St Martin-In-The-Fields High School for Girls

Infobox UK school
name = St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls


size = 120px
latitude =
longitude =
dms =
motto = Caritate et disciplina
("With Love and Learning")
motto_pl =
established = 1699
approx =
closed = mondays and fridays
c_approx =
type = Secondary Comprehensive
religion = Church of England
president =
head_label = Headteacher
head = Mrs Lesley Morrison BSc Hons DipSocSc Cert Ed
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label = Chair
chair = Rev S Gates MA BA
founder = Parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields
founder_pl =
specialist = Technology (Operational)
street = Tulse Hill
city = Lambeth
county = London
country = Englandflagicon|England
postcode = SW2 3UP
LEA =
ofsted = 100641
staff =
enrollment = c.851
gender = Girls
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours = red and brown
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
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website = http://www.stmartins.lambeth.sch.uk/
website_name = St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls

St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls is one of the oldest schools for girls in the Britain. It was established in 1699 as a charitable enterprise by the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Its popularity and growth led to its relocation in 1928 on a larger site in Tulse Hill, in the South London borough of Lambeth. For most of its history it was a grammar school. It is now a comprehensive voluntary-aided high school. It has technology college status.

History

The school was founded by the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1699 as a charity. London County Council, (1962), "Secondary Schools in Bermondsey, Lambeth and Southwark", Division 8, page 17] Those who ran the parish at the time, and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, were considered radical, for their notion that there should be a local school for girls as well as boys.

The school was originally in Charing Cross Road, near the St. Martin-in-the-Fields church. It was known as St Martin’s Middle Class School for Girls, and only later became known as St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls. M. Bryant, "The London Experience of Secondary Education", page 339] Parish endowments thus made possible the education of girls. The school did well and grew, in what was a populous fast-growing parish. By the early twentieth century growth was such that a bigger building with proper grounds and playing fields became necessary. The school relocated to its present site in 1928. The nearby Strand School had fifteen years earlier moved to the same area for similar reasons. St Martins' new buildings were officially opened by the then Duchess of York, wife of the future King George VI, better known in later decades as the Queen Mother.

The school maintains close links with its founding church in Trafalgar Square. When in 1955 London County Council established a local comprehensive school for girls, it was named Dick Sheppard School after the parish priest Dick Sheppard, noted for turning the church into a social centre for the needy and destitute of central London. London County Council, (1962), Secondary Schools in Bermondsey, Lambeth and Southwark, Division 8]

The school badge depicts the eponymous St. Martin of Tours. The school motto "Caritate et disciplina" translates as "With Love and Learning." The school remains Christian but accepts girls of all faiths. [http://www.stmartins.lambeth.sch.uk/ Official Site] ]

Performance

St Martins' is in the top 5% of similar schools in England. The school today serves a catchment area in which an estimated 36% receive free school meals, and where a high percentage are lone parents. Almost 90% of the school's pupils are of Caribbean or African extraction, with an estimated 27% speaking English as an additional language. St Martin’s has in recent years won the Lambeth Debating competition four times in a row. It was given technology college status In 1996. St. Martin’s has been awarded a Sportsmark and has been identified as an Ambassador School for Gifted and Talented Youth.

Alumni

* Anne Nightingale, broadcaster.
* Carol Barnes, journalist & newsreader.
* Evi Blaikie (Juliette Weisz), author. [http://www2.stmoga.co.uk/news.html Author of "Magda's Daughter"]
* Skin (Debbie Dyer) of Skunk Anansie, singer.

External links

* [http://www.stmartins.lambeth.sch.uk/ Official Site]
* [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/index.cfm?fuseaction=summary&id=100641 OFSTED]
* [http://www.nagty.ac.uk/professional_academy/ambassador_schools/index.aspx Ambassador Schools]
* [http://www.stmoga.co.uk/ St Martin-In-The-Fields Old Girls Association]

Further reading

*D H Thomas, "A Short History of St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls" (1929)

References