Wimbledon High School

Wimbledon High School
Mottoes Ex Humilibus Excelsia
("From humble beginnings, greatness")
Stepping in, Striding out
Established 1880
Type Independent day school
Headmistress Mrs Jane Lunnon
Location Mansel Road
London
SW19 4AB
England
Coordinates: 51°25′21″N 0°12′39″W / 51.4226°N 0.2107°W / 51.4226; -0.2107
Local authority Merton
DfE number 315/6071
DfE URN 102692 Tables
Students 900~
Gender Girls
Ages 4–18
Houses 4
Colours Green
Website www.wimbledonhigh.gdst.net

Wimbledon High School is an independent girls' day school in Wimbledon, South West London. It is a Girls' Day School Trust school and is a member of the Girls' Schools Association. The headmistress, Jane Lunnon, is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

The Good Schools Guide called the school a "terrifically purposeful place", "suiting bright, hard-working girls prepared to muck in and have a go."

Location

Wimbledon High School is situated in central Wimbledon, near to the station, which serves National Rail (South West Trains to/from London Waterloo), London Underground (District Line) and Tramlink. Numerous buses stop near to the school.

Leadership

Jane Lunnon has been the headmistress of the school since 2014. The Head of the Junior School is Kate Mitchell. The Chair of Governors is Grenville Williams, former management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, previously worked for the BBC as an internal management consultant.

History

Wimbledon High School was founded by the Girls' Public Day School Trust (now known as the Girls' Day School Trust). It opened on 9 November 1880 at No. 74 (now No. 78) Wimbledon Hill Road with 12 students and Miss Edith Hastings as Headmistress, aged just 29. Over the next decade, the school roll grew to over 200 girls. The first lesson taught was on the subject of the apple. Soon after, the fruit was used as the emblem of the school. Every year on the school's birthday in November, pupils and staff eat apple-green cakes in memory of this.

During World War I, the school endured a difficult time. The timetable was suspended for older students as girls and teachers joined the war effort and made respirators for the troops. A fire broke out in 1917 and gutted the main building. The girls were moved to a temporary location resumed their activities. The new building was formally opened by old girl, the Duchess of Atholl, in October 1920 and included a gymnasium and two new laboratories. The facilities have now been much expanded upon. The school's sports fields, at Nursery Road (off Worple Road) were until 1923 the site of the All England Club, before it moved to its present location in Church Road. Today, students are often selected to be ball girls at the Wimbledon Championships.

The school was greatly affected by the Second World War. Pupil numbers fell as London was bombarded during the Battle of Britain. Under the Education Act 1944, the school applied for and was granted "direct grant" status. It chose to become independent when the scheme was abolished during the 1970s.

A new junior school building was opened in 2000. New buildings were added such as a design and technology centre, new science labs and the Rutherford Centre for the Performing Arts, named after the actress Margaret Rutherford, an alumna of the school.[1]

The School Song

The school song was written by a former student and later teacher of Wimbledon High School, Katharine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl, also known as Kitty Ramsay. It is the tradition to sing this on the school's birthday and at the end of the school year when the sixth formers are leaving. The words are:

From year to year, our onward course we take,
Through strife and victory, through weal and woe,
Making new friends, ne'er losing those we love,
So onwards, ever onwards let us go.

Above us loom new fields to conquer still,
Behind us are the heights already gained
By those who bore the fiercest of the fight,
That brave small band who to so much attained.

Those who have led and those among the ranks,
Who did true yeoman service with their might,
All those we love and strive to emulate
Keeping their memory ever clean and bright.

Onward we go, cheered by our happy past,
Strong in our union of loyalty and love
To this our school its memories and aims
Still onward to the UNCONQUERED peaks above.(Shout the words in caps)

Houses

Girls are placed in one of the four houses upon entry. There are inter-house competitions and activities held throughout the year in drama, sport, music and art.

Junior School

The junior houses were named after famous women.

House Colour
Austen     
Garrett-Anderson     
Hepworth     
Sommerville     

Senior School

The houses were named after four of the twelve first students to attend Wimbledon High School: Meg and Margaret Arnold, Mildred Hastings, Violet Scott-Moncrieff and Sophie Meredith. Each house has its own house committee consisting of a house captain and deputy house captain elected by the girls, and then Music, Art, Sports and Drama captains and a secretary elected by the house captain. Throughout the year there are several house events such as The Big Draw, Interhouse Music Competition, Junior Drama, Sports Day and Off-timetable Day. House points are also awarded by teachers in recognition for academic excellence and good conduct.

House Colour
Arnold     
Scott     
Meredith     
Hastings     

Headmistresses

Associated People

Notable former pupils

Notable former teachers

References

  1. ↑ History
  2. ↑ Kamm, Josephine (2013). Indicative Past: A Hundred Years of the Girls' Public Day School Trust. Routledge. p. 106. ISBN 9781134531677.
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