Plymstock School

Plymstock School is a state comprehensive secondary school (ages 11–19)[1] in Plymstock, a suburb of Plymouth, Devon, England. It was the first West Devon comprehensive school (built on the core of a post war secondary school) and is now a Specialist Sports College. As of January 2011 it has 1,626 students, of whom 240 are in the sixth form. In April 2011, the school became an academy.

Plymstock School
Address
Church Road

Plymouth
,
Devon
,
PL9 9AZ

England
Coordinates50°21′44″N 4°05′17″W
Information
TypeAcademy
Established1911
SpecialistSports College
Department for Education URN136568 Tables
HeadteacherRobert Diment/Rob Pearsall
GenderCoeducational
Age11 to 19
Enrolment1,574
Websitewww.plymstockschool.org.uk

Plymstock School was maintained by Devon County Council until 1 April 1967, when it was transferred to Plymouth City Council which has maintained it until April 2011.[2] In 2003 it underwent what was reported as a budget crisis, forcing redundancies and reduced spending on new classrooms to replace temporary facilities. The school offers AS and A levels as the sixth form option, having no plans despite the large pupil numbers, to teach the International Baccalaureat or the pre-U despite the IB now being offered in many leading schools in the city and county including, Plymouth High School for Girls, Plymouth College and Exeter School on the basis that such qualifications are not essential in England.

Many of the last school ratings in local, and national newspapers, have claimed Plymstock to be in the top 5 of Plymouth, with the higher ranked schools being Private (11+ examination schools) and within the top 800 of England. (Herald, The Independent). As of the 2009, OFSTED report, this school has been rated as 'Outstanding'.

Plymstock's local feeder primary schools include: Elburton Primary; Hooe Primary; Dunstone Primary; Pomphlett Primary; and Oreston Primary.

History

The school was opened on 26 April 1911 as the Plymstock Senior Mixed School, and replaced the Dean Cross Elementary School for Boys. The first headmaster was T. F. Jarvis. Its name was changed to Plymstock County Senior Mixed School, and then to Plymstock County Secondary School, and in September 1961 to its current name. In 1965, it became a comprehensive school, and the buildings were extended between 1969 and 1970 to accommodate a further 300 pupils.[3]

On 4 April 2006, the school achieved a Guinness World Record for "Most people playing parachute" when 1,547 children played with 58 parachutes at the same time. The world record stood until 30 June 2011, when it was beaten by children from the Gaza Strip with 3520 people.[4]

Notable former pupils

References
  1. The school on occasion does allow sixth formers to stay on for an extra year if it would be beneficial to their grades.
  2. Moseley, Brian; Watson, Deborah (27 July 2010). "Devon County Local Education Authority". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Brian Moseley. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  3. Moseley, Brian; Watson, Deborah (27 July 2010). "Plymstock County Senior Mixed School". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Brian Moseley. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  4. "Gaza's children parachute into record books for third year in a row | UNRWA". UNRWA. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  5. "Knight is a first among equals at Plymstock". This is Cornwall. 3 December 2008. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2011.



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