Wimbledon High School is an independent girls' day school in Wimbledon, South West London. It is a

Girls' Day School Trust The Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) is a group of 25 independent schools, including two academies, in England and Wales, catering for girls aged 3 to 18. It is the largest group of independent schools in the UK, and educates 20,000 girls each yea ...

school and is a member of the

Girls' Schools Association The Girls' Schools Association (GSA) is a professional association of the heads of independent girls' schools. It is a constituent member of the Independent Schools Council. History The GSA can trace its history back to the Association of Headm ...

History

Wimbledon High School was founded by the Girls' Public Day School Trust (now known as the

or GDST). 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.

Ethel Gavin Ethel Gavin (2 April 1866 – 2 March 1918) was a British educationist and headmistress. She led several schools including Wimbledon High School and Notting Hill High School. Life Gavin was born in Elgin in central Scotland. She was the firs ...

became the head in 1908. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the school endured a difficult time, the head was in Germany at the time and was detained for some weeks. 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 head, Ethel Gavin, who organised the recovery died in early 1918 from cancer. The girls were moved to a temporary location to resume 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 The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam ...

, before it moved to its present location in Church Road. The school was greatly affected by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Pupil numbers fell as London was bombarded during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

. Under the

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historians ...

, the school applied for and was granted "

direct grant A direct grant grammar school was a type of selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the remainder attracted ...

" status. It chose to become

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

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. In 2019 a building project began, known as Project Ex-Humilibus, from the school motto. The plans include the development of a

STEAM Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

tower, a new sixth-form centre, and a relocation of the dining room. Wimbledon High School, labels itself as a very feminist school.

Houses

Originally there was no house system, but now girls are placed in one of the four houses upon entry. There are inter-house competitions and activities held throughout the year notably: The Big Draw, House Music, Junior Drama, Inter-house sports, Sports Day, Off-Timetable Day, House University Challenge, and House Debating.

Junior School

The junior houses were named after famous women.

Senior School

The houses were named after four of the twelve first students to attend Wimbledon High School: May 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 chosen by staff after an application process, and then Music, Art, Sports and Drama captains and a secretary selected by the house captain. House points are awarded for victory in house competitions and also by teachers in recognition for academic excellence and good conduct, following the PBS system.

Headmistresses

* Miss Edith Hastings (1880–1908) * Miss

(1908–1918) * Miss Mabel Lewis (1918–1939) * Miss Kathleen Littlewood (1940–1949) * Miss Marguerite Burke (1949–1962) * Mrs Anne Piper (1962–1982) * Mrs Rosemary Smith (1982–1992) * Mrs Elizabeth Baker (1992–1995) * Dr Jill Clough (1995–2000) * Mrs Pamela Wilkes (2001–2008) * Mrs Heather Hanbury (2008–2014) * Mrs

Jane Lunnon Jane Teresa Lunnon (born 1969) is an English schoolteacher and headmistress, currently head of Alleyn's School, Dulwich, and previously of Wimbledon High School. Before that, Lunnon was Deputy Head of Wellington College, Berkshire. Early life Lu ...

(2014–2020) * Ms Fionnuala Kennedy (2020–present)

Associated People

Notable former pupils

Katharine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl Katharine Marjory Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl, DBE (''née'' Ramsay; 6 November 1874 – 21 October 1960), known as the Marchioness of Tullibardine from 1899 to 1917, was a British noblewoman and Scottish Unionist Party politician who ...

(1874–1960) *

Sylvia Payne Sylvia May Payne (née Moore; 6 November 1880 – 30 May 1976) was one of the pioneers of psychoanalysis in the United Kingdom. Early life Born as Sylvia May Moore in Marylebone, London, the daughter of Rev. Edward William Moore and his wif ...

(1880–1976) – psychoanalyst *Dame Margaret Rutherford "Peggy" (1892–1972) – actress * Judith Ledeboer (1901–1990) – architect *Dame

Mary Smieton Dame Mary Guillan Smieton, DBE (5 December 1902 – 23 January 2005) was a British civil servant. She served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education between 1959 and 1963, only the second woman to achieve the rank of Permanent Secreta ...

(born 1902) – civil servant and Secretary to the Ministry of Education * Sheila May Edmonds (1916–2002) – Mathematician and Lecturer at

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

* Jean Aitchison (born 1938) – Professor Emeritus of Language and Communication, University of Oxford *Professor Dame

Louise Johnson Dame Louise Napier Johnson, (26 September 1940 – 25 September 2012), was a British biochemist and protein crystallographer. She was David Phillips Professor of Molecular Biophysics at the University of Oxford from 1990 to 2007, and later a ...

(1940–2012) – biochemist and crystallographer * Ilora Finlay, Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (born 1949) *

Bridget Rosewell Bridget Clare Rosewell, (born 18 September 1951) is a British economist. Her expertise includes economic development, transport and agglomeration economics, development evaluation, infrastructure, forecasting, industry dynamics and competiti ...

OBE (born 1951) – economist * Sara Nathan OBE (born 1956) – broadcast journalist & regulator * Sasha Wass KC (born 1958) – barrister *

Michelle Paver Michelle Paver (born 7 September 1960) is a British novelist and children's writer, known for the historical fantasy series ''Chronicles of Ancient Darkness'', set in prehistoric Europe. For the sixth book of the series, '' Ghost Hunter'' (2009 ...

(born 1960) – author famous for ''

Chronicles of Ancient Darkness ''Chronicles of Ancient Darkness'' is a series of historical fantasy novels by the British people, British author Michelle Paver; her first books for children. The books chronicle the adventures of Torak, an adolescent boy, and his friends Renn ...

'' *

Rosie Millard Rosemary Harriet Millard (born 17 April 1965) is a British journalist. writer and broadcaster. Millard is Chair of BBC Children in Need and Chair of Firstsite gallery in Colchester. She is vice Chair of Opera North. Previous roles include CEO ...

(born 1965) – journalist & broadcaster * Samira Ahmed (born 1968) – news presenter *

Lara Croft Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise ''Tomb Raider''. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around t ...

(born 1968) – fictional video games character, heroine of the

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, ...

series *

Afua Hirsch Afua Hirsch (born 1981) is a British writer and broadcaster. She has worked as a journalist for '' The Guardian'' newspaper, and was the Social Affairs and Education Editor for Sky News from 2014 until 2017. Early life Afua Hirsch was born in ...

(born 1981) – writer & broadcaster * Lizzy Pattinson (born 1983) – singer *

Amara Karan Amara Karunakaran (born 1984), known professionally as Amara Karan, is an English actress who made her film début as Rita in Wes Anderson's ''The Darjeeling Limited''. The film premièred at the 2007 Venice Film Festival. Karan's second film ro ...

(born 1984) – actress ''(

St Trinians ''St Trinian's'' is a British gag cartoon comic strip series, created and drawn by Ronald Searle from 1946 until 1952. The cartoons all centre on a boarding school for girls, where the teachers are sadists and the girls are juvenile delinquents. ...

)'' *

Georgina Sherrington Georgina Sherrington (born 26 July 1985) is an English actress. Biography Sherrington is best known for her portrayal of the character of Mildred Hubble in the children's series ''The Worst Witch'' (1998–2001), as well as the spin-off serie ...

(born 1985) – actress ''(

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. The first, ''The Worst Witch'', was ...

)''; winner of Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series * Monica Allanach (died 2013) – actuary

Notable former teachers

* Nellie Dale was a teacher at Wimbledon who created her own basic reading program that used

phonological awareness Phonological awareness is an individual's awareness of the phonological structure, or sound structure, of words. Phonological awareness is an important and reliable predictor of later reading ability and has, therefore, been the focus of much res ...

and

phonics Phonics is a method for teaching people how to Reading, read and write an alphabetic language (such as English alphabet, English, Arabic alphabet, Arabic or Russian alphabet, Russian). It is done by demonstrating the relationship between the so ...

. *

head here during WW1 * Ada Wallas the socialist writer taught here briefly.

References

External links

School Website
{{authority control Independent schools in the London Borough of Merton Schools of the Girls' Day School Trust Independent girls' schools in London Educational institutions established in 1880 Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association 1880 establishments in England Buildings and structures in Wimbledon, London