The charity

nurseryAPP

Objects and policies

The Perse School is a charitable company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital that is governed by Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 23 October 2006 as amended by special resolutions dated 13 March 2008 and 10 December 2009.

The school was founded as a charity by the will of Dr Stephen Perse in 1615.

The object of the charity, as set out in its Memorandum of Association, is the advancement of education by the provision and conduct of the school known as The Perse School Cambridge together with any of its affiliated or subsidiary schools (howsoever the same shall from time to time be known) and by ancillary or incidental educational activities and any other associated activities for the benefit of the community as a whole.

The Perse School Foundation educates boys and girls from 3-18 on three sites; the Pelican 3-7, the Prep 7-11, and the Upper 11-18. Children thus progress through three different schools, but have all the benefits of being part of one larger institution with an integrated curriculum and pastoral care system.

The Perse Upper School was established in 1615 as a day school for boys in Free School Lane, Cambridge. It moved to Gonville Place in the late nineteenth century and onto its present site in Hills Road in 1960. The school occupies purpose-designed buildings in one corner of its 27-acre site. The extent of its specialist buildings has been increased considerably in recent years.  At one time a direct grant grammar school with up to 10% boarding, since 1976 it has been a fully independent school. It closed its boarding houses in 1993 and is wholly a day school. Its pupils are aged from 11-18 years. Girls having been members of the sixth form since 1995, the school moved to full co-education from September 2010, confirming its commitment to equal opportunities and its desire to ensure that both boys and girls benefit from a Perse School education.

The Perse Prep School was founded in 1910 and moved from its original Bateman Street, Cambridge site to Leighton House in Trumpington Road in 1956. It is a fully co-educational day school for pupils aged from 7 to 11 years.  It has also seen a considerable addition of specialist buildings in recent years. The Perse Pelican Nursery and Pre-Preparatory School was opened in 1997 for girls and boys aged between 3 and 7 years. It is situated on the site of one of the Perse School’s former boarding houses in Glebe Road, Cambridge. The Pelican is a day school.

The school endeavours to provide a broad and balanced education appropriate to the needs of each pupil in order to cater for the full development of their varied talents and to achieve high academic standards leading, from the Upper School, to university entry, as well as to achievements throughout the schools in cultural, sporting and other fields. The school aims to ensure an academically selective entry from the widest possible social spectrum, thereby preserving its tradition of breadth of access and continuing to meet public benefit requirements.

Charitable purpose

The object of the school (recorded under Objects and Policies above) is a purpose falling within section 2(2)(b) of the Charities Act 2006, ie: the advancement of education. It is a purpose for the public benefit and is therefore a charitable purpose as defined in section 2(1) of the Act.

Public benefit report