Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School (EGA), a medium-sized comprehensive secondary school for girls in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, London, England, is rated as 'Outstanding' by OFSTED in its most recent inspection report. It is named in honour of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first woman to gain a medical qualification in the United Kingdom. EGA's buildings, which are located between King's Cross railway station and Angel Underground station, are named after great women in history, such as

Emily Brontë Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...

History

The school is the result of a merger between Starcross School and Barnsbury Girls' School in 1984. Starcross school was founded in 1928 and moved into the buildings made vacant by the 1965 closing of

Risinghill School Risinghill School was a progressive co-educational comprehensive school, comprehensive secondary school that opened in Islington, north London, on 3 May 1960 and closed four and a half years later. A book chronicling its demise made publishing his ...

, which had opened in 1960, although a school has existed on the site since 1885 (further extended in 1899 )(originally Rising Hill Street School). Barnsbury Girls' School was created in 1934 on the site of an all age Victorian school in Barnsbury Park. The Piazza at EGA

The school was rebuilt as part of the final phase of BSF and the new building opened in November 2012. Demolition of the old buildings and landscaping of the site is now complete.

Islington Futures Federation of Community Schools

Islington Futures is a federation of four community schools: EGA, Beacon High School, Copenhagen Primary School and Vittoria Primary School and was established in September 2018. Jo Dibb is the Executive Headteacher of the Islington Futures Federation.

Relationship with Michelle Obama

In 2009, the school was visited by

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is married t ...

, wife of then American president

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. During her visit she gave a speech about achieving regardless of your background and spoke about how much she had in common with the girls at the school. The occasion was posted online as a TED talk. She stayed in touch with the school following her 2009 visit and on 25 May 2011, during a state visit of the US president, she took a group of 37 pupils at the school to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

for a presentation. In 2012, the First Lady invited a group of students from EGA to meet her in the White House. The former

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

visited the school again in December 2018 where she spoke to an audience of 300 students as part of her book tour. Joined by a panel of former pupils and the school's Executive Headteacher Jo Dibb, she delivered an inspirational message of hope for the future and the importance of education. Her visits and her TED talk are described in her memoir Becoming (published November 2018) and described in her own voice for the Radio 4 serialisation of the book.

Notable former pupils

Zawe Ashton Zawedde Emma "Zawe" Ashton (; born 25 July 1984) is a British actress, playwright and narrator. She is best known for her roles in the comedy dramas '' Fresh Meat'' and ''Not Safe for Work'', the Netflix horror thriller film ''Velvet Buzzsaw'' ...

, actress, playwright and director *

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the British television series ''The X Factor'' in 2008, and has been signed to Epic Records, RCA Records and Syc ...

, singer *

Billie JD Porter Billie JD Porter (born 14 June 1992) is a British journalist, model and documentary filmmaker. She began her career as a music writer whilst still at school, going on to contribute to titles such as ''NME'', ''Vice'', ''Dazed & Confused'' and ' ...

, journalist

Notable former staff

* Author

Margaret Forster Margaret Forster (25 May 1938 – 8 February 2016) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and critic, best known for the 1965 novel ''Georgy Girl'', made into a successful film of the same name, which inspired a hit song by T ...

taught English at Barnsbury Girls' School from 1961–1963

References

External links

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School websiteElizabeth Garrett Anderson School TwitterProfile at Direct.govSchool Prospectus
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1928 1928 establishments in England Girls' schools in London Secondary schools in the London Borough of Islington Community schools in the London Borough of Islington