Southend High School for Girls
Southend High School for Girls is a grammar school with academy status situated on Southchurch Boulevard in the east of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. It caters for students from the age of 11 through to 18 years old.
| Southend High School for Girls | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
Southchurch Boulevard , , SS2 4UZ England | |
| Information | |
| Type | Grammar school Academy |
| Motto | Latin: Ad Dei Gloriam "Glory to God", previously "Vehicula Vehicula Vehicula; Amitae Tuae Prudentiae." |
| Established | 1913 |
| Local authority | Southend-on-Sea |
| Department for Education URN | 136444 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Chair of Governors | Mr Bacon |
| Headteacher | Mr Carey |
| Gender | Girls |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Houses | Artemis Hermes Hera Athene Aphrodite Aurora |
| Colour(s) | Green and white |
| Website | http://www.shsg.org/ |
Academics
As of 2022, the school's most recent Ofsted inspection was in 2011, when it was judged Outstanding.[1]
The school has a specialism in languages. All Key Stage 3 students study French and German or French and Spanish (replacing Latin in 2002, which is now available as an additional subject studied off-timetable).
The school also offers other additional languages to the students, for example Chinese, Russian or Polish, but these come at a personal expense to the student themselves.
The school achieves excellent results at A level and other examinations, consistently above national averages, in part because of the selective entry system.[2]
In Science, Mathematics, English and Geography all students take a two-year Key Stage 3 qualification allowing them to start their GCSE studies early.
Demographics
According to the school's most recent Ofsted report:
"Most students are from a White British heritage, and a broadly average proportion is from minority ethnic backgrounds. No students are in the early stages of learning English. The proportion of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities is low and the proportion known to be entitled to free school meals is below average."[3]
Notable former pupils
- Prof Lorna Casselton, Professor of Fungal Genetics at the University of Oxford and expert in the sexual behaviour of mushrooms[4] from 1997 to 2003
- Prof Deborah Ashby, Professor of Medical Statistics and Clinical Trials at Imperial College London and expert on Bayesian statistics[5]
- Brigadier Jill Field CBE, Matron-in-Chief of the Army and Director of Defence Nursing Services from 1989 to 1992
- Jo Richardson, Labour MP for Barking from 1974 to 1994
- Sarah Wilhelmy, Former Great Britain international Athlete and representative at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Ruby Tandoh, runner-up on series four of BBC's The Great British Bake Off in 2013
- Rachel Riley, co-host of Countdown from 2009.[6]
Arson
In April 2003 the school was closed for two days following a fire in an art room started by a student.[7][8] On the day of the re-opening another fire was started; eventually three students were arrested in connection with the incidents.[9] There was also another fire started in Room 8 on the middle floor of the towerblock. The second fire was started in close proximity to gas pipes. In total three fires were started in the space of a single month leading to several parents withdrawing their daughters from the school.[10]
The school was again attacked in December 2005 causing several thousand pounds worth of damage to the school kitchen and a number of classrooms at the front of the school. The damage was so extensive that the Christmas holiday break was extended for students of years 7 and 8.[11][12] Reconstruction work took almost a year whilst a new kitchen, dining room and reception area were constructed and a number of classrooms had to be fully refitted.[12][13]
References
- Wheatley, Ted (2012). "Southend High School for Girls". Ofsted. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- "Performance results for Southend High School for Girls". BBC News. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- "Southend High School for Girls inspection report" (PDF). Ofsted. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
- "Professor conducted studies into sexual behaviour of mushrooms". Oxford Mail. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- "ASHBY, Prof. Deborah". Who's Who 2015. Oxford University Press. November 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
- "Rachel Riley: 'Southend feminist headteacher shaped my life'". Echo. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- "School fire 'may be arson'". BBC News. 29 April 2003. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- "Three arrests in school arson case". BBC News. 22 May 2003. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- "Southend: School fire heightens arson fear". Echo. 2 May 2003. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
- "Suspected arson at girls school". BBC News. 3 January 2006. Retrieved 29 July 2011.