The Perse School

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The Perse School is a fee-paying secondary day school for boys 11–18 and girls at 16+ situated in Cambridge, England. The school was founded in 1615 by Dr Stephen Perse, a fellow of Gonville and Caius College, and has existed on several different sites in the city before its present home on Hills Road. Currently, the headmaster is Nigel Richardson and the school holds approximately 640 pupils.

1 Reputation and Prestige
2 Structure
3 Alumni
4 Headmasters
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Reputation and Prestige

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. An alternative interpretation is "He who does things through others does them [through] himself" taking the translation of "per" as 'through' rather than 'for'. This latter interpretation forms the legal principle of vicarious liability longstanding in common law where the acts of a worker or servant are seen to be the same as those of the employer or master. Also similarly used in agency law in the sense that he who acts through another is deemed to act in person, i.e., a principal is liable for the acts of his agent.

A blue plaque dedicated to the school's founder, Dr Stephen Perse, can be found in Free School Lane, Cambridge.

The school prides itself on academic achievement and regularly maintains a very good position in the league table of independent schools, both at GCSE and A-level. Between 20% and 30% of school leavers at 18 go on to take up places at the universities of Cambridge or Oxford.

Many official league tables do not include the results of pupils taking exams earlier than normal, so it is likely that the true performance of the school is better than league tables suggest. The Sixth Form operates from the same site as the rest of the school, and there is a high degree of integration between pupils of all ages, although sixth formers have a separate Sixth Form Centre. Most sixth formers take four AS levels, although some may take five. The school prides itself on its flexibility in this area, as pupils are allowed to take any combination of subjects, and the timetable for the whole school is scheduled around them. Continuing three or four subjects to A-level is the norm, although a few pupils every year may undertake five.

Although secondary to academia, sport is an important part of the Perse. The school has a long-running competitive relationship with The Leys School, the other major independent school in Cambridge. Matches between the two schools are important events in their sporting calendars. In 2005, the Perse under-14 hockey team became National Champions, beating Millfield. The rifle shooting team, backed by the school's association with the Combined Cadet Force, has also traditionally been strong. In the Michaelmas Term 2005 the rugby First XV became the most successful team in 14 years after their win against The Leys School.

[edit] Structure

The school is divided into three sections: the lower school, middle school and Sixth Form. The lower school contains the First Form and Second Form (11-13). The middle school includes the Third Form, Fourth Form and Fifth Form (14-16) and is thus focussed mainly on GCSEs. Most GCSE courses are begun officially in the Fourth Form, although some longer courses, such as Biology, are begun in the Third Form. Pupils in the top streams have the option to take French and Mathematics GCSEs at the end of the Fourth Form, and then use the Fifth Form to take an intermediate qualification that may ease the transition to A-level.

For many years the school offered boarding facilities, although these were closed in the early 1990s. Traditionally an all-boys' school, the Sixth Form recently opened its doors to pupils of both sexes and despite fears that it might, the school's academic record certainly does not appear to have suffered. Currently, ties with the Perse School for Girls exist officially but there is little day-to-day interaction between the pupils. The possibility of the two schools sharing a site in future and essentially unifying was discussed, but not pursued any further. There are, however, plans for the school to go fully co-educational from September 2010 and expand to around 900 pupils over the next ten years.

The classrooms at the Perse are named numerically, e.g. 1, 2, 3 etc, but strangely there is no room 10; its name was changed to E2, as a classroom dedicated to English teaching.

[edit] Alumni

Notable alumni, amongst many others include:

Bishop Jeremy Taylor, a major influence on the foundation of Methodism
Sir Robert Tabor, whose medical skills saved the life of Charles II
F. R. Leavis, the renowned literary critic.

More recent alumni include: Nobel Prize Winners:

Sir George Paget Thomson Nobel Prize Winner for Physics
Ronald G. W. Norrish Nobel Prize Winner for Chemistry.

The school also boasts two George Cross winners:

Group Captain William Neil McKecknie
Dr Wilson Charles Geoffrey Baldwin.

Two of the editors of the Loeb Classical Library were Perseans:

W. H. D. Rouse was headmaster in the early 20th century
E. H. Warmington was a pupil at the same time.

Other Old Perseans include:

Sir Peter Hall, founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company and a Royal National Theatre director.
Pete Atkin, singer/songwriter.
Marius Goring, actor.
Jeremy Palmer, linguist.
Edward Henry Palmer, orientalist.
Sir Donald Tebbit, industrialist and diplomat.
Ronnie Ross, jazz musician.
Mel Calman, cartoonist.
Gustav Victor Rudolf Born, pharmacologist.
Revd Dr John Polkinghorne, physicist and theologian.
Sir Mark Potter QC, Appeal Court judge.
Humphrey Jennings, film director.
Rajani Palme Dutt of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
Sir Quentin Thomas, head of the British Board of Film Classification.
Michael Pooles QC, head of Hailsham Chambers.
G.L.S. Shackle, economist.
Arash Farboud, entrepeneur and sports car manufacturer.

Another famous alumnus is David Gilmour, lead singer of Pink Floyd. He has been quoted as saying: "It was a very disciplined school which I didn't enjoy". There is a suggestion that the song Another Brick in the Wall, which includes the famous lyrics "We don't need no education", was aimed at the Perse, but as the song was written by Roger Waters and not Gilmour this seems unlikely.

[edit] Headmasters

George Griffith, MA - died 1686
Frederick Heppenstall, MA - 1864 to 1874
Dr W. H. D. Rouse, MA (Cantab) - 1902 to 1928 (formerly a fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge)
H. A. Wootton - 1928 to 1945
Stanley Stubbs, MA - 1945 to 1969 (formerly a housemaster at Gresham's School)
A. E. Melville - 1969 to 1987
Dr Martin Stephen, BA, PhD - 1987 to 1994 (now High Master of St Paul's School)
Nigel P. V. Richardson, MA - 1994 onwards (formerly headmaster of Dragon School)