La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

for girls, located in the

Clapham Park Clapham Park is an area in the Borough of Lambeth in London, to the south of central Clapham and west of Brixton. History The original Clapham Park Estate was a speculative development by Thomas Cubitt, who bought of Bleak Hall Farm in 182 ...

area of the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London is at Frazi ...

, England. The sixth form is mixed.

History

The school was first established in 1880 by Les Dames De La Retraite, an order started in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

to enable women to spend time in the

practice of 'retreat'. The nuns were called 'mother' and those who had traveled from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

this time apparently aimed to establish a girls school in South London. The school later expanded into a house previously owned by the family of

Philip de László Philip Alexius László de Lombos (born Fülöp Laub; ; 30 April 1869 – 22 November 1937), known professionally as Philip de László, was an Anglo-Hungarian painter known particularly for his portraits of royal and aristocratic personages. ...

, and then a house previously owned by

Dan Leno George Wild Galvin (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904), better known by the stage name Dan Leno, was a leading English music hall comedian and musical theatre actor during the late Victorian era. He was best known, aside from his music hall a ...

. There were eventually several other schools in England run by the order - one in Bristol and another in Burnham on Sea and in the post-war period there were attempts to open schools elsewhere in England. There were also schools in France (St Germain-en-Laye, Angers) with which all the nuns were in contact and nuns moved unpredictably from one school to another. By World War II, the school ran from primary to the end of secondary. The school had always been forward looking - it used Montessori methods in its primary school and encouraged physical education and dance. It had a reputation for theatre producing at least one play a year - more in the years when

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

was a pupil. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the school was evacuated to

Horndean Horndean is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district, in Hampshire, England, north of Portsmouth. The nearest railway station is southeast of the village at Rowlands Castle. The village had a population of 12,942 at the 20 ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, but was rapidly moved from a site so close to Portsmouth that was needed for the military to Daventry. In 1942 the school returned to the Clapham Road site which it had to share with another school that had been bombed. It had been a fee-paying school but after the war it took up the Beveridge education plan and agreed to drop fees and take public school entrants. One result of this was that the demand that a deputy head be secular resulted in Vera Thorpe, the maths teacher, becoming deputy head. It then became a two form entry sixty students in all, the B class being the grammar entry and the A the rest. In 1945 as children returned to London there was considerable confusion of age and position. There were many families where the father was dead in the war and others where they were children of Polish free fighter who had stayed. The local Jewish community also saw the school as a reasonable place for their girls. The sixth form was, however, small as few families could or would afford the extra years for a girl who was welcomed as an employee by the local banks and business because of the school's reputation for well-behaved and ethical students. Those who completed their sixth form either went to university or to teachers colleges but some went to art school having been well taught by Miss Nicholson. It was recognised officially by

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

. In the 1970s, when selective education was abolished in London, the school became a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

. The school became grant-maintained for a time in the 1990s and opened its sixth form. In 1999 it then returned to local authority control as a

voluntary aided school A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation) contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

under the trusteeship of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark The Archdiocese of Southwark () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in England. It is led by the Archbishop of Southwark. The archdiocese is part of the Ecclesiastical province, Metropolitan Province of Province of Southwark, ...

Academics

La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School offers

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils. Students in the sixth form have the option to study a range of

A Levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

and further BTECs.

Alumni

Crystal Bennett Crystal-Margaret Bennett (20 August 1918 – 12 August 1987) was a British archaeologist. A student of Kathleen Kenyon, Bennett was a pioneer of archaeological research in Jordan and founded the British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and H ...

(1918-1987) - archaeologist *

Cynthia Erivo Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo ( ; born 8 January 1987) is a British actress and singer. Known for her work on both stage and screen, she is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Cynt ...

(b. 1987) - actress and singer

References

External links

La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls' School official website
{{authority control Secondary schools in the London Borough of Lambeth Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Southwark Girls' schools in London Educational institutions established in 1884 1884 establishments in England Voluntary aided schools in London