ^ Tompkins, Haworth (13 March 2018). "Peter Hall Performing Arts Centre". Haworth Tompkins. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Old prospectus from 1890 for the Perse School in Cambridge found in loft". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. 1 April 2015. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  8. ^ "History | The Perse School Cambridge". www.perse.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  9. ^ Times, The Sunday. "Parent Power 2019: Best UK Schools Guide". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  10. ^ Kirk, Ashley (25 August 2018). "Best independent schools in the UK: Compare league table results for A-levels". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  11. ^ Haygarth, Dan (3 December 2021). "The Cambs schools ranked among region's best in Sunday Times guide". CambridgeshireLive. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  12. ^ https://www.thejc.com/news/british-teenagers-fined-and-given-suspended-sentences-for-stealing-artefacts-from-auschwitz-t52pmspe
  13. ^ "Stephen Perse blue plaque in Cambridge". openplaques.org. Open Plaques. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Webtec awards first Roy Cuthbert Arkwright Engineering Scholarship to Theo Ashcroft, from the Perse School, Cambridge - Webtec Products Limited - Webtec Products Limited". www.webtechydraulicvalveflowmetertester.co.uk. Webtec Products Limited. November 2013. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  15. ^ "School takes the technological pole position". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. 24 November 2003. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  16. ^ "Scientists of the future: sixth formers showcase summer science projects at the Babraham R... - Cambridge Network". www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk. Cambridge Network. 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  17. ^ Margarita Kolchagova (3 December 2014). "Hamza Wahid presented his DNAdigest research project - DNAdigest.org". dnadigest.org. DNA digest. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
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  23. ^ Philip Aldrick (21 March 2015). "Perse School triumphs with 'daring' rate rise". www.thetimes.co.uk. The Times. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  24. ^ Terry Chambers (29 April 2010). "Photo Gallery". www.physics.ox.ac.uk. British Physics Olympiad. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  25. ^ "British Physics Olympiad Awards". www.thomas-hardye.net. The Thomas Hardye School. May 2010. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  26. ^ "Newsletter 43.pdf" (PDF). www.ukmt.org.uk. UKMT. September 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  27. ^ "Cambridge pupil Thomas Read makes it to final of British Informatics Olympiad at Trinity College". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
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  31. ^ "The Perse School on Twitter: "Congratulations to students for Linguistics Olympiad success: 7 Bronze, 2 Silver & our 1st ever Gold medal @PerseMFL"". twitter.com. Twitter. 24 February 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  32. ^ "16th International Mathematical Olympiad, German Democratic Republic, 1974, Report by David Monk (UK Deputy Leader) (Science Teacher volume 18 number 1 pages 4, 5 and 9)". www.imo-register.org.uk. UK IMO Register. 14 February 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
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  35. ^ "UK call-up to international informatics olympiad for Perse student". 29 April 2022. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  36. ^ "Silver lining for Perse student at International Linguistics Olympiad". 19 August 2022. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  37. ^ "Gold for Perse student at international astronomy and astrophysics olympiad". 29 November 2021. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  38. ^ "PERSE SCHOOL WINNERS OF UK NATIONAL ROCKETRY CHALLENGE BLAST OFF TO NASA". www.adsgroup.org.uk. ADS. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  39. ^ Freddo (2 June 2012). "Rocket boys off to NASA". www.cambridge-news.co.uk. Cambridge News. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  40. ^ "The National Science and Engineering Competition 2012 Winners". www.thebigbangfair.co.uk. The Big Bang Fair. 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  41. ^ "Nuffield Research Placement student Kirtana Vallabhaneni named Young Scientist of the Year". www.nuffieldfoundation.org. Nuffield Foundation. 19 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  42. ^ "Blutick Line-By-Line Intelligent Feedback System". Bett Show 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  43. ^ "The Perse expands family of schools". The Perse School Cambridge. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  44. ^ Ed Elliott (20 November 2012). "The ten second challenge goes viral". theperseschool.wordpress.com. The Perse School. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  45. ^ John-Paul Ford Rojas (16 November 2012). "Silver-tongued pupils given ten seconds to talk their way out of trouble". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  46. ^ "Perse School pupils let off punishment for clever excuses". www.bbc.com. BBC. 19 November 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  47. ^ "Johnson, William Ernest (1858–1931), logician | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34206. Retrieved 21 June 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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  71. ^ "Olympians Glenn Kirkham and Helen Richardson-Walsh join Perse sport staff | The Perse School Cambridge". The Perse School Cambridge. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
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