Streatham and Clapham High School

Streatham & Clapham High School
The school's coat of arms, granted by the College of Arms in 2017
Location
Information
Type	Independent school, Day school
Motto	ad sapientiam sine metu
Established	1887
Chairman of Governors	Mrs Fiona Smith, BA (Dunelm), PGCE
Head Master	Dr Millan Sachania, MA Cantab, MPhil, PhD, FRSA
Gender	Girls
Age	3 to 18
Affiliations	GSA, GDST
Head of Prep School	Mr Thomas Mylne, BA (Hons)
Location (Senior School)	42 Abbotswood Road, Streatham, London. SW16 1AW
Location (Prep School)	Wavertree Road, Streatham Hill, London. SW2 3SR
Website	http://www.schs.gdst.net/

Streatham & Clapham High School is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18, in south London. The school was founded in 1887 by the Girls' Public Day School Company, which established schools for girls by providing academic, moral and religious education.

The Head Master is Dr Millan Sachania.

The ability profile of the school is above the national average, with a proportion of pupils being far above the national average. The 2019 Independent Schools Inspectorate report awarded the school the highest grade in both categories inspected ('Excellent'): the quality of pupils' academic and other achievements and the quality of their personal development.

The school is located on two sites, the Prep School in a Victorian building in Wavertree Road, London SW2, and the Senior School (including the Sixth Form) in buildings designed in the 1930s by J. E. K. Harrison, FRIBA, on Abbotswood Road, London SW16.

History

'Brixton Hill High School' began in February 1887 in a house at 260 Brixton Hill. Continued expansion led in 1894 to a temporary move to a home in Palace Road to await the completion of the new building in Wavertree Road, Streatham Hill (now the location of the Junior School). The building was opened by H.R.H. Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll in 1895, and the school was soon renamed Streatham Hill High School. In 1938 Streatham Hill merged with (but essentially took over) the older Clapham High School (established in 1875, with Mary Jemima Alger as its first head), and was renamed 'Streatham Hill and Clapham High School'.

The Second World War created many challenges. Some girls were evacuated from London, while others continued their schooling in often difficult conditions. Misfortune struck during the school holidays on 27 July 1944, when a V-1 bomb damaged the school badly; and though parts of the building were still usable, the operation of the school had to be split between four separate sites. Two of the sites were 'Winchester House' on Upper Tulse Hill and 'Courtlands' on Christchurch Road. Winchester House had a huge garden and the girls were allotted small plots for gardening. In the summer the lawn and the shrubbery were the backdrop for several dramatic productions including A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was not until 1949 that the contract for rebuilding was finally signed, and then followed three years of demolition and reconstruction. By 1953 the old building had been reconstructed enough that a brand new gymnasium was opened with completely modern equipment and change rooms.

On 22 October 1952, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, as Patroness of the Girls' Public Day School Trust, opened the new Wavertree Road building. The further expansion of the school led to the GPDST's purchase in 1993 of a new site (for the Senior School) at Abbotswood Road, the former buildings of the Battersea Grammar School, purchased from London South Bank University.

Since then the Abbotswood Road site has been expanded with the Millennium Building, comprising an Art Suite, Music Suite and a Recital Hall, and a Sports Hall. In January 2017, a new Sixth Form Centre opened on the newly built fourth storey on the Harrison building, followed in April 2018 by a new dining hall, reception and fountain atrium. These additions to the school, designed by Cottrell and Vermeulen Architecture, won the Royal Institute of British Architects' London Award and the Retrofit Award in the School Project category, and was also shortlisted for the Education Architect of the Year Award.

Curriculum

Pupils in the first, second and third years of the Senior School (Years 7 to 9) study the core disciplines of English, Mathematics, and Science. Other subjects offered include Art, Computing, Design & Technology, Drama, French, Geography, History, Italian, Latin, Music, Physical Education, Religious Education, and Spanish. All of these subjects are available at GCSE or IGCSE in the fourth and fifth years (Years 10 and 11). The school also offers an enrichment programme, 'Kinza', which enables pupils to sign up for a diverse range of subjects such as beekeeping, forensic science, genealogy, photography, Arabic, etc.

Sixth Form

The Sixth Form is housed in accommodation which opened in 2017, comprising a study centre, a common room, and a staffed café. The school offers a range of subjects for study at AS and A Level. Sixth-form students also have the opportunity of taking the Extended Project Qualification.

Findings of the ISI Inspection 2019

The Independent Schools Inspectorate inspected Streatham & Clapham High School in October 2019 and awarded the school the highest grade ("Excellent") in both categories inspected: the quality of pupils’ achievements and the quality of pupils’ personal development.

The key findings, as summarised on page 9 of the report, are:

"The quality of the pupils’ academic and other achievements is excellent.

• Pupils of all abilities are highly successful in their academic achievements and make rapid progress across all areas of learning.
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning are outstanding, both when collaborating and when working independently.
• Pupils are highly effective communicators in a wide range of contexts.
• Pupils excel across a wide range of academic, sporting and creative activities."

"The quality of the pupils’ personal development is excellent.

• Pupils of all ages develop high levels of self-knowledge, confidence and resilience as they progress through the school.
• Pupils are adept and confident decision makers, secure in their knowledge that the school is a safe and encouraging environment.
• Pupils have a strong moral sense and apply their standards of morality to their own behaviour, their community and the world at large.
• Pupils are highly respectful of each other and exhibit qualities which reflect their concern for justice, equality and fairness."

In addition, the focused compliance inspection found that the school complied with all regulatory requirements.

Heads of Streatham and Clapham High School

• Miss Alice Tovey (1887–1898), Headmistress
• Miss Reta Oldham (1898–1923), Headmistress
• Miss Ruth Gwatkin (1923–1938), Headmistress
• Miss Marjorie Jarrett (1938–1947), Headmistress
• Miss Margaret Macaulay (1947–1963), Headmistress
• Miss Agnete Wulff (1963–1973), Headmistress
• Mrs Nancy Silver (1973–1978), Headmistress
• Miss Gillian M. Ellis (1979–2002), Headmistress
• Mrs Susan Mitchell (2002–2011), Headmistress
• Mr Richard Hinton (2011), Acting Head Master
• Dr Millan Sachania (2012 to date), Head Master

Notable past pupils

• Dame Beryl Paston Brown, Principal, 1961–71 of Homerton College, Cambridge, and 1952–61 of the City of Leicester Training College (became part of Leicester Polytechnic at Scraptoft, eventually being bulldozed for housing)
• Angela Carter, the twentieth-century novelist
• Philippa Fawcett, the first woman to achieve a top score in the Mathematical Tripos at University of Cambridge
• Prof Eileen Hogan, artist
• Elizabeth Killick, first woman Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
• Elizabeth Llewellyn, operatic soprano
• Elsie Owusu OBE, architect
• Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP, the member of parliament for Streatham since 2019
• Margery Sharp, author of the 1959 The Rescuers which became a 1977 Disney film
• Sally-Anne Stapleford OBE, President from 1995 to 2006 of the National Ice Skating Association
• Anne Szarewski, cancer researcher
• Dame June Whitfield, actress

Former teachers

• Dame Mary Green, Headmistress from 1954 to 1973 of Kidbrooke School, London's first main comprehensive school (taught from 1938 to 1940)
• Danielle de St. Jorre (taught French from 1967 to 1969)

External links

• School website
• Profile on the ISC website
• Profile at MyDaughter
• Girls' Day School Trust website