Welcome to the St John's College Website
St John’s is a thriving co-educational day and boarding school, for ages 2 to 18 (boarding from Year 5), located in the heart of Southsea. Since its foundation by Brothers of the Lasallian Order, the school’s mission has been to provide for its pupils a well-rounded academic, social and personal education – based securely on clear Christian principles and values; and we celebrated the first hundred years of this tradition in 2008.
If you would like to know more about the life and work of the school – come on in!
Get in touch
Please contact us directly to find out more, or to arrange a personal visit.
College Notice Board
Please note that the 'Johannian' for academic year 2007-8 is now available from the School Office.
Centenary Painting: As part of our Centenary Celebrations the College has commissioned a special painting (see below) by the artist Ivel Muller. This depicts the life of our community in a lively and vibrant way, and is available for purchase (cost £20 for an A2 print or £22 with postage). Please contact the school office or email info@stjohnscollege.co.uk should you wish to purchase a copy.
Click here to preview the painting
TS SOUTHSEA COMMISSIONING CEREMONY
We are delighted to report that the commissioning ceremony for the St John's Sea Cadet Unit - TS Southsea - was held on Tuesday 20th January - and was a great success. Cadets were inspected by the Southern Area Officer, Cdr A Giles RN. Also present was Vice-Admiral Massey, Second Sea Lord, who - as a governor of the College - has very kindly agreed to serve as Unit President. Many thanks to all who helped the Unit get off to such a positive start. We look forward to great things in the future!
100th BIRTHDAY - CELEBRATIONS 4 November A day that will live long in all our memories - and in all our hearts!
The College's one hundreth birthday celebrations proved a real joy and delight for all who were able to attend. The school gathered in the afternoon for a Centenary Service, at which the guest preacher was Father Abbot Christopher Jamison of Worth Abbey. The pupils' sense of pride and joy in their school was very clear, and was commented on by several guests.
On completion of this service - and the younger pupils' own celebration - the four Houses and the Lower School each gathered for a brief birthday party - at which a birthday cake was cut, 'Happy Birthday' was sung, and various centenary gifts were distributed. All went away happy - and well fed!
Later in the afternoon, a Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated - for the lives and work of all who have taught at St John's in its first hundred years. This took place in the College Chapel, and was concelebrated by Father Vincent Docherty and Father Eddie Wu OJ. It proved to be simultaneously a solemn and most enjoyable occasion.
Finally, the day was brought to a close with a Centenary Dinner held at Portsmouth Guildhall and attended by over 300 people. The Lord Mayor of the city was present, as was Bishop Crispian. The guest speaker was Sir Ian Burnett OJ - who entertained all present with his account of life at St John's in the 1970s. Former Headmasters - Bro Damian and Bro Anthony - were also present. The evening ended with one final rendition of 'Happy Birthday' - and an impromptu rendition by OJs of the school song!
Pictures of the day will be posted soon. Many thanks from the College to all those honoured guests, Governors, parents and OJs who took part in our birthday celebrations and helped to make the day such a success. For details of other scheduled centenary events - including opportunties for OJs to visit the College - please refer to the 'Centenary Celebrations' page on this website.
Mr A Steele, Deputy Headmaster
OUTSTANDING EXAMINATION RESULTS
Once again, students at St John’s are celebrating outstanding examination results at both GCSE and A-level.
In summer 2008, the College’s GCSE students set school records in two respects. Firstly, more than ever before were awarded at least nine passes at A* and A grades. We offer our warmest congratulations to Sam Jones, Megan Penney, Claire Thomas, Alfred Chiang, Edward Durkin, Tristan Hayward, Tom Icke, Arjun Patel. They are a credit to themselves and to the school. And particular congratualtions to Liam O’Shaughnessy (pictured below centre with Tristan and Claire) on his achievement of eleven A* grades. A truly excellent performance.
Secondly, more students than ever before achieved the a minimum of 5 passes at A* to C grades. The overall percentage exceeded 90% - an excellent performance for an all-ability school, and a further demonstration of the real ‘value added’ by the College.
At A-level, almost 60% of all passes were at A or B grade – and over 80% at A-C. The overall pass rate was 98%. Particular mention must be made of Edward Baker, Natalie Cush, Johnson Ling and Jayson Wong – all achieved at least three straight A grades, an excellent performance. However, the College is delighted by the performance of Sixth Form students across the board. They have worked hard, and they have done well. What more could be asked of them? As a school, we seek excellence for each and every student, whatever their personal potential. By any criteria, these results are excellent. Well done all!
College launches St John's Timeline Project
As part of our centenary celebrations the College plans to inaugurate a 'timeline' archive'- to which all those who have been associated with the school as pupils or staff are invited to contribute. This will gradually develop into a comprehensive archive of life at St John's. Full details are available on the 'Centenary Celebrations' page.
