In 1963, there were four school houses: Bedford, Duke, Paxton and Sovereign. These were named after types of strawberries as a nod to the previous use of the land the school was built on. In the early 1900s, locals and those that travelled to the area would work the fields from mid-May, and were known as “Joe Pickers” after the Sir Joseph Paxton strawberry, the best-known variety at the time.
Over time these have changed and the house system was relaunched in 2012 to include 6 houses; Bedford, Driscoll, Alba, Sovereign, Jubilee and Paxton.
A number of local roads in Hedge End are also named after strawberry varieties including Sovereign Drive, Sengana Close, Precosa Road, Tamella Road, Gento Close, Bedford Close, Duke Road and Paxton Close.
