Lady Verney High School

Lady Verney High School
Established 1956
Closed 1993
Location Kingshill Road
High Wycombe
Buckinghamshire
HP13 5BB
England
Coordinates: 51°38′53″N 0°44′03″W / 51.648°N 0.73424°W / 51.648; -0.73424
Students 330
Gender Girls
Ages 12–18
Colours          Grey and Green

Lady Verney High School was a girls' grammar school in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire that closed in 1993.[1]

History

The origin of the school was in the girls section of Wycombe Technical School in Easton Street, High Wycombe.[2] It was established in November 1956[3] and opened in January 1957[4] with 260 pupils in the former premises of Wycombe High School in Benjamin Road which dated from 1906. They were too small to cope with the expansion of that school which necessitated a move to new buildings on Marlow Hill to the south of the town centre. The new school was named Lady Verney after the educationalist Margaret Verney, a member of the local Verney family who served on the Education Committee of Buckinghamshire County Council.[5]

In 1988 the school moved to the larger premises of the former Wellesbourne County Secondary School at Kingshill Road[6] on the northern edge of the town. The number of pupils then fell and Buckinghamshire County Council were concerned that the numbers might decline further to 250 by the end of the 1990s, meaning that it would not be able to offer a wide range of subjects. An action group was formed to save the school and it was suggested that the decline in numbers was partly due to the move from the town centre and a boys school accepting girls into its 6th form. The campaign was not successful and the school closed on 31 August 1993.[1][7] The 333 pupils, 43 of them taking GCSEs were transferred to Wycombe High School where there was an investment in new drama, sport and technology blocks and one of the new blocks was named the Verney Building.[8] Whilst building work was completed the enlarged school was run on a split site for a year, with girls attending at both sites until the merger was complete. The Kingshill Road site was later sold for housing development and a road was named Lady Verney Close.

Academic performance

The year before its closure Lady Verney High School was among 11 state schools in the country where 100% of pupils gained five or more grades A to C at GCSE. Their A level results however were surpassed by those at Wycombe High School.[7]

Uniform

The school uniform colours were grey and green. The school badge featured an image of a phoenix which was the crest of the Verney family.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 The Lady Verney High School at Schools etc. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Lady Verney High School at JHGS. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  3. ↑ Lady Verney High School at the National Archives. Retrieved 9 February 2015
  4. ↑ Whs Provenance LVHS. Retrieved 10 February 2015
  5. ↑ TheTimes Obituary at Wikisource. Retrieved 10 February 2015
  6. ↑ The Lady Verney High School at All Schools and Colleges. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  7. 1 2 Top School in exam league is closed at The Independent. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Lady Verney High School at WHS Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  9. ↑ LVHS Badge at whs. Retrieved 10 February 2015
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