Watford Grammar School for Girls
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| Watford Grammar School for Girls | |
| Motto | Sperate parati |
| Established | 1704 and 1884 |
| Type | voluntary aided, partially selective comprehensive |
| Headmistress | Mrs Helen Hyde |
| Chairman of Governors | Mr Percy McCloskey |
| Founder | Elizabeth Fuller |
| Specialisms | Visual Arts and Maths and Computing |
| Location | Lady's Close Watford Hertfordshire WD18 0AE England  |
| LEA | Hertfordshire County Council |
| Ofsted number | 117575 |
| Students | 1250 |
| Gender | Girls |
| Ages | 11 to 18 |
| Website | watfordgirls.herts.sch.uk |
| Coordinates: | |
Watford Grammar School for Girls is a voluntary aided secondary school for girls in Watford in Hertfordshire, UK. Despite its name, the school accepts girls of all abilities, although a proportion are selected for academic or musical aptitude. Its GCSE results were the highest achieved by non-grammar state schools in England in 2007.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
The Girls' school and its brother school, Watford Grammar School for Boys, descend from a Free School founded as a charity school for boys and girls by Elizabeth Fuller in 1704 and refounded as a secondary school in 1884.[2][3][4][5]
The school has occupied its present site in central Watford since 1907. The name Watford Grammar School for Girls dates from 1903, but the school ceased to be a grammar school in 1975.[6]
[edit] The school today
Watford Girls has been partially selective since 1995.[7] In comparison with the national average, its intake has significantly higher academic attainment, greater ethnic diversity and fewer children from poorer backgrounds.[8]
An inspection in 2007 by the Office for Standards in Education rated the school as outstanding in all categories.[8] It has long been near the top of performance tables for comprehensive schools, but when the key measure at GCSE was changed in 2007 to include English and mathematics the school moved to the top position.[1] The headmistress, Helen Hyde, attributes part of their success to De Bono Thinking Tools, for which the school was one of the first in the United Kingdom to receive accreditation as a national training school.[9][10]
[edit] Notable alumni
- Geri Halliwell (pop singer and former Spice Girl) attended the school up to GCSE.[11]
[edit] Headmistresses
(since the founding of the secondary school in 1884)[6]
- 1884 Louise Walsh
- 1884–1895 Julia Anne Kennaby (married name Rogers from 1893)
- 1895–1913 Ann Coless
- 1913–1938 Grace Fergie
- 1938–1956 Jean Davidson
- 1957–1973 Jessie Tennet
- 1974–1987 Margaret Rhodes
- 1987–present Helen Hyde
[edit] References
- ^ a b Graeme Paton. "All-girl schools top results league table", Telegraph, 2007-08-24. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ Samuel Lewis (ed.) (1848). "Watford (St. Mary)", A Topographical Dictionary of England, 7th edition, p486. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ William Page (ed.) (1908). "Watford: Introduction", A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2, pp446-451. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ W.R. Carter (1894). "Mrs. Fuller's Free School". Watford Endowed Schools Journal 3.
- ^ W.G. Hughes; M. Sweeney (1954). Watford Grammar Schools for Boys and Girls: A History of their Foundation and Development. Watford: Mayflower Press.
- ^ a b Neil Hart (ed.) (2005). Mrs Fuller's Free School: Three Hundred Years of the Watford Grammar Schools. Rickmansworth: Atlantic Publishing.
- ^ Judith Judd. "Education: In a league of their own - or selective on the sly?", The Independent, 1997-11-20. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
- ^ a b Watford Grammar School for Girls. Ofsted. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
- ^ Nicola Woolcock. "Lateral thinking paves the way to GCSE success", The Times, 2008-01-10. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
- ^ Helen Hyde (July 2004). Why Thinking Skills? Why De Bono Thinking Tools?. Foundation & Aided Schools National Association Newsletter. Retrieved on 2008-04-30.
- ^ Joanna Moorhead. "Girl power comes of age", The Guardian, 2007-10-24. Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
