New Head gets to know The Portsmouth Grammar School

“Like the many children I saw as they came under the arch for the first time, I had a mixture of trepidation and excitement on the first day of term,” said Mr Wickes. “I feel very privileged to be the Head of PGS and I am looking forward immensely to getting to know the school better. Having moved back to the part of the world that I call home and to such a fantastic school, I could not be happier.”

To get to know Mr Wickes we asked him a few questions…

What are you most proud of at PGS?

The way we develop each and every pupil, helping them to go as high and as far as they want to go. PGS is a caring school, and we have a pastoral care system that has received national recognition, which underpins the great academic work of the teachers.

What was your path to becoming a headteacher?

I left university not really knowing what I wanted to do and I fell into teaching. 25 years later I still love working in schools and I’m still trying to work out what I want to do! I have worked at some fabulous schools with great staff and amazing pupils. I have been a Head of Year, Head of Sixth Form, Deputy Head (twice) and then a Head at Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, before moving to PGS, a school I know well having been brought up in Hedge End where my family still live.

How do you relax outside school?

I love to watch sport, all sport. I also love to read enjoying fiction, history and books on critical and smart thinking that enable me to look at the world from a different perspective and that challenge my way of thinking. Moving back to this area I am very much looking forward to going to Chichester Festival Theatre as I do very much enjoy the theatre and live performance. Getting outside, probably born from my love for sport, is also something I like to do to relax, exploring the Hampshire and West Sussex seafront and countryside again is something I look forward to doing.

What was your favourite subject as school and why?

Probably history, I am a history teacher, and it was the subject that I read at university. When I was at school though I also really enjoyed maths, there is that certain sense you get when working on a maths question that you know whether it is right or wrong, even before it is marked, which I like. Basically, I just enjoyed school and the challenge that each subject gave me, no matter what my aptitude.

What does being a Head mean to you?

It provides me with an opportunity to serve my community and to have an influence on how we grow.

To find out more about Portsmouth Grammar School and what it could offer your child please visit the website here.