St Paul's Girls' School

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This article is about the school in London. For the school in Edgbaston, Birmingham, see St Paul's School for Girls
St Paul's Girl's School
Established 1904
Type Independent all-female
High Mistress Ms. Clarissa Farr
Grades 7-Sixth Form
Location Hammersmith, England
Website St Paul's Girls' School website

St Paul's Girls' School (or SPGS) is an independent school, located in Hammersmith, London, England.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1904 a new day school for girls was established by the trustees of the Dean Colet Foundation (founded by John Colet), which had run St Paul's School for boys since the sixteenth century. The buildings for the school were designed by the architect Gerald Horsley, the son of the painter John Callcott Horsley and one of the founder members of the Art Workers Guild.

The school has had several distinguished directors of music, most notably Gustav Holst (1905-34) and Herbert Howells (1936-62). Holst composed his St Paul's and Brook Green suites for the pupils at the school.

[edit] Present Day

Students range from 11-18 years old, with approximately 680 pupils in total. The school emphasizes both academic and extracurricular activities. It has a firm musical tradition. Gustav Holst was Director of Music at the school during the period he composed his orchestral suite, The Planets. He also named his St Paul's Suite after the school. John Gardner followed in his footsteps, writing many memorable pieces for the School, including his popular Christmas carols Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day and The Holly and the Ivy. Students progress to university after their secondary education, with 40-45% gaining entrance to the Oxbridge Colleges. Former and current pupils are known as Paulinas (rhymes with 'lip-liner'). There is no uniform, which encourages individuality within the school community. The school, in common with many independent schools, employs an idiosyncratic nomenclature for the different years:

  • Year 7 is known as the Middle Fourth
  • Year 8 is the Upper Fourth
  • Year 9 is the Lower Fifth
  • Year 10 is the Fifth
  • Year 11 is the Sixth
  • Year 12 is the Seventh
  • Year 13 is the Eighth


The current High Mistress is Clarissa Farr

As measured by its position in the national league tables of GCSE and A level performance, and by its excellence in Music and the arts, the School has earned a reputation which today places it foremost among girls' schools in the country. In 2007, the school gained the highest ever recorded GCSE results, with 87.1% gaining A* grades, and 99.1% of entries gaining A* or A.

[edit] High Mistresses of St Paul's Girls School

The headmistress of St Paul's Girls School is known as the High Mistress.

  • Frances Ralph Grey OBE (d.1935), High Mistress 1903-1927
  • Ethel Strudwick CBE (1880-1954), High Mistress 1927-1948
  • Margaret Osborn (1906-1985), High Mistress 1948-1963
  • Dame Alison Munro DBE (b. 1914), High Mistress 1964-1974
  • Lady Brigstocke CBE (Heather Renwick Brigstocke, created Baroness Brigstocke 1990) (1929-2004), High Mistress 1974-1989
  • Helen Elizabeth Webber Williams (b. 1938), High Mistress 1989-1992
  • Janet Gough (b. 1940), High Mistress 1993-1998
  • Elizabeth Mary Diggory (1945-2007), High Mistress 1998-2006
  • Clarissa Mary Farr (b. 1958), High Mistress 2006-

[edit] Notable Old Paulinas

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (November 2007)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Old girls of the school, known as Old Paulinas, include -

[edit] Politics

[edit] Journalism

[edit] The Arts

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ REYNOLDS, Barbara at Who's Who online (accessed 26 November 2007)
  2. ^ TATE, Mavis Constance at Who's Who online (accessed 26 November 2007)
  3. ^ Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain Williams from UXL Newsmakers (2005) (accessed 27 December 2007)

[edit] External links