Hyde Park Junior School
Encyclopedia
Hyde Park Junior School (HPJS), founded in 1904, is a state junior school
located on Hyde Park Road, close to Mutley Plain
in Plymouth
, Devon
, England. Catering for around 360 boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 11, it is housed in the same building as its partner school, Hyde Park Infants. The school's catchment area extends across part of the suburbs of Plymouth including Mutley
and Mannamead
.
. Drake's Leat
also ran past nearby.
The school officially opened on May 27, 1904, at which point there were three separate schools or departments (Hyde Park Boys, Hyde Park Girls, and Hyde Park Infants) housed on three floors. By 1908, there were 1548 children registered at the school: 475 boys, 465 girls and 608 infants. During the First World War
, Hyde Park along with Salisbury Road School, was used as a hospital and convalescent
home. In the 1920s and 1930s, the school continued to run as three separate schools and it was common for there to be 50 children in a class. The three schools were the infant school , the junior school and the high school.
On March 20, 1941, during the Plymouth Blitz
, the school was hit by an incendiary bomb
and the high school was destroyed by fire. The former pitched roof
has never been replaced and the building now has a flat roof
. The children continued lessons in local church halls and also shared half day sessions with other schools - the boys with Montpelier and the girls with Laira Green. Some children were evacuated with their teachers to Cornwall. In 1942, some returned to Hyde Park and a Nissen hut
was erected in the front playground, it was used as a British Restaurant and then later as accommodation for the school. It was eventually dismantled in 1959. According to a short news item in The Times
, the school was re-opened after the air raid damage by the Duke of Kent
on 14 February 1942 as a social centre, the funds for which had been supplied by the British War Relief Society
of America.
By the early 1950s, the rebuilding of the school was complete. An inspection report from 1954 noted that there were nearly 1250 on roll in the Junior and Infant school, and that the building was shared by the two schools.
In 2004, it was said that Hyde Park had the largest population of ethnic minority pupils among primary schools in Plymouth.
2005 saw a modernisation of the school as broadband internet access
was introduced, every classroom received an interactive whiteboard
, and the old cloakroom was renovated into a new modern library. Headteacher Bernie Evans said the new location and modern feel of the room was intended to give reading status and the library a more prominent location. The old library was transformed into two smaller cloakrooms.
2007 all of the classrooms in the school had received an interactive white board. The school also become the Pathfinder school for Primary Languages in the John Kitto Academic Council.
2008 saw the schools ICT room knocked down and the desktop computers replaced by laptops. Toilets and a new meeting room replaced the ICT suite. The school underwent a lot of changes during this time. New toilets outside were provided and an adventure trail was placed for the children to enjoy and play on. The school also increased its online activity with a new online interactive magazine. Mr Harman joined the school, and Miss Lindo left.
2009 - The quality of ICT in the school was highlighted after they were invited to demonstrate good practise at a South West Conference. Miss Light joined the school and began to lead forward transformation in numeracy and outdoor education.
2010 - Mrs Banbury announced her retirement, and Mrs Coffey left the school.
2011 - Mrs Dibben, Miss Light and Mr Harman all left the school for new adventures. A new team of teachers was hired to enrich and enliven the leadership team.
wrote "This is a good school. It provides good value for money. Effective leadership and management and good teaching ensure that pupils achieve well. The school provides a very supportive community with a very positive ethos in which all pupils thrive. Pupils enjoy school and have very positive attitudes to their work."
The March 2010 inspection by Ofsted awarded the school outstanding.
Junior school
A junior school is a type of school which caters for children, often between the ages of 7 and 11.-Australia:In Australia, a junior school is usually a part of a private school that educates children between the ages of 5 and 12....
located on Hyde Park Road, close to Mutley Plain
Mutley Plain
Mutley Plain is a street in Plymouth, Devon, England. Although Mutley Plain is the main street of the dense suburb called Mutley, the term is often applied to the whole area. The road is a busy dual-carriageway, the B3250, with eight sets of traffic lights/pelican crossings...
in Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England. Catering for around 360 boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 11, it is housed in the same building as its partner school, Hyde Park Infants. The school's catchment area extends across part of the suburbs of Plymouth including Mutley
Mutley
Mutley or Muttley can refer to:* Young Mutley , British boxer and former British welterweight champion* Mutley railway station, one of the disused railway stations...
and Mannamead
Mannamead
Mannamead is a suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon. It was an affluent Victorian and early Edwardian suburb with wide avenues such as Seymour Road, grand villas and Thorn Park referred to in Pevsner. It has a solid late Victorian Anglican church, a small row of shops and a frequent...
.
History
Hyde Park School is built on the site where, in the 1590s, Thornhill House stood, which was occupied by Sir Francis DrakeFrancis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
. Drake's Leat
Leat
A leat is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond...
also ran past nearby.
The school officially opened on May 27, 1904, at which point there were three separate schools or departments (Hyde Park Boys, Hyde Park Girls, and Hyde Park Infants) housed on three floors. By 1908, there were 1548 children registered at the school: 475 boys, 465 girls and 608 infants. During the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Hyde Park along with Salisbury Road School, was used as a hospital and convalescent
Convalescence
Convalescence is the gradual recovery and of health and strength after illness. It refers to the later stage of an infectious disease or illness when the patient recovers and returns to normal, but may continue to be a source of infection even if feeling better...
home. In the 1920s and 1930s, the school continued to run as three separate schools and it was common for there to be 50 children in a class. The three schools were the infant school , the junior school and the high school.
On March 20, 1941, during the Plymouth Blitz
Plymouth Blitz
The Plymouth Blitz was a series of bombing raids carried out by the Nazi German Luftwaffe on the English city of Plymouth in the Second World War. The bombings launched on numerous British cities were known as the Blitz....
, the school was hit by an incendiary bomb
Incendiary device
Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus....
and the high school was destroyed by fire. The former pitched roof
Pitched roof
A pitched roof is a roof for which one or more roof surfaces is pitched more than 10 degrees, and alternately a roof with two slopes that meet at a central ridge. Some definitions are even more general, including any roof with a sloping surface or surfaces....
has never been replaced and the building now has a flat roof
Flat roof
A flat roof is a type of covering of a building. In contrast to the sloped form of a roof, a flat roof is horizontal or nearly horizontal. Materials that cover flat roofs typically allow the water to run off freely from a very slight inclination....
. The children continued lessons in local church halls and also shared half day sessions with other schools - the boys with Montpelier and the girls with Laira Green. Some children were evacuated with their teachers to Cornwall. In 1942, some returned to Hyde Park and a Nissen hut
Nissen hut
A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel, a variant of which was used extensively during World War II.-Description:...
was erected in the front playground, it was used as a British Restaurant and then later as accommodation for the school. It was eventually dismantled in 1959. According to a short news item in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, the school was re-opened after the air raid damage by the Duke of Kent
Prince George, Duke of Kent
Prince George, Duke of Kent was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth son of George V and Mary of Teck, and younger brother of Edward VIII and George VI...
on 14 February 1942 as a social centre, the funds for which had been supplied by the British War Relief Society
British War Relief Society
The British War Relief Society was a US-based humanitarian umbrella organisation dealing with the supply of non-military aid such as food, clothes, medical supplies and financial aid to people in Great Britain during the early years of the Second World War...
of America.
By the early 1950s, the rebuilding of the school was complete. An inspection report from 1954 noted that there were nearly 1250 on roll in the Junior and Infant school, and that the building was shared by the two schools.
In 2004, it was said that Hyde Park had the largest population of ethnic minority pupils among primary schools in Plymouth.
2005 saw a modernisation of the school as broadband internet access
Broadband Internet access
Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just "broadband", is a high data rate, low-latency connection to the Internet— typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56 kbit/s modem or satellite Internet with inherently high latency....
was introduced, every classroom received an interactive whiteboard
Interactive whiteboard
An interactive whiteboard , is a large interactive display that connects to a computer and projector. A projector projects the computer's desktop onto the board's surface where users control the computer using a pen, finger, stylus, or other device...
, and the old cloakroom was renovated into a new modern library. Headteacher Bernie Evans said the new location and modern feel of the room was intended to give reading status and the library a more prominent location. The old library was transformed into two smaller cloakrooms.
2007 all of the classrooms in the school had received an interactive white board. The school also become the Pathfinder school for Primary Languages in the John Kitto Academic Council.
2008 saw the schools ICT room knocked down and the desktop computers replaced by laptops. Toilets and a new meeting room replaced the ICT suite. The school underwent a lot of changes during this time. New toilets outside were provided and an adventure trail was placed for the children to enjoy and play on. The school also increased its online activity with a new online interactive magazine. Mr Harman joined the school, and Miss Lindo left.
2009 - The quality of ICT in the school was highlighted after they were invited to demonstrate good practise at a South West Conference. Miss Light joined the school and began to lead forward transformation in numeracy and outdoor education.
2010 - Mrs Banbury announced her retirement, and Mrs Coffey left the school.
2011 - Mrs Dibben, Miss Light and Mr Harman all left the school for new adventures. A new team of teachers was hired to enrich and enliven the leadership team.
Academic standards
Following their June 2004 inspection, OfstedOffice for Standards in Education
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
wrote "This is a good school. It provides good value for money. Effective leadership and management and good teaching ensure that pupils achieve well. The school provides a very supportive community with a very positive ethos in which all pupils thrive. Pupils enjoy school and have very positive attitudes to their work."
The March 2010 inspection by Ofsted awarded the school outstanding.
Awards
- Schools Achievement Award
- International Schools Award
- FA South West Charter Mark
- Choose Health Award (Canteen)
- Film Club Star Award
- Short listed for European Award for Languages 2010
- Basic Skills Quality Mark
Road safety initiative
To assist road safety for their pupils, the school have designed fashionable high-visibility jackets.Notable alumni
- Wayne SleepWayne SleepWayne Philip Colin Sleep OBE is a British dancer, director, choreographer and panelist. He was a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet and has appeared as a Guest Artist with several other ballet companies.-Early life:...
, dancer, choreographer and director. - Chris Robinson, local historianLocal historyLocal history is the study of history in a geographically local context and it often concentrates on the local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history...
.