Poltair School
Encyclopedia
Poltair School, located on the site of the former St Austell Grammar School, is a specialist Sports College
.
, Germany
, notably the Gymnasium Heide-Ost. It has also had links with College Des Quatre Vents in Lanmeur
, Brittany
.
It is next to the St Austell campus of Cornwall College
.
In 2007, Poltair School held its Centenary, which included guided tours of the school, a service at St Johns Methodist Church, and celebrations at St Austell's Eden Project
.
The school was the only secondary school in Cornwall
to boast a full student radio station, Inferno Radio, when the station launched in 2004.
).
Sports College
Sports Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enables secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, PE, sports and dance. Schools that successfully apply to the Specialist Schools Trust and become Sports...
.
Admissions
It has educational links with schools in DithmarschenDithmarschen
Dithmarschen is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Nordfriesland, Schleswig-Flensburg, Rendsburg-Eckernförde, and Steinburg, by the state of Lower Saxony , and by the North Sea.-Geography:The district is located on the North Sea...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, notably the Gymnasium Heide-Ost. It has also had links with College Des Quatre Vents in Lanmeur
Lanmeur
Lanmeur is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.A hamlet in the commune called Kerouac has been established as the source of the name of the American writer Jack Kerouac. A street in Lanmeur has been named rue Jack Kerouac, and in March 2010 a first Jack...
, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
.
It is next to the St Austell campus of Cornwall College
Cornwall College
Cornwall College is a further education college situated on various sites throughout Cornwall with its main centre in St Austell. The college is a member of the 157 Group of high performing schools...
.
Comprehensive
It became a comprehensive in 1971, at the same time that it lost its sixth form. St Austell Sixth Form College was built at the same time next to the Mid-Cornwall College of Further Education on Palace Road. These merged in 1993 to form St Austell College, opposite the school.In 2007, Poltair School held its Centenary, which included guided tours of the school, a service at St Johns Methodist Church, and celebrations at St Austell's Eden Project
Eden Project
The Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, including the world's largest greenhouse. Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world....
.
Buildings
The school has recently undergone a £5 million redevelopment programme, which included a new main hall, dining hall, radio studio, and dance/drama facilities, amongst other additions.The school was the only secondary school in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
to boast a full student radio station, Inferno Radio, when the station launched in 2004.
Academic performance
The school's GCSE pass rate increased 16% in the 2 years up until July 2007. However its GCSE pass rate is well below the England average, and the second lowest in Cornwall (above Redruth SchoolRedruth School
Redruth School A Technology College is a secondary school and sixth form college in Redruth, Cornwall, United Kingdom, for ages 11–18. The school is developing its position as a focal point for the community, and retains strong links within the town...
).
Alumni
- Andrew Patrick, second in command (Deputy Head of Mission) at the Afghanistan embassy since 2007
St Austell County Grammar School
- Felicity Goodey CBE, former presenter on Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
and BBC North West TonightBBC North West TonightBBC North West Tonight is a nightly regional news programme covering the North West of England. Produced by BBC North West, the programme airs at 6.30pm and at 10:25pm every weekday evening and is broadcast from the BBC's MediaCityUK studios at Salford Quays.-BBC North West region:The BBC North... - Thomas Inch OBE, Secretary-General from 1993-2000 of the Royal Society of ChemistryRoyal Society of ChemistryThe Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
- Geoffrey Lomer CBE, electronics engineer and Technical Director from 1977-92 of Racal ElectronicsRacalRacal Electronics plc was once the third-largest British electronics firm. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, Racal was a diversified company, offering products including: as voice and data recorders; point of sale terminals; laboratory instruments;...
(now part of Thales GroupThales GroupThe Thales Group is a French electronics company delivering information systems and services for the aerospace, defense, transportation and security markets...
), which established VodafoneVodafoneVodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
, and Chairman from 1993-6 of Satellite Information ServicesSatellite Information ServicesSatellite Information Services is a company which provides news gathering services and broadcasts events such as Horse Racing and Greyhound Racing, as well as Lottery games such as Rapido and 49's, to betting shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland and other Worldwide destinations.It was formed in... - William Lomer, Director from 1981-90 of the Culham LaboratoryJoint European TorusJET, the Joint European Torus, is the largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment worldwide currently in operation. Its main purpose is to open the way to future nuclear fusion experimental tokamak reactors such as ITER and :DEMO....
, Research Director from 1968-81 of the Atomic Energy Research EstablishmentAtomic Energy Research EstablishmentThe Atomic Energy Research Establishment near Harwell, Oxfordshire, was the main centre for atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1990s.-Founding:...
at HarwellHarwell, OxfordshireHarwell is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse west of Didcot. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Amenities:...
, and older brother of Geoffrey - Sir Laurence MartinLaurence MartinSir Laurence Woodward Martin Kt DL is a former Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University.-Career:Educated at St Austell Grammar School, Christ's College, Cambridge and Yale University, Martin joined the Royal Air Force as a Flying Officer in 1948. He became Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at...
, Vice-Chancellor from 1978-90 of Newcastle University, and gave the BBC's Reith Lecture in 1981 - John NettlesJohn NettlesJohn Vivian Drummond Nettles, OBE is an English actor, historian and writer who is best known for playing the lead roles in Bergerac and Midsomer Murders.-Early life:...
, actor - A. L. RowseA. L. RowseAlfred Leslie Rowse, CH, FBA , known professionally as A. L. Rowse and to friends and family as Leslie, was a British historian from Cornwall. He is perhaps best known for his work on Elizabethan England and his poetry about Cornwall. He was also a Shakespearean scholar and biographer...
, academic and author. - Robin SkynnerRobin SkynnerRobin Skynner was a Royal Air Force pilot who flew the Mosquito twin-engined bomber, and was also a psychiatric pioneer and innovator in the field of treating mental illness...
, psychiatrist who co-wrote Families and How to Survive ThemFamilies and How To Survive Them-Introduction:Families and How to Survive Them is a bestselling self help book co-authored by the psychiatrist and psychotherapist Robin Skynner and the comedian John Cleese. It was first published in 1983, and is illustrated throughout by the cartoonist J. B. Handelsman... - David TremlettDavid TremlettDavid Tremlett is a Cornish sculptor, installation artist and photographer. He currently lives and works in Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, Great Britain.- Biography :...
, artist - Douglas Yeo, expert on pesticides and locust control, and Director from 1980-5 of the Shell Technology Centre, Thornton (in CheshireCheshireCheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
)
Former teachers
- Sir Robert HicksRobert Hicks (British politician)Robert Adrian Hicks , was a British conservative Party politician.Hicks contested Aberavon in 1966. He was Member of Parliament for Bodmin from 1970 to February 1974 and from October 1974 to 1983...
, Conservative MP from 1970-83 for BodminBodmin (UK Parliament constituency)Bodmin was the name of a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall from 1295 until 1983. Initially, it was a parliamentary borough, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England and later the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until the 1868 general...
and from 1983-97 for South East Cornwall, who taught geography from 1961-4 - Arthur SymondsArthur SymondsArthur Leslie Symonds, OBE was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.He grew up in Cambridge and was educated at the Perse School and Jesus College, Cambridge, before moving to Cornwall, where he was an Assistant Master at St. Austell County School for Boys between 1933 and 1940...
OBE MBE, Labour MP from 1945-50 for CambridgeCambridge (UK Parliament constituency)Cambridge is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system....
, who taught frm 1933-40