Peter Symonds College

Peter Symonds College
Motto Counting in Ones
Established 1897
Type Sixth form college
Principal Stephen Carville
Location Owens Road
Winchester
Hampshire
SO22 6RX
England England Coordinates: 51°04′12″N 1°19′12″W / 51.0701°N 1.3201°W
Local authority Hampshire County Council
DfE number 850/8609
DfE URN 130708 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Students c.4000
Ages 16–18
Publication The Buzz
Website PSC.ac.uk

Peter Symonds College is a sixth form college in Winchester, Hampshire, in the south of England. It is one of the largest sixth form colleges in Britain.

Peter Symonds College entrance

Curriculum

Most students at Peter Symonds take four AS levels in their first year and then three A levels in their second year. General Studies was taken as a compulsory AS and A level on top of this until 2014, where the school dropped the subject. However some students take five or more AS levels in their first year and continue with either four or five A levels in their second year. Both the Extended Project and Critical Thinking are offered at the college and widely participated in.[1]

Amongst the subjects on offer at the college are Fine Art, Photography, Textiles, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Classics, Computing, Dance, Drama, Economics, English Language, English Literature, Environmental Studies, Film Studies, French, German, Geography, Politics, Graphics, Health & Social Care, History, ICT, Law, Italian, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, PE, Physics, Product Design, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology and Spanish.[1] The college is also somewhat unusual amongst state sixth form colleges in offering Latin at both AS and A level.[1]

Courses are available at AS Level, A2 Level, Level 2 National Certificate, GCSE, AS (Double Award) and A2 (Double Award) at the college.[1]

Admissions

It has some 4000 students aged 16–18 mainly from central Hampshire, but also British Forces teenagers from Germany and Cyprus, and residents of the Falkland Islands, who live on campus in one of the two boarding houses (Falkland's Lodge). The College also has a separate site in Winchester where it provides courses for some 2000 adult students.

College Life

Extra-curricular activities

At one time the college produced an online magazine named "The BUZZ", written and edited by students, which replaced "Converse" in 2008 but has since ceased to circulate.[2] There is also a student produced college radio station, 7Radio.

The UK Rock Challenge, Duke of Edinburgh's Award,[3] First Aid, Practical Wildlife Conservation, Choir, Harry Potter Appreciation Society, Libra Foundation, Fencing, Debating and Fantasy Football are all activities on offer at Peter Symonds College.[4]

7Radio

7Radio
Format Online (accessible in the college only)
Language(s) English
Owner Peter Symonds College
Website 7radio.psc.ac.uk

There is a student produced college radio station, 7Radio, founded in 2007. The '7' or 'Seven' of 7Radio, as well as relating to broadcasting 7 days a week when first set up, refers to Symonds Events and Entertainment Network radio. The station can currently only be heard around the college via their network.[5]

Sports

The college has teams in the following sports: Athletics, American Flag Football, badminton, basketball, cricket, cross country, equestrian, football, hockey, lacrosse, netball, rugby, squash, swimming, tennis, and volleyball.[6] The college also enters individual players and teams into competitions for the following sports: Golf, table tennis and trampolining.

Student Union

The Student Union works in conjunction with Student Services to promote student interests alongside organising events for the student body, such as diversity festivals, guest speakers, charity events, concerts and until recently end of year balls.[7] The SU consists of the executive committee (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary) and other officers (Environment, Charity, Communications, Equality and Diversity, LGBT). The SU also has a history of organising and coordinating protests and demonstrations on behalf of the student body.[8]

The President of the SU also serves on the board of governors as a student governor, along with one other student governor who is not a member of the SU but is nonetheless democratically elected by the student body.[7] Amongst the roles of the President is to chair the executive committee, and to organise and chair the Student Parliament.

The SU officers are elected at the start of the academic year with the executive committee elected at the year's end.[7] Participation in the elections has been boosted in recent years through the use of an online system accessible through the student intranet, this system was introduced for the first time in the executive committee election of April 2012.[7] The electoral system works on a single transferable vote system, with a re-open nominations option available.

The Student Union is at present affiliated with the National Union of Students (United Kingdom) (NUS).[7]

Boarding

Thirty UK students board at School House. A further 47 students exclusively from the Falkland Islands stay at Falkland Lodge. (The colony's government paid for the boarding house to serve the islands.)

There were more boarding houses when the college was a boys' grammar school: Wyke Lodge, which is now the environmental studies block) and Kelso, which is home to the music department.

Academic achievement

In 2009 Peter Symonds was placed sixth in The Times top 50 state sixth forms. In the same year the college was ranked 85th in the country (only including institutions with at least 30 exam entrants) based on Average Points Score. And in 2011 the college was placed 4th top 50 state sixth forms in the country. [9]

A2 Results 2012[10]
Summary Entries A* A B C D E U X A*-B A*-C A*-E
Summary 4305 431 1166 1222 832 440 171 43 0 2819 3651 4262
Percentage 10.0 27.1 28.4 19.3 10.2 4.0 1.0 0.0 65.5 84.8 99.0
AS Results 2012[10]
Summary Entries A B C D E U X A-B A-C A-E
Summary 6578 1711 1525 1388 876 590 486 2 3236 4624 6090
Percentage 26.0 23.2 21.1 13.3 9.0 7.4 0.0 49.2 70.3 92.6

2012 results confirmed Peter Symonds College as one of England's top colleges, with a pass rate of 99% and top grades at over 84%.[10]

There were 550 individual A* grades at A Level. A remarkable 33 students scored 700 or more UCAS points (equal to five or more full A Levels at grade A*) and 129 students scored over 600 UCAS points (equal to five or more full A Levels at grade A).[10]

49 students held conditional offers from Oxford or Cambridge Universities in this year.[10]

Headmasters and principals

Life after College

Oxbridge

Peter Symonds College sends a significant number of students to both the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge each year.[11][12][13] In 2013, 53 Peter Symonds students were placed at Oxford or Cambridge.[14]

Russell Group admissions record

The Sutton Trust published a report looking at entry statistics across the thirty most competitive universities in the United Kingdom. Peter Symonds College students have significantly higher entry rate into this group than students coming from any other Hampshire sixth form college. 41% of students gained places at Russell group universities in 2011. By comparison, nationally only 18.5% of sixth form college students achieved that in this year.[13]

History

Grammar school

The college was founded as a boys' grammar school in 1897 and became a coeducational 16-19 college in 1974, although its roots go back to charities established in the 16th century at the bequest of Peter Symonds, a wealthy merchant. From 1944 it was a voluntary controlled grammar school.

Sixth form college

The school, along with the Winchester County Girls' High School, also a grammar school, became a comprehensive in 1974, taking until 1978.

Apostrophe

In the late 1990s or early 2000s, for reasons unknown (but possibly because of the difficulty students and correspondents had in spelling the College's name correctly), the College dropped the possessive apostrophe from its founder's name in its official title, and is now known as Peter Symonds College.

New buildings

In 2004, the John Shields Building was unveiled, providing classrooms for the computing, psychology and environmental science departments. Also in that year the Varley Sports Café was rebuilt.

The £4.2M Ashurst Learning Resources Centre was completed in the spring of 2007. Ashurst contains five computer suites, housing over 170 computers (three suites double as classrooms, but remain open access when not in use), a vast library and large silent study areas.

The Conlan building was completed in the summer of 2014, this building is used for a variety of subjects including Photography and Business

The Ashurst Quad which sits alongside its big brother Ashurst (LRC) is due to complete construction in the spring of 2015, the building is to create more study space for students

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Course Directory". Peter Symonds College. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  2. ↑ Converse Student Magazine
  3. ↑ "Peter Symonds College - Duke of Edinburgh's Award". Duke of Edinburgh, Peter Symonds College. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Activities at the College". Peter Symonds College. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  5. ↑ "7Radio". 7Radio, Peter Symonds College. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  6. ↑ http://www.psc.ac.uk/life/sport/teams.php
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Student Union". Peter Symonds College. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ "Top A-level results in school league tables". BBC News. January 13, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 "College Results 2013". Peter Symonds College. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  11. ↑ Napier, Andrew (February 15, 2010). "Peter Symonds College pupils get opportunity to study Oxford or Cambridge". Hampshire Chronicle. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  12. ↑ Murray, Janet (March 30, 2010). "When Oxbridge is an option". The Guardian. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "University Destinations". Peter Symonds College. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  14. ↑ "More than 50 Symonds students gain Oxbridge offers". Hampshire Chronicle. February 14, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Ben Ainslie". Sailor Biography. ISAF UK. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
  16. ↑ "Ex-Peter Symonds ace in England squad". Southern Daily Echo. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  17. ↑ College Days - Gina Beck, The Guardian, 15 May 2007
  18. ↑ Murray, Janet (2007-06-26). "College days". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  19. ↑ Murray, Janet (2007-05-01). "College days". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  20. ↑ Murray, Janet (2007-05-22). "College days". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-11-16.
  21. ↑ "The Making of a Comedian". JackDee.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  22. ↑ Morton, James (9 October 2014). "Sir Edward Eveleigh obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  23. ↑ Philippa Forrester#Education
  24. ↑ How Holby City Changed Me Southern Daily Echo 4 June 2013
  25. ↑ "Air Chief Marshal Sir Patrick "Paddy" Bardon Hine GCB, GBE".
  26. ↑ "Player profile: Phil Hughes". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 28 September 2011.
  27. ↑ Murray, Janet (2007-09-25). "College days". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  28. ↑ "Gidley goes as Tories win Romsey". Southern Daily Echo. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  29. ↑ Shimmon, Katie (2006-07-18). "College days". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2009-01-25.
  30. ↑ "Lucy Pinder backed by Winchester civic chiefs". Hampshire Chronicle (Newsquest Media Group). 9 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-25.

External links