Included in this issue: The Ithaka Evening, Dance Live, Careers Lunches, a Dramatic Twist on NYC, a CCF Trip to HMS Duncan, a Year 9 France Trip, Beware the Ides of March, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, PGS Giving Day, ESU Debating and of course, PGS Sports!
You might have noticed the 1970s have taken over at Portmuthian HQ. So, thanks to our school archivist, Mr Sadden, we are having a quick look back at the major events of the era and having a peek at the school’s First XV in 1974-75.
The 1970s transformed PGS. Former pupils of that era talk of the 1960s arriving at PGS ten years late and, if you look at archive photos of that era, it is clear that some pupils took full advantage of a new, relaxed regime.
The decade brought the first tentative step towards co-education, with the first girl gaining admittance to the Sixth Form (for one term in 1976). A few more girls followed though it was to be 15 years before the school became fully co-educational. 1976 was also the year that the school embraced independence and academic standards began to improve.
PGS Editorial Team 2024-25: Fola, Sophia, Ruthie, Mesoma, Iona, Sabiha, Dawn
Are you interested in writing for The Portmuthian? We are eager for more pupils in Y9-12 to take part now that some of our editorial team is preparing for A Level examinations. Contact Mr Valente if you are eager to take part: j.valente@pgs.org.uk
The breathtaking range and depth of knowledge in our Sixth Form was celebrated on the 26th of February at the annual Ithaka Evening. The twelve pupils selected as finalists took the opportunity to showcase what they had learnt during their academic journey to complete either an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) or PGS Extend project during Year 12. Matt Bryan OP, who is now undertaking a PhD funded by Bose at the University of Cambridge, awarded Rowan R the Ithaka Prize for their work recreating the Ancient Egyptian game, 'Hounds and Jackals', which could be displayed in the Petrie Museum in London. Congratulations to all our finalists!
featuring robots, battles and everything in between. After countless hours, hundreds of laughs and 50,000 yards of material, we were able to put together an unforgettable production. Thanks to the hard work and commitment of Mr MacFarlane and the rest of the PGS
The PGS Dance Department is fortunate to have an amazing array of talented pupils from Years 7-13. On Tuesday 4th February, PGS participated in Dance Live, a competition where schools from all over the country come together to show off routines which they have worked hard to perfect. Since last September, over 80 pupils and staff members have worked to produce a 7-minute performance
Dance Department, we placed second overall, a great result considering the loss of our dance teacher and the tough competition on the day. The winner from our heat was Purbrook Park School, and we are rooting for them in the final.
In previous years, many of you may remember our interpretations of Harley Quinn and the Addams family: well known and loved stories. This year, Mr MacFarlane came up with an original story called 2225 upon which our dance was based. This story is set in a futuristic world and features a battle between the Amazesla robots, who have taken over the world, and the ‘rebels’, who are fighting against technology for freedom and nature.
Amazesla Robots vs The
Eventually, an exciting battle leads to the robots being short-circuited and the leaders of the robots and rebels putting aside their differences to create a spectacular finale. This story was brought to life not only with choreography but also handmade costumes, a skilfully created LED screen and a carefully thought-out soundtrack. This story was incredibly fun to work on and we are already in the process of brainstorming themes for next year which we hope will be even more exciting and creative.
Click here to see a video of the
Careers Lunches
Over the Spring Term PGS have hosted a series of Careers Lunches that have offered pupils a valuable insight into a broad range of industries. We've welcomed speakers from backgrounds in film and TV production, police work, marine biology and conservation, veterinary science, acting and musical theatre, and engineering. These talks have provided pupils with an excellent opportunity to hear directly from professionals, gain advice and ask questions about pursuing careers in these fields.
Speakers have broadcasted from across the globe, with some joining us all the way from New York! Each session has been an interactive opportunity that has allowed pupils to learn about a “day in the life” of these professions and the paths they took to getting there.
Mr Burkinshaw, Head of Careers, Universities and Scholarships, shared, "I feel that the Careers Lunches this year have been a really insightful opportunity for the pupils here at PGS. I’ve found them to be interesting and feel that they’ve been a great resource for pupils to get involved in, to explore a range of careers. I’d encourage pupils to attend these sessions, whether it’s to learn about a field that they are particularly interested in or to explore a role they haven’t thought about before."
PGS Drama enjoyed an incredible trip to New York City over half term. Across five days, pupils had the opportunity to immerse themselves in drama and develop their skills. This included watching two amazing Broadway productions, Hell’s Kitchen and Sunset Boulevard. On top of that, pupils attended two workshops from Broadway actors, which gave them an insight into professional acting.
Arguably just as important, drama students also enjoyed exploring New York itself; they visited Times Square, The Empire State Building, the 9/11 Memorial Museum, and Central Park. They also sampled the world-famous New York Bagels and Pizza.
The trip was an amazing experience for the pupils attending and a real success.
This term, PGS’s Navy CCF contingent had the exciting opportunity to visit HMS Duncan, a cutting-edge Type 45 destroyer of the Royal Navy. The trip provided a fascinating insight into life on board one of the Navy’s most advanced warships.
During the tour, cadets were shown various parts of the ship, including the intelligence room, the operations room where routes are planned and communication with other vessels takes place and the crew’s living quarters. The visit also included access to the ship’s deck and a chance to see some of HMS Duncan’s impressive weaponry, with cadets even getting to handle some of the equipment. A highlight was visiting the command room at the front of the ship, where cadets were given the rare opportunity to sit in the captain’s chair.
Year 9 France Trip
On 15th February 2025, many French students in Year 9 voyaged to Paris in France. On the night of arrival, we all went for a leisurely stroll around the area. We got to witness the night life in Paris and take mesmerising pictures of the city. The following morning began with a trip to ‘Le Petit Palais’ where we saw many historical statues and paintings. Then, we visited the iconic Avenue des Champs-Elysees and of course, The Eiffel Tower. We ended the day with a spectacular boat trip along the Seine. On the second day, we wandered around the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. Finally, my friends and I wandered around the beautiful town of Montmartre, including a trip around the SacreCoeur! The whole trip was a once in a lifetime experience and we got to do so many different things!
On Thursday, 20th March, Portsmouth Grammar School had the privilege of welcoming Dr. Annelies Cazemier from the University of Southampton to deliver the Ides of March lecture. This was a very special lecture, as it was delivered in anticipation of the Classics Department's trip to Greece this Easter. The lecture covered many of the places we will be visiting.
Dr. Cazemier discussed the journey of Aemilius Paulus, who, after bringing Greece under Roman dominion in 168 BC, went on a tour around Rome’s newly conquered province. Dr. Cazemier discussed sites such as Delphi, Athens, Corinth, and Olympia. These sites were religious in nature, and questions arose as to whether Aemilius Paulus was traveling as a conqueror, a tourist, a pilgrim, or a philhellene.
A highlight of the talk was when Dr. Cazemier showed the audience an inscription Aemilius wrote on one of the monuments at Delphi: “L. Aemilius L.f., imperator, took (this) from King Perseus and the Macedonians.” This inscription suggests that Aemilius was keen to celebrate his victory and status as a conqueror. Over time, however, the culture of captured Greece would have a significant influence on Rome.
As Horace, the Roman poet, notes: "Conquered Greece (‘Graecia capta’) took captive her fierce conqueror and brought her arts into rustic Latium." Roman soldiers conquered Greece, only for Rome to be conquered by Greek culture.
The Classics Department's trip to Greece is departing on the 7th of April. We hope to travel there as philhellenes and tourists, rather than conquerors.
This week Years 9 and 10 have brought a riveting, exceptional stage production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time to the David Russell Theatre, staged in the round amidst a spellbound audience. The News (Portsmouth) described the performance as ‘incredible and inspiring’.
“Curious Incident is a brilliant, powerful play, and of course it was an equally
powerful book before that” says Mr James Robinson, Director of Drama. “The challenges and emotions experienced by the characters are significant, and for performers of this age to not only understand and empathise with these, but to portray them with such fearlessness and confidence, is pretty remarkable, and says a lot about the depth of talent and commitment we have at PGS.”
The cast were superbly supported by a production crew of pupils from Year 9 to 12, not to mention a guest appearance by Rolo the mini dachshund.
Congratulations to everyone involved in this production and thank you to our audiences for supporting performances like this one.
ver 36 hours from 18 – 19 March the Portsmouth Grammar School community came together for Giving Day 2025 to raise funds for the William Smith Fund. The fund, which support bursaries and other projects at the school, is celebrating its 10th year. Over the last decade generous supporters have raised over £5 million, offering hundreds of talented and determined local children and young people the opportunity of a PGS education.
This year, we raised over £275,000 from 352 donors – including pupils, current and former staff, parents and friends of the school.
O PGS Giving Day
Pupils and staff took part in their own fundraising activities including the always popular Sponge the Teacher, a penalty shootout competition, bake sale, inflatable obstacle course and e-sports competitions. Pupils raised over £1,500 and all donations were matched by a generous member of the PGS alumni community.
ESU Debating
On 19th March, the Senior Debating Team took part in the Regional Finals of the Schools’ Mace debating competition. This is the English Speaking Union's flagship event: founded in 1957, it is the oldest and largest debating competition for schools in England and Wales, involving around 300 schools each year.
The team – made up of Shraddha S, Marinela P, Toby L – qualified following an outstanding performance in the second round. As in the first round, we were once again the Proposition; our motion this time was: ‘This House Would introduce a tax on fatty foods.’ Facing us, Sherborne School tried to discredit our method. The winning moment, however – was a soundbite in our summary speech: ‘our tax will not make poor people poorer; it will make poor people healthier.’
The motion for our regional final was: ‘This House Would ban the use of animal testing in scientific research.’ The team prepared fantastically for the event, even welcoming a visiting speaker to deepen their grasp of the topic: Dr Philip Sampson, of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, kindly spent time speaking to the team, outlining key issues in the field. We are also indebted to our reserve speakers – James M and Samuel VDB –who provided fierce competition in a practice debate. Unfortunately, despite a spirited performance against our hosts, King's College Taunton, the team just missed out on qualifying for the national final. This was a tall order, as only one team from six regional finalists was to do so. It took the judges over 45 minutes to decide, so it must have been extremely tight - but on this occasion, they picked Bristol Cathedral Choir School.
In any case, reaching this stage of the competition is a tremendous achievement, and the Senior Debating Team truly was a great credit to the School. They can be congratulated on their brilliant rhetorical skills and the splendid way in which they have embraced the challenge.
Following qualifying rounds at local and regional levels, both our U16 mixed and U18 boys’ teams successfully got through to the National Schools Squash Finals which took place at Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham.
Our U16 Mixed squash team of Hattie Broadbridge, Will Aldridge, Seb Cairns-Allen, and Lucy Aldridge was in imperious form, winning all their Finals matches, without any player dropping a single game, beating Lincoln Minster School and Felsted School to become National Champions! An amazing achievement for all the players and for the PGS community. It is also encouraging to note that most of this team will be competing next year in the U18 level of this event.
The U18 boys team qualified for the National Finals for the third year in a row which is a notable achievement. They finally came 7th in the country. Another incredible achievement and congratulations to the team of Alex B, Hattie B, Seb C A, Will A and George P
It is also appropriate to offer thanks and congratulations to Alex B for the enormous contribution he has made to PGS squash in recent years. To have such an outstanding player and role model leading the teams has been a pleasure and we wish him well in his squash future.
Well that was a whirlwind! The handover from our hockey girls came, and soon after, the Netball season was finishing.
This season has seen more pupils playing the PGS way more often. Which for us as coaches is something we're really proud of. The transition of the ball through the court from defence to attack is now definitely a strength of our teams. Roles and responsibilities of each position are being applied with more consistency, and the two moves principle is demonstrating that all PGS pupils can outwit their defenders.
Once again, the depth of our year groups is being seen, with more B team wins across the season, and an under-14 B team win at the Embley Park tournament.
Success in the Embley Park tournaments was also seen with gold medals for our under-13 A & under-14 A team, and our under-15 A & B teams, who came second and third respectively. Not bad for a week's worth of fixtures.
Our Senior first team have faced some very tough opposition this year, however, they showed grit and determination at the Seaford 7s tournament, beating Lancing and St. Joseph's in their pool, to gain a place in the bowl final where they lost by one goal to Marlborough. The Seniors wouldn't have had as much success as they have without the year 13s. They have been incredible. They have demonstrated to all pupils what it is to be PGS. Commitment, courage, and collaboration runs through the veins of all of them. Most of whom have played three terms of sport for PGS since year 7 and continue to show commitment until their last day. We couldn't ask for anymore and hope that the legacy they leave behind encourages all PGS pupils to do the same.
We go again next year and look forward to developing PGS Netball once again.
Over this term we have seen a number of PGS pupils take part in Cross Country competitions, and we had 21 Year 7 and 8 PGS pupils qualify to represent the district team at the county championships. The Yr 8 girls team finished 3rd in the county at this event, and there was a notable performance by Florence Fooks, who finished a fantastic 5th in the County, earning her first county vest.
Isobella Palmer-Ward once again qualified to represent Hampshire at the English Schools National Cross Country. Another fine individual achievement. Numbers continue to grow at the preseason athletics club, and we are looking forward to a Summer of athletics competitions, and no doubt with further individual and team success.
All our 7s squads have trained hard over the term in order to be at their best for the annual Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s Tournaments, as well as just improving their individual sets of skills for next year's 15-a-side season.
The season started with PGS hosting our annual South Coast 7s Tournament, and it was another cracking day of school rugby, with sixteen top schools in attendance.
Our U18 girls enjoyed a good set of training matches with UTC at the end of February, which allowed for several girls to gain valuable match experience. They then entered the Hampshire Schools 7s Tournament, where they learned a lot from some high-quality opponents, and did exceptionally well, to ultimately win the Plate Final.
South Coast 7s Tournament Results
Cup Winners - Epsom College
Final result: Millfield School 17 - 22 Epsom College
Plate Winners - Seaford College
Final result: Sherborne School 12 - 54 Seaford College
Shield Winners - Bishop Wordsworth's School
Final result: Gordon's School 5 - 24 Bishop Wordsworth's School
Bowl Winners - St Benedict's School
Final result: PGS 17 - 21 St Benedict's School
the tournament, it was great for our boys to test themselves against quality opponents. The U15 boys in particular rose to the challenge, coming second in their group after beating King's Worcester and Shrewsbury School and losing a good game with the eventual tournament winner's
A very well done to the 51 boys across four age groups who took part in the annual Warwick School 7s at the start of March, involving an overnight stay and a full day of 7s. With the exceptionally high calibre of
Warwick School. They then played Ipswich School in the Cup QF, who had won all of their group games at a canter, and only a try with the very last play of the game put Ipswich through in a titanic battle.
Rosslyn Park
At the Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s Tournaments, every age group attending won at least one group game.
Our U18 girls were entering for the first time, and the team played some excellent rugby in attack in all four of their group games. There were narrow defeats against Blundell's, Christ College and Oundle, and a fabulous win over Hurstpierpoint College. Well done to all the girls involved and to the coaches for their preparation.
The U13s put in a good set of performances to win two matches and lose three games against some strong schools. The U14s beat Malmesbury but were defeated against two other strong schools. The U16s came second in their group, beating Magdalen College, Oxford and Wimbledon College, but ultimately came up short in their match against rugby powerhouse Sedbergh, which prevented further progress in the competition. A very good effort nonetheless though. The U18's will look back on what might have been. Unfortunately, we weren't at our best on the day, and despite two wins in the group, the last play defeat in the middle game denied us the opportunity for a knockout game.
A huge thank you to all the players and coaches for their sustained effort over the term.
The 2024-25 Hockey season started with great excitement for the boys this term. The Senior boys started to hit their stride with some great performances against KES Southampton and Churcher’s College. Even though these matches ended in defeat, there was a definite sense of improvement and a collective desire to push on. The boys soon started to see results with a comprehensive win over Embley. This was soon followed by the boys progressing through the Hampshire rounds of the England Hockey T3 National competition: a competition that the boys went on to win the South-Central regional rounds, and finally being the National Runners up, losing the final to a very strong Worksop College at the Nottingham Hockey centre.
The boys have had a fantastic season with much to celebrate, and there is momentum for the group going into next season with a strong Year 12 cohort led by Will, Eoin, Huw, Luke and James who all demonstrated a passion to improve and have shown leadership qualities. Thanks must go to our Year 13 and Year 11 leavers who have bookended the senior squad this season.
Feeding the Senior squad, there has been a strong drive from the U14s and U15s who have been able to have a blend of both years with the new Games structure. It has been pleasing to see a positive environment focused on improving quality and performance with the two year groups interacting with each other. This has seen several Year 9 boys competing for the U15 cup team. In return for their endeavours at this age, a few Year 10 boys have been given the opportunity to be involved in the Senior squad and ultimately Thomas and Tommy were members of the National U18 Squad that travelled to Nottingham.
Stand out performances from Joe, Finn, Ellis and Freddie at U14 level saw them integral to the U15s squad as well as being a driving force in the U14s outdoor and indoor seasons. These boys also represented the school at the National Boys’ Indoor finals earlier in the term held at the K2 sports arena in Crawley, competing against schools with the national calibre of St George’s Weybridge and Repton.
The Middle school boys’ hockey players this year have shown enthusiasm since September with strong numbers at preseason starting in September. I have no doubt that this will go from strength to strength. This certainly helped them start the term well. A notable Friday evening in January saw the U12s playing an A-D triangular with KES Southampton and St George's Weybridge. The U12s and U13s have shown character and commitment this term to their hockey, laying strong foundations for development as they progress through the school.
A highlight this term was for the U13 Girls’ hockey team who had a long wait to compete in their South-Central regional finals at Reading Hockey Club after qualifying last term as second in the Hampshire In2 Hockey competition.
This year saw the rise of the early morning Wednesday Goalkeeper training. After picking up momentum in the Autumn term, this continued with purpose and drive in the Spring term. Boys and girls of all ages continued to attend these sessions dedicated to improving their Goalkeeping skills. It has been really pleasing to see the progression made by all and then put this into practise during regular training and competitive matches.
The last weekend block of the season gave an opportunity to celebrate the Year 13 leavers with a Hilsea match v Ryde school. This was done in collaboration with Netball to allow a fitting end to their time at PGS for those pupils. The event was closed with special “thank you” teas for pupils and parents in the Hilsea pavilion.
Thanks must go to all staff involved in supporting the boys throughout the season. This has been a long and challenging season, but there have been so many positives and signs of improvements made.
