Chiswick School is an English secondary school with academy status in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and ...

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

. It educates more than 1,200 pupils, aged 11 to 18 years. This number includes 200 pupils studying at the upper school

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

within the school grounds.

Admissions

The school has a wide catchment, encompassing its native borough of Hounslow, but also areas including Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond, and Hammersmith and Fulham. As of 2004, the school's intake was almost 60 percent male, explained by the number of girls' schools nearby. A majority of the school's students are of minority ethnic backgrounds, and a significantly greater proportion than the national average speak English as a second language. The percentage of disadvantaged students receiving help from the pupil premium is also above average.

History

Chiswick County School for Girls opened in 1916 in Burlington Lane, and Chiswick County School for Boys opened in 1926 beside the girls' school. Rory K. Hands was appointed head of the boys school in 1963, and in 1966, he oversaw a merger of the two institutions, to form the co-educational Chiswick County Grammar School. Shortly thereafter, the Borough proposed that Hands' grammar school should be merged with two nearby secondary modern schools to form a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is r ...

, following

Circular 10/65 Circular 10/65 was a government circular issued in 1965 by the Department of Education and Science (DES) requesting Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales to begin converting their secondary schools to the Comprehensive System. ...

. This amalgamation created Chiswick Comprehensive School, which opened in 1968. The new school operated across two sites, with the lower school (for ages 11 to 14) occupying what had been the secondary modern school's buildings at Staveley Road, and the upper school operating on the old grammar school site at Burlington Lane. In 1973, some of the buildings at Staveley Road had to be closed as they were made of brittle

high alumina cement Calcium aluminate cements are cements consisting predominantly of hydraulic calcium aluminates. Alternative names are "aluminous cement", "high-alumina cement" and "Ciment fondu" in French. They are used in a number of small-scale, specialized ap ...

. The school was forced to operate with a "village of huts"; Hands maintained school morale with a production of ''

The Gondoliers ''The Gondoliers; or, The King of Barataria'' is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 7 December 1889 and ran for a very successful 554 performances (at that time the ...

'' by

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which '' H.M.S. ...

. He retired the headship in 1975 after suffering a series of heart attacks. Dame

Helen Metcalf Dame Helen Metcalf, DBE, FRSA (née Pitt; 7 October 1946 – 3 December 2003) was a British academic, educator, and politician. Biography Born as Helen Pitt in Enfield, Middlesex, she attended Enfield Grammar School and Manchester University ...

was the school's headteacher from 1988 to 2001, providing strong and emotionally intelligent leadership. Sometime after 1978 the school was renamed Chiswick Community School; the name reverted to Chiswick School when it became an academy on 1 March 2012. Today, the North Eastern block from the original girls' school still remains.

Notable former pupils

John Stuart Archer John Stuart Archer (15 June 1943 – 9 December 2007) was Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Heriot-Watt University from 1997 to 2006. Life Archer was born in London on 15 June 1943 and went to Chiswick County Grammar School. ...

– vice-chancellor of

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted uni ...

, president of the

Institution of Chemical Engineers The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is a global professional engineering institution with over 33,000 members worldwide. It was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957. It has offices in Rugby, London, Melbourne, Wellingt ...

Frost's Scottish Who's Who
John Stuart Archer (accessed 7 March 2009) *

Henry Badowski Henry Badowski (born October 1958) is a British multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and composer, who was a member of several punk rock bands in the 1970s before embarking on a solo career. Career Badowski's apprenticeship started in several U ...

- musician *

Carlton Cole Carlton Michael George Cole (born 12 October 1983) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored 52 goals in 288 Premier League appearances for four clubs. Cole began his career at Chelsea ...

– footballer *

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

– singer, songwriter and world-renowned drummer, member of rock band

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...

Phoebe Fox Phoebe Fox (born 16 April 1987) is an English actress, who was nominated for Olivier and Evening Standard awards for work in theatre. She has appeared in the ''Black Mirror'' episode "The Entire History of You" (2011), '' The Woman in Black: An ...

– actor * John Neville – actor *

Nana Ofori-Twumasi Seth Nana Ofori-Twumasi (born 15 May 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for Peterborough & District League side Oakham United. Born in Ghana, he is a former youth international for England. Early life Tw ...

– footballer *

Natalie Sawyer Natalie Lorraine Sawyer (born 23 October 1979) is an English television and podcast presenter and Talksport radio presenter. Sawyer parted company with Sky Sports News in March 2018, after eighteen years of service having initially joined t ...

– TV presenter *

Kyle Simmons Bastille (sometimes stylised as BΔSTILLE) are an English pop rock band formed in 2010. The group began as a solo project by lead vocalist Dan Smith, but later expanded to include keyboardist Kyle Simmons, bassist and guitarist Will Farquarson ...

– keyboard player for Bastille *

Allegra Stratton Allegra Elizabeth Jane Stratton (born 10 April 1980) is a British former political aide, journalist, and writer who served as Downing Street Press Secretary under Boris Johnson from November 2020 to April 2021. Stratton worked for ''The Guardi ...

– journalist, political aide * Don Taylor – director and playwright *

Brian Tesler Brian Tesler (born 19 February 1929) is a British television producer and executive. His career encompassed British television's post-war evolution from a single-channel BBC to the beginning of today’s multitude of cable and satellite channels ...

– chairman of

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 ...

References

External links

Official site

National Archives: minutes of the School Board 1872-1903

Visit Gallery
{{authority control Academies in the London Borough of Hounslow Educational institutions established in 1968 Secondary schools in the London Borough of Hounslow 1968 establishments in England Chiswick Buildings and structures in Chiswick