Grey Coat Hospital

The Grey Coat Hospital is a Church of England secondary school with academy status for girls in Westminster, London, England.

History

The school was founded on St. Andrew's Day in 1698. Eight members of the congregation of St. Margaret's, Westminster donated towards the founding of the school, initially a day school for 50 boys. In 1701, the Governors bought an old workhouse from Westminster Abbey to establish a boarding school. From that year it was also a mixed school, with both boys and girls attending.^[2] The founders' aim was to provide the poor of the parish with an education, so that they could become "loyal citizens, useful workers and solid Christians".^[1] From 1785, 60 boys and 30 girls were admitted. In 1874 it was changed to a girls' school under church management.^[2]

In 1998, the school celebrated its tercentenary by opening a new building for the Upper School on Regency Street, replacing an older site on Sloane Square. The original building is still used primarily by years 7-9 (Lower School), while years 10-11 and the sixth form are based at the Upper School, although most years visit both sites regularly. In 2009 construction began on a new arts block at Lower School under the Building Schools for the Future programme.^[3]

The school became a Language College in 2002, and in 2008 was also granted the status of Training School.^[4] In its most recent inspection report in 2009, Ofsted again assessed the school as "outstanding".^[4]

The current head teacher is Mrs Siân Maddrell, who succeeded Rachel Allard in April 2011. The school became an academy on 1 July 2012.

Aim

The school aims to enable girls to take charge of their learning, make decisions based on Christian values, live in the world as independent women, and meet the challenges of the 21st century.

School behaviour code

The school has a strict behaviour code, summarised for students as "The most important rule of all is to behave well at all times inside and outside the school, in a way which will bring honour to it, credit to you and that will show courtesy and consideration for other people."

The school suspended 29 students in December 2008 for joining an open Facebook group described by the Head as "a hate campaign against a member of staff". The Head said that the action was designed to send a strong message that the school does not tolerate such behaviour. She said that, of an unspecified number of parents who had visited her about the incident, the majority were supportive of the school's action. Westminster City Council also supported the school's decision.^[5][6] Teaching unions said that one in five teachers faces cyber-bullying, and called for expulsions in serious cases. Although the Facebook group was removed, discussions remained on another website with disparaging comments about the teacher concerned. The Daily Telegraph reported that some pupils had contacted the paper to say that the school had gone too far.^[7]

Notable former pupils

In 2007, Ray Mears visited the school to unveil a new plaque for notable former pupil David Thompson (born 1770), the explorer responsible for charting Canada .^[8]

Notable former pupils of recent times include:

• Katherine Weare (born 1950), professor of education
• Tamsin Dunwoody (born 1958), Labour politician
• Sarah Greene (born 1958), TV presenter
• Ebony-Jewel Rainford-Brent (born 1983), cricketer
• Phyllis Agbo (born 1985), British heptathlete, represented England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
• Abby Rakic-Platt (born 1993), actress

Film location

• The film version of Stormbreaker used the building as Alex Rider's school.^[9]

References

External links

• Official website
• Department for Children, Schools and Families - EduBase2

Coordinates: 51°29′46″N 0°08′03″W / 51.4960°N 0.1343°W / 51.4960; -0.1343