John Port School - School Site

School Site

The large attractive site has an open feel, being a 'green' campus with plenty of well maintained open spaces between the individual teaching facilities. The centre of the site is focussed around the lake, one of the original fishing ponds that were in the grounds of the Etwall Hall.

Teaching facilities are spread across the site, with each faculty having a separate building. The buildings (apart from Flamsteed, which is named after a famous local scientist John Flamsteed) are each named after settlements and features in Derbyshire and the Peak District (Ilam being in Staffordshire, but with links to the Port family), named from A to H alphabetically, in chronological order of when they were first built. This system gives order to classroom numbering and also a 'short name for each block, i.e., 'A12' is the twelfth classroom in 'A' block (Ashbourne). The original school started with 'A' and 'B' blocks, and has expanded from there. The faculties and corresponding blocks are as follows:

• Ashbourne - Mathematics
• Bakewell - Modern Foreign Languages, ICT
• Chatsworth - English, Economics, Politics, Sociology, Psychology, Business studies
• Derwent - Design Technology, Food Technology, Child studies
• Edale - Humanities (Geography, History, Philosophy Religion and Ethics) and Student Support
• Flamsteed - Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)
• Glossop - 6th Form Centre of higher education
• Hathersage - Expressive arts (Art, Drama, Music, Dance, Textiles, Theatre studies)
• Ilam - temporary building, various subjects

The Learning Resources Centre is situated centrally on the site, occupying most of the ground floor of 'B' block. It has a full computer suite and a library stocked with 14,000 books on all subjects taught at the school, and aimed at 11–18-year-old readers. It is staffed by a professionally qualified Chartered Librarian, Mrs Durkan, to ensure that it is always well maintained and stocked to the needs of the student base.

There were originally two canteen dining halls on the site, one each in 'A' and 'C' blocks, until 'C' was closed and therefore 'A' is the only catering hall at the present time. It serves hot lunches and also caters for morning break. 'A' block hall has, in the past, served both snacks and hot food, while various incarnations of 'Ashbourne Stage' and 'Lite Bite' cafes have also run from the block. With the 'Lite Bite' reopening in 2010 the main hall again returns to serving only hot meals.

The site is also home to the Etwall Leisure Centre, with public access from Hilton Road. This new centre was officially opened on 17 July 2009, although it didn't open to the public till 5 August 2009. The new facilities include a six-lane 25 m swimming pool, squash courts, fitness suite and large sports hall. The old centre closed to the public after the early morning swimming on 24 June, having shut earlier than planned because the main circulation pump fatally failed the previous night. It was decided not to replace the pump because of the large cost. The pool was then drained, and is set to be refurbished and converted into a 'Flexible Learning Centre' which will provide classrooms for many BTEC courses, amongst others.

Both boys and girls PE have been transferred to the new sports and leisure centre. The future of the previous gymnasiums ('A' Hall) and ('C' Hall) facilities has not been disclosed past 2010, although 'C' gym has so far been transferred into use as an examination centre, resulting in a full re-cladding of the building in 2010

The central location of 'E' block also houses the student welfare offices, which includes a local Connexions office on site. Student support was moved to 'E' block, from being spread over the site, on this newest block's completion in September 2006.