St John's College (Portsmouth)

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St John's College
Crest of St John's College
Per Laborem Ad Hounourum
'Through Work to Honour'
Location
Grove Road South
Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO5 3QW, ENG
Coordinates 50°47′18″N 1°05′09″W / 50.7882, -1.0858
Information
Religion Christianity
Denomination Roman Catholic
Headmaster Nigel Thorne
Students 620
Age 2 to 18
Houses Alan, Damien, Edwin, Leo
Type Independent school
Campus Portsmouth
Patron saint(s) Saint Jean-Baptiste De La Salle
Established 1908
Alumni Anthony Minghella,George Alagiah
Homepage

St John's College is an independent Catholic day and boarding school in Southsea, Hampshire, England run by the De La Salle brothers. Despite the implication of its name, St John's is not a higher education institution - rather instructing pupils between the ages of 2 and 18 aiming towards the national assessments of GCSE at 16 and A-Level at 18.

Established in 1908 as an all-male institution, the school now resides at Grove Road South, in Southsea. The school began transition to coeducation in 1996 - accepting female pupils through to Year Nine (School) (although they had been accepted in the Sixth Form for some time prior to this)

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[edit] Structure

St John's is split into two sections, a Junior school (with nursery) for children aged between 2 and 11 and an upper (secondary) school for children 11 and upwards. It also has a Sixth Form College for students studying for their A-Levels (or equivalent). St John's structures its years into a House System. Currently there are four houses: Alan, Damian Edwin and Leo in the Upper School all named for notable Brothers who have served as Headmaster over the years. The school fosters this system encouraging intra-house activities such as hous 5-a-side matches and alike. Points from each of these are tallied and at the end of each academic year a trophy is awarded to the house with the highest score. A similar system exists on the academic side with the Warren Trophy.

[edit] History

Initially a single sex school, St John's was solely run by De La Salle brothers. Founded on Southsea sea front, St John's moved to the castle on Grove Road South shortly thereafter. Lay-teachers started teaching after the WW2 as numbers of brothers have declined over the last years. The first appointment of a Lay-headmaster occurred in 1997 with the appointment of John Davies. Currently the headmaster is Mr Nigel Thorne

[edit] Alumni

St John's ex students formed the Old Johannian Society in 1919. Currently its members run to around 200. Subscriptions are paid at £10 per annum, which pays for the club's postage and allows for its publications. The association runs several gatherings a year, notably the AGM and Dinner Held on the first Saturday after Easter, and a Golf tournament[1].

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] External links

[edit] References