| Priory School | |
|---|---|
_(March_2019)_(2).JPG) The school in March 2019 | |
| Location | |
 | |
Fawcett Road ,, PO4 0DL England | |
| Information | |
| Type | Academy |
| Motto | Enjoy Respect Achieve |
| Religious affiliation | Non-Affiliated |
| Established | 1974 (1888) |
| Local authority | Portsmouth |
| Department for Education URN | 141175Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Head teacher | Stewart Vaughan |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Age | 11 to 16 |
| Enrolment | 1218 |
| Houses | Tenacity, Equity and Affinity |
| Colours | Black and White |
| Former name | Portsmouth Southern Grammar School for Girls |
| Website | http://priorysouthsea.org |
Priory School is asecondary school inSouthsea, Hampshire, England. It is situated in the northern area of Southsea borderingFratton, and lies close toFratton railway station on the A2047. Stewart Vaughan is the Headteacher at the school.[1] Priory school is an academy and part of the Bohunt Education Trust.[2]
The current site was originally purchased by the Portsmouth School Board in May 1890 for £3000, at the time the area was known as "The Wilderness" due to the lack of development activity. On the site were several buildings in a heavy state of disrepair, among the buildings wereHoward's Cottage reputedly the oldest building in Portsmouth and home to the ghost of Lady Temple.[3]
The construction of the school cost £9,704 and took two years, the buildings were completed in May 1892.[4] Later extensions of the school site led it to cover the site of an old priory and a farm calledPriory Farm.[3]
In 1905 it was decided that the Francis Avenue School for girls should move to a building next to the boys school. This school, which cost £25,000 to build, was opened on 4 November 1907.[4]
During theFirst World War, the building was requisitioned by theWar Office to create the 5th Southern General Hospital, a facility for theRoyal Army Medical Corps to treat military casualties.[5]
During the 1920s the school became heavily over-crowded and an extension to the girls school was completed in 1934.[4] Portsmouth was considered a high-risk target during theSecond World War and the girls school moved toSalisbury.[4] On 10 January 1941, German bombing led to the destruction of the boys school and the extension at the girls school.[4] The boys moved to the St Ronan's Road School, with the old boys school being left as a bombed out wreck for the next twenty years.[4]
In 1946 the girls school became thePortsmouth Southern Grammar School for Girls. TheSouthern Grammar School for Boys was on Eastern Road and went on to be part ofPortsmouth College.[4]
In the late 1950s the boys school was demolished and replaced with a gymnasium for the girls school.[4] A lecture theatre was completed in the 1960s.[4]
In 1974 the boys school returned to the site, this time merging with the girls school to form Priory comprehensive school.[4] The school became a specialist sports college with the opening of the Priory Tennis Centre in 2006 and it became anacademy, sponsored by theBohunt Education Trust, in September 2014.[6]
