Southend High School for Boys, also known by its initialism SHSB, is an 11–18 boys selective secondary grammar school situated along Prittlewell Chase in Prittlewell, in the north-west of Southend-on-Sea, England. It teaches students from the age of 11 through to 18 years old, and admission to the school is dependent upon their performance in selective 11+ tests set by the Consortium of Selective Schools in Essex (CSSE). It converted to Academy status on 1 February 2011, and has autonomous control over itself. Student numbers have been increasing over recent years, and, as of academic year 2023–2024, just over 1,300 students on roll, with over 420 of them in the co–educational Sixth Form.
The school consistently achieves over 95% of its students attaining 5 GCSEs grade A*–C each year, and was one of the few schools in the country to achieve "outstanding" in the 2006 Ofsted inspection.
History Establishment The Technical Instruction Act 1889 and Technical Instruction Act 1891 allowed councils to provide evening classes for technical subjects. The local board set up the Technical Instruction Committee, and soon classes were started. They were extremely popular, and the following year the newly created Southend Corporation purchased land in Clarence Road to build a Technical Institute. In 1895 the foundation stone was laid, but prior to it opening it was decided to also open a day technical school for about 20 pupils, influenced by the Bryce commission of 1894. The first headmaster was J Hitchcock from Woolwich and was supported by one assistant teacher.
The new building however was quickly outgrown, with 72 pupils by 1896 and to 146 by 1901, mirroring the growth of the town. The Technical Instruction Committee urged the Council to build a new school in 1896, with pupil numbers expected to grow to 400 by 1907. Unfortunately the vote by the council was 10 for and 10 against. However, plans were developed to build a new school, library and town hall on land owned by the council at Victoria Circus. A design by H. T. Hare was chosen, with an estimated price of £16,350, with a grant of £5,000 provided by Essex County Council towards the cost. However by 1900, these plans fell apart and the library and town hall were dropped from the plans as estimated costs had risen to £27,000. In 1901, the foundation stone was laid by Lord Avebury, and a year later the joint Technical Institute and Day Technical School was opened by the Countess of Warwick. The day technical school was a pioneer in the country in that amongst its pupils were girls.
By 1905, an extension was added to cope with the demand of both the day technical school and the college of art which was located in the top floor. In 1907, Essex County Council formed a new Higher Education committee, who decided that education should be split into separate boys and girls schools. In 1912, a foundation stone was laid in Boston Avenue for a new girls school, and a year later the girls left the Day Technical School to the new Southend High School for Girls. The Day Technical School was renamed as Southend High School for Boys. In 1914, Southend became a County Borough, taking charge of all education in the town, including the High School, School of Art and the Evening class institute all located still in the same building.
After the war the number of pupils increased, so in 1919 the School of Art moved out of the top floor to make room for the High School, into temporary wooden buildings at the rear of the building. Land was purchased on the corner of Victoria Avenue and Carnarvon Road to build a new further education college to host both the school of art and the evening class institute. The School of Art would become the nucleus of the newly formed Municipal College, however by 1934 the council had decided that the site purchased for the college would be better for a new town hall. By this time the school had 618 pupils and the site was to small. In 1936, the council purchased a site on the Earls Hall Garden Estate, and employed architect Frank W. Smith, who designed new buildings with an estimated cost of £65,000. The construction work started in 1936, and in September 1938 the school reopened in the new building at Prittlewell Chase.
In 1940 the school was evacuated to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire but the boys returned before the end of the war. Until 1974 it was administered by the County Borough of Southend-on-Sea Education Committee, then Essex County Council, and then the Unitary Authority of Southend-on-Sea from 1998.
Specialism and awards In 2001 the school was a Language College as part of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, promoting modern foreign languages both inside and outside the curriculum as well as within the local community. It was a founder member of Southend Excellence Cluster, supporting and collaborating with nearly thirty primary and secondary schools. In 2006, as a high-performing specialist school, it was invited to become a Leading Edge school, promoting innovation in teaching and learning in liaison with local partner schools.
The school has also, in the past, received the National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE) Challenge Award "for Excellence in Provision for Able, Gifted & Talented Pupils", the Leading Aspect Award, and the Department for Education and Skills Sportsmark award.
In 2023, the school secured a fifth consecutive accreditation for the (NACE) Challenge Award - it was the first school in the world to do so. Staff at the school are actively engaged with the National Association for Able Children in Education in supporting research-informed pedagogical development in schools across the UK; hosting regular visits for teachers to attend workshops and visit lessons.
Building extensions and premises upgrades Although the building was originally built almost symmetrically in 1939, it has undergone various changes which have meant that this is no longer the case. In 1992, QE1 and QE2 classrooms were built inside the East End quadrangle to cope with the demand arising from extra pupils.Southend High School for Boys Sports Hall & Music Centre Appeal Brochure In 1995, the Hitchcock Library was constructed to fill in the West End quadrangle with a new art room, W17 on top. The library was needed to alleviate overcrowding in the "Old Library" which is located above the headmaster's office & main school office. In 1998, the Sixth Form centre was built, removing four of the "temporary huts" 37 years after they were built.
In 2003, the Language College was constructed to create room for an expanded intake of pupils; an extra 25 per year starting in the 2002–2003 year. As this was built, subject rooms also got swapped around; Mathematics moved from the four other huts into E1, E2, E3 and QE1 (E1 and E9 were previously German rooms, E2, QE1, and QE2 were French rooms, and E3 was a Latin room). E9 became an extra English Room (previously English had just E5, E6, E7 and E8) and Religious Education gained the use of QE2. Music also gained the use of L6 in the Language College for a short period of time whilst the Sports Hall & Music Centre was under construction. In the Language College, German was moved into L1 and L2, Spanish into L6 and L9, French into L10, L11, L12, L14, L15 and L16. L4, L7, and L8 are small rooms used for speaking practice and L3 and L13 are computer suites.Southend Borough Council, Planning Application Reference 01/01288/FUL. URL:
Owing to such a long time in sub-standard accommodation in Music and Physical Education (as mentioned by the OFSTED report of 2001),Ofsted Report of 2001: URL: https://ofsted.biz/oxedu_reports/download/%28id%29/17247/%28as%29/115362_223811.pdf a bid was made to Southend Borough Council for a grant to be awarded for a new Sports Hall and Music Centre (following the construction of a top quality facility at St Bernard's High School for Girls). Permission was granted and the sum of £2.25 million was given to the school for the construction of this new facility.Southend Borough Council (2003). Planning Application Reference: 03/01106/FUL URL: The school began a development appeal to raise a further £475,000 in order to equip the centre with the latest fitness machines and recording studio. This was the largest amount an English High School had hoped to raise in the history of British education. The appeal lasted for 3 years until 2006 when it was closed. The total raised was £376,000; slightly less than expected. Unlike the Sixth Form Centre and Language College, which were built from prefabricated units in a brick shell, this building was designed by Peter Emptage & Associates and built to last. According to documentation, this building is constructed to last 120 years. Constructed in a steel frame and finished in glass, red brick, micro-ribbed aluminium panelling and a beech coloured wood, the new centre boasts a 5 badminton court size sports hall, the largest school sports hall in Southend Borough (the only larger indoor hall is that at Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre). This building was completed in September 2005 and is now well used; not only by members of the school community but also the wider community in the evenings and at weekends.
In November 2008 two temporary classrooms were installed to the east of the main buildings between the music centre and the rear exit. These buildings have been constructed to relieve the inevitable stress of the new, larger pupil intake and also to provide alternative classrooms for the rooms disrupted by the planned complete window changes in the main building. The planning application was granted subject to the condition that the rooms are removed once the extension to the Sports Hall is completed.Southend Borough Council (2008) Application Reference: 08/00654/FUL. URL:
In May 2009, a planning application was submitted to Southend Council to extend the Sports Hall & Music Centre on its western side, effectively infilling the underused grass area. The application included 6 classrooms over two phases; four in Phase 1 and 2 IT suites in Phase 2, located to the north of Phase 1. The four classrooms will be used to house the Mathematics department and include 111 square metres of circulation space as well as ample storage and an office. A connection will be created from the fitness suite to the upstairs of the new extension, but will only come into use during emergency evacuations or disabled people using the lift in the main Sports Hall.Southend Borough Council (2008) URL: http://idox.southend.gov.uk/WAM/showCaseFile.do?appName=planning&appNumber=09/00826/FUL Construction has begun in February 2010 with scheduled completion for Phase 1 in June 2010.SHSB Premises Activity 2010. URL: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2359949/SHSB%20Premises%20Activity%202010.pdf