Wallington High School for Girls
Encyclopedia
Wallington High School for Girls is an all girls educational institution located just south of Wallington, in the London Borough of Sutton, England.
. The school is also twinned with Wallington County Grammar School
for Boys, in many events due to both the schools being in the same area as each other. Girls can join the boys' school's sixth form. Girls' schools, whether selective or not, generally have a better academic record than equivalent-intake mixed schools, and as a result tend to be oversubscribed schools; Wallington High is no exception. Around 900 girls each year apply for 180 available places. Places at the school have been harder to secure since recent economic conditions have forced an inevitable exodus from independent schools.
The school is situated in Woodcote Green on the A237
, around a half-mile north of the A2022
crossroads, at the junction of Sandy Lane South, Woodmansterne Lane, and Woodcote Road (A237). It is near the southern edge of the borough of Sutton, and the western edge of Croydon
, and next door to Woodcote Green Garden Centre and Nurseries. It is only one mile north-east of Surrey
, specifically Woodmansterne
.
.
It was originally on Stanley Park Road in Carshalton
when known as Wallington County Grammar School for Girls, the Wallington County School for Girls, Wallington County School, or the County School for Girls, Wallington. This site is now Stanley Park High School
.
.
Admissions
It is a grammar school, with Barbara Greatorex the Headmistress since 2002. She is a practitioner of neuro-linguistic programmingNeuro-linguistic programming
Neuro-linguistic programming is an approach to psychotherapy, self-help and organizational change. Founders Richard Bandler and John Grinder say that NLP is a model of interpersonal communication and a system of alternative therapy which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective...
. The school is also twinned with Wallington County Grammar School
Wallington County Grammar School
Wallington County Grammar School is a state-funded boys' grammar school located in Wallington, Sutton, London. Places at the school are invariably oversubscribed and entrance is via competitive exam...
for Boys, in many events due to both the schools being in the same area as each other. Girls can join the boys' school's sixth form. Girls' schools, whether selective or not, generally have a better academic record than equivalent-intake mixed schools, and as a result tend to be oversubscribed schools; Wallington High is no exception. Around 900 girls each year apply for 180 available places. Places at the school have been harder to secure since recent economic conditions have forced an inevitable exodus from independent schools.
The school is situated in Woodcote Green on the A237
A237 road
The A237 is an A road in South London. It runs from the west side of Mitcham Common to Coulsdon. It crosses through 2 London Boroughs which includes the start inside the London Borough of Merton and the ending of the road inside the London Borough of Croydon...
, around a half-mile north of the A2022
A2022 road
The A2022 is a non-primary road in England. It runs south from West Wickham in the South London borough of Bromley through Addington and Purley before entering Surrey and heading through Upper Woodmansterne, Banstead, Epsom Downs and finally Epsom....
crossroads, at the junction of Sandy Lane South, Woodmansterne Lane, and Woodcote Road (A237). It is near the southern edge of the borough of Sutton, and the western edge of Croydon
London Borough of Croydon
The London Borough of Croydon is a London borough in South London, England and is part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the largest London borough by population. It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name...
, and next door to Woodcote Green Garden Centre and Nurseries. It is only one mile north-east of Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, specifically Woodmansterne
Woodmansterne
Woodmansterne is a village in Reigate and Banstead borough of the county of Surrey, England. Woodmansterne village is located on the B278, which starts at Morden and winds through Carshalton past Oaks Park and into the village. The road continues down to Chipstead Bottom...
.
History
Wallington High School for Girls was established in 1888 by a collective of nuns. The school building has since changed many times, and now accommodates an estimated 1260 students with 180 in each year group, as well as a Sixth Form CollegeSixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...
.
It was originally on Stanley Park Road in Carshalton
Carshalton
Carshalton is a suburban area of the London Borough of Sutton, England. It is located 10 miles south-southwest of Charing Cross, situated in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton Ponds in the centre of the village. The combined population of the five wards...
when known as Wallington County Grammar School for Girls, the Wallington County School for Girls, Wallington County School, or the County School for Girls, Wallington. This site is now Stanley Park High School
Stanley Park High School
Stanley Park High School is a mixed government funded school in Carshalton, Surrey, England.The school is due for a move to a new £38 million site on Cherry Orchard Road.-Specialism:...
.
Current building
It moved to Woodcote Road in 1965, the same year it changed its administration from Surrey County Council to the borough of Sutton. In the late 1970s it had around 750 girls with 150 in the sixth form. In the 1990s it became grant-maintained school.Headteachers
- Agnes Mark (1928-2005) from 1964-80, later Head of Croydon High SchoolCroydon High SchoolCroydon High School for Girls GDST is a leading non-denominational independent school for girls, located near Croydon, Greater London, England. It is one of the schools in the Girls' Day School Trust....
from 1980-90 - Amy Bull CBE (1902-82) from 1937-64, President from 1960-2 of the Association of Headmistresses
Church
Although the school itself is non-religious, Springfield Church uses the school premises for its worship every Sunday at 10.30. The school lies in the parish of Wallington Holy Trinity, with the nearest church being Wallington St Patrick, and lies on the boundary with RoundshawRoundshaw
Roundshaw is a housing estate and park in south Wallington on the eastern edge of the London Borough of Sutton. Grid Ref . It was built on part of the site of the former Croydon Airport, and occupying roughly the area on which once stood the buildings of the first Croydon Aerodrome which was...
.
The Houses
Wallington has six different forms in each year group. Each form is a member of one of the six different houses, each named after an influential woman. Each house has two Year 11 House Captains, who are responsible for organising the annual fete and events and activities for their house. These houses are multicoloured:Uniform
The school uniform consists of a navy and green kilt; a baby blue shirt (these may be short or long sleeved); a green v-neck jumper or cardigan and a navy blazer. However, students that joined the school before 2006 will not have blazers as these items were not on the school uniform regulations as of that time. Blazers also have the school logo and house name on the left-breast pocket.- Athena (Blue): named after the Greek goddess AthenaAthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
. - Seacole (Green): named after Mary SeacoleMary SeacoleMary Jane Seacole , sometimes known as Mother Seacole or Mary Grant, was a Jamaican nurse best known for her involvement in the Crimean War. She set up and operated boarding houses in Panama and the Crimea to assist in her desire to treat the sick...
. - Brontë (Orange): named after Charlotte BrontëCharlotte BrontëCharlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
& Emily BrontëEmily BrontëEmily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
. - Johnson (Red): named after Amy JohnsonAmy JohnsonAmy Johnson CBE, was a pioneering English aviator. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, Johnson set numerous long-distance records during the 1930s...
. - Sharman (Purple): named after Helen SharmanHelen SharmanHelen Patricia Sharman, OBE PhD , is a British chemist. She was the first Briton in space, visiting the Mir space station aboard Soyuz TM-12 in 1991....
. - Pankhurst (Yellow): named after Emmeline PankhurstEmmeline PankhurstEmmeline Pankhurst was a British political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement which helped women win the right to vote...
.
Academic performance
It gets good A-level results, as expected of a London grammar school, but gets the highest out of Sutton's five grammar schools. Competition for all of these schools is notoriously fierce, and they educate people from neighbouring London boroughs as well, which will drive up results for each school.Notable former pupils
- A. L. BarkerA. L. BarkerAudrey Lilian Barker FRSL was an English novelist and short story writer. She was born in St Pauls Cray, Kent and brought up in Beckenham. During her lifetime, she published ten collections of short stories and eleven novels, one of which - John Brown's Body - was shortlisted for the Booker Prize...
, author - Emily BennEmily BennEmily Sophia Wedgwood Benn is the eldest child and only daughter of Stephen Benn and Nita Clarke . Four generations of her family have served as Members of Parliament — her uncle Hilary Benn, grandfather Tony Benn, great-grandfather William Wedgwood Benn, and great-great-grandfathers John...
, the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
's youngest ever parliamentary candidate - Karen BridgeKaren Bridge-Career:She won a bronze medals at the 1980 IBF World Championships in women's doubles with Barbara Sutton.-References:**...
, badminton player - Lucy PorterLucy PorterLucy Donna Porter is an English actress, writer and comedienne.She has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Brighton Festival and many clubs around Britain. She has also a regular voice on BBC Radio 4 in various panel shows, including Quote.....
, comedian, attended the school from 1984-91 - Rebecca RomeroRebecca RomeroRebecca Jayne Romero MBE is an English sportsperson, a former World Champion and Olympic Games medallist at rowing, and a former World champion and reigning Olympic champion track cyclist.-Biography:...
, rower and cyclist, Gold medal winner at the 20042004 Summer OlympicsThe 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
and 2008 Olympics2008 Summer OlympicsThe 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
who attended from 1991-98 - Ruth Saw, Professor of Aesthetics from 1961-4 at Birkbeck CollegeBirkbeck, University of LondonBirkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
, and President from 1969-70 of the British Society of AestheticsBritish Society of AestheticsThe British Society of Aesthetics is a philosophical organization founded in 1960 to promote the study of aesthetics. The BSA sponsors national and regional conferences, and publishes the British Journal of Aesthetics, as well as a newsletter. The organization also funds projects that promote the...
, and from 1965-66 of the Aristotelian SocietyAristotelian SocietyThe Aristotelian Society for the Systematic Study of Philosophy was founded at a meeting on 19 April 1880, at 17 Bloomsbury Square which resolved "to constitute a society of about twenty and to include ladies; the society to meet fortnightly, on Mondays at 8 o'clock, at the rooms of the Spelling... - Prof Margaret Scott-Wright, Professor of Nursing Studies from 1972-6 at the University of EdinburghUniversity of EdinburghThe University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
- the UK's first professor of nursing