The outstanding generosity shown by the PGS community during our special Giving Day this March has been recognised by the judges in this year's Independent Schools of the Year Awards.

The Giving Day's theme of #BeTheDifference reflected two of the school's key strategic intentions in the years ahead: to make a difference for the communities in Portsmouth; and especially to make a difference for talented young people from the city and its surrounds, by significantly increasing the proportion of pupils receiving fee assistance. 

The event raised a record-breaking £280,000 in 36 hours from over 650 donors - all for lifechanging bursaries.

The judges are looking for stories of success which demonstrate how schools have fostered excellence and enhanced their students’ ability to grow and develop. They also wish to see schools continually evolving to meet the needs of their students and offer a vibrant learning – and living – environment.

Development Director, Melanie Bushell, said "We are absolutely thrilled that the generosity of our supporters has been recognised in the Independent Schools of the Year Award. It has been a really tough year for so many in our school community, but when they saw others in need, they dug deep and gave whatever they could to support transformational educational opportunities for local young people".

Georgia Radford (nee Swift) OP, who also works at the school, added "The pupils blew me away with the creativity and thoughtfulness that they showed in their #BeTheDifference challenges. Amidst the difficulties of COVID, they got stuck in, volunteering at food banks, litter picking and doing beach cleans, helping elderly neighbours with their gardening and baking cakes for the staff at local care homes - plus much much more. It was wonderful to see".

The award winners will be announced in the autumn.

One in 7 Senior School pupils at PGS currently receives some level of fee assistance. Over the past 14 months, we have also been able to provide temporary support to dozens more children to enable them to stay in the school when their family circumstances changed due to COVID. 

Our ultimate aim is to be able to support one in four pupils.