Our Lady's Convent Roman Catholic High School

Our Lady's Convent High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school for girls situated in Stamford Hill, in the London Borough of Hackney.

History

On 11 January 1904, the Servite Sisters founded a small independent school called Our Lady's School, with Sr M. Phillipa as its first headmistress. The school later moved to 14-16 Amhurst Park during the 1930s.^[1] There were 27 pupils aged 10 and over; all the staff were Servite sisters; parents paid fees of £2/10/00 per term. The rooms in the house built in the 1800s were used as classrooms. There was a grass tennis court in the garden. The school has since expanded and the premises consist of the original buildings and newer additions (the most recent in 2003). The first lay headteacher, only the fifth in the school's history, was appointed in 1994. Our Lady's Convent High is no longer directly run by the Servites but remains under their trusteeship.^[2]

Current structure

A tradition of excellence today, Our Lady's is a thriving Voluntary Aided Roman Catholic School, which has been awarded Specialist Status as a Language College. Permission to expand by one form of entry has meant that the school's total number is currently 780 students. The Sixth Form Centre admits boys and girls and has currently 180 students.

The school has a deserved reputation for academic achievement and it strives continually both to maintain and raise its standards, under the continuing trusteeship of the Servite Sisters. The school itself is over-subscribed and is one of the most successful state schools in London.

In each year group, 120 children are admitted in accordance with their academic abilities and their general practice of the Catholic faith at home - for proof of this, a Baptism Certificate and Holy Communion Certificate and a reference from the child's priest confirming that they go to church on a regular basis must be shown upon entry.

Our Lady's has four tutor groups: Hugh (H), which uses the house colour blue, Juliana (J), which uses the house colour red, Manettus (M), which uses the house colour yellow and Philomena (P), which uses the house colour green.

The current headteacher is Mrs Jane Gray, who took over from Mrs Margaret Dixon in 2004 who served as headteacher from 1994-2003. Dixon was the first lay head teacher of the school. With the retirement of Sister John, the last Servite head teacher, and the deputy Sr Sheila Sumner, the daily presence of the Trustees has gone, but these serve as Foundation Governors on the Governing Body.

As of September 2010, the school became split site, since as part of the Building Schools for Future (BSF), the school is to be completely remodelled and rebuilt. The lower school (years 7 and 8) still remains at the old site in Stamford Hill. The upper school (years 9, 10, 11 plus sixth form) have moved to Upper Clapton, occupying a building put up for the lower school of The Skinners' Company's School for Girls. The rebuilding of the school was finished in Autumn 2012.

The School came together, back on one site, in September 2012.

Departments of the school

There are 17 departments in the school all working towards developing the curriculum to meet the needs of the students.

• Art
• Business studies
• Classical studies
• Citizenship
• Technology
• English
• Geography
• Government and politics
• History
• ICT
• Mathematics
• Modern languages
• Music
• Psychology
• Physical education
• Religious studies
• Science
• Economics

Notable former pupils

• Freema Agyeman, actress, Doctor Who as Martha Jones, attended the school circa 1990s
• Moira Stuart, BBC broadcaster and newsreader
• Dame Barbara Windsor, actress, BBC soap opera EastEnders, attended the school circa 1940s-1950s

References

External links

• School Website
• International Servite Schools Network