Stephen Perse Foundation

History

In 1615, the will of Stephen Perse included a bequest of land for the establishment of what was then described as a Grammar Free School, in Cambridge. It became The Perse School and was originally reserved for boys. It developed along separate lines and operates as a separate organization today, providing coeducational education from ages 3 to 18.

In 1881, the complementary but unconnected Perse School for Girls opened, as part of the strong 19th-century movement to educate women. From the Perse School for Girls, the Foundation developed to become the Stephen Perse Foundation in 2007. It opened a co-educational sixth form in 2008. It now provides a complete educational pathway for boys and girls from age 1 to 18.

Writer and cartoonist Ronald Searle drew from the Perse School for Girls and the Cambridgeshire High School for Girls (now Long Road Sixth Form College) as inspiration for his St Trinian's School books (published 1946 to 1952), which portrayed the girls at a boarding school as juvenile delinquents. He donated original manuscripts and diaries to the Perse, which are held in the school archive. This material includes a letter, dated 1993, which confirms the link.

Around the turn of the 20th century, the school accepted boys into its kindergarten, including a young John Maynard Keynes.

In September 2013, Dame Bradbury's School in Saffron Walden joined the Foundation, as a non-selective school for boys and girls aged 1–11. At the same time, announcements were made of plans to admit boys to Rosedale House (then known as the Junior School) and Senior Schools. Boys started at Rosedale House in Cambridge in September 2014, and at the Senior School in 2017, with classes from Year 5 through to Year 11 being taught in a diamond formation. This was intended to combine the academic benefits of single-sex learning with the social advantages of a co-educational environment.

Awards and recognition

In 2013, The Sunday Times named the Foundation the International Baccalaureate (IB) School of the Year for the second time. That year the school was reported as holding the joint-highest IB results in the world, with a student average score of 42.2 points. In 2018, the average IB points score was 36, as reported in the Sunday Times Parent Power Survey ranking.

In November 2014, the school was awarded the title Independent School of the Year 2014 and also "Outstanding Strategic Initiative" by the Independent School Awards, decided by a panel of independent judges, including the Chief Inspector of the Independent Schools Inspectorate, Christine Ryan.

In November 2016, the Foundation was named the Best Independent School in East Anglia by The Sunday Times on its 'Parent Power' list. The list is acknowledged as the 'most authoritative survey' of the county's best schools, according to the newspaper. The Foundation was ranked at number 18 in a list of 2,000 schools around the United Kingdom. The accolade was based on GCSE and A Level results – 97.6% of A Level students achieved A* to B grades and 86.1% of GCSE students achieved A* and A grades. In 2017, The same Parent Power survey ranked the school number 40 in the UK and, in 2018, number 74.

The Foundation was shortlisted for Digital innovation/ed tech school of the year at the TES Schools Awards 2017.

In 2020 the Senior School received the Sunday Times Schools Guide 2021 award for East Anglia Independent Secondary School of the Decade.

The school was featured by BBC News in 2014 regarding the innovatory use of iTunes U courses.

Sites and facilities

The main school site occupies a city block, three sides bordered by residential streets and the fourth by the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry. This houses the Stephen Perse Senior School (ages 11–16), with Rosedale House (ages 3–11) occupying a site close by. The Stephen Perse Pre-Prep was established in 2010, after the Foundation purchased the Madingley site on the retirement of the previous owners.

In 2013, the refurbished library and classrooms in Rosedale House were covered by The Guardian newspaper in a feature on inspirational teaching spaces.

Notable alumni

• Margery Allingham (1904–1966), writer
• Anne Atkins, novelist, broadcaster and journalist
• Anna Bidder (1903–2001), zoologist and co-founder of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge
• Vicki Butler-Henderson (b. 1972), racing driver and TV presenter
• Prof Christine Carpenter (b. 1946), historian, Cambridge University
• Olive Cook (1912–2002), writer and artist
• Stephanie Cook (b. 1972), modern pentathlete, 2000 Olympic gold medallist
• Anastasia de Waal, head of family and education at Civitas
• Imogen Grant, Olympic Gold Medal Rower
• Christine Hamill (1923–1956), mathematician
• Jacquetta Hawkes (1910–1996), archaeologist and writer
• Lucy Hawking (b. 1970), journalist and novelist
• Miriam Hodgson (1938–2005), editor of children's books
• Sharon Hunt (b. 1977), equestrian and 2008 Olympic medal-winner
• Bridget Kendall (b. 1956), BBC diplomatic correspondent
• Helen King (police officer) (b. 1965), Principal of St Anne's College, Oxford and senior police officer
• Nicola Lindsay, novelist, broadcaster and actor
• Sarah Martins da Silva, gynaecologist and scientist
• E. Jennifer Monaghan, reading educator and historian of literary education
• Philippa Pearce (1920–2006), children's author
• Jean Rhys (1890–1979), author, known for Wide Sargasso Sea
• Angela Rumbold (b. 1932), politician
• Rosalind Runcie, pianist and wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury
• Roz Savage, Liberal Democrat MP for South Cotswolds 2024-
• Phyllis Starkey (b. 1947), MP, biomedical researcher
• Meriol Trevor (1919–2000), writer
• Barbara Wootton (1897–1988), economist, sociologist, Labour politician
• Richarda Morrow-Tait (1923–1982), aviator, first woman to fly around the Earth

References

References

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