Edgbaston High School for Girls is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

day school for girls aged to 18 in the

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...

area of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England.

History

In 1846, Elizabeth Brady founded a school in Edgbaston for the daughters of Quakers in 1846 and this ran for 21 years. This school was founded in 1876 making it the oldest girls' secondary school open to the public in Birmingham. The first headmistress was

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

.Ruth Watts, 'Cooper, Alice Jane (1846–1917)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 200
accessed 22 Jan 2017
/ref> The school used to be a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

in a different location. Cooper strongly encouraged the teaching of science and made sure that like other schools for girls they had science equipment. She encouraged her teachers to not teach by rote and she preferred to have no external examinations until the age of 17. She encouraged sensible clothing and physical exercise. In 1881, the school staged a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

match against another school, to which a local newspaper reacted with hostility. It produced a cartoon and wrote a passage of its opinions towards the upcoming match. In 1882, the school paid for her to visit a large number of American schools. She returned and reported on their better equipment and she saw some advantage in co-education.

Structure

Westbourne is the Pre-Preparatory Department of the school. It is split into three stages, organised by the age of the child. The Octagon Nursery is available for children from the age of 2 and above. The nursery opened in September 2004. Following this is the Kindergarten for children of the age of three. In the September following the child's fourth birthday, they can move into Reception. The Preparatory Department is the second department in the school. It consists of years one to six. Each year is split into four

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

; Curie, Frank, Johnson and Nightingale. In Years One, Two and Three forms are primarily taught by their form teacher with specialist teaching in French, music and physical education. More specialist teaching is introduced as pupils move from Year Four through to Year Six. These two departments form the Lower School. The Senior School is third department in the school. It consists of Years Seven to Eleven, preparing the students for

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private s ...

and

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

. Following this the students may move on into the sixth form centre, the fourth department. Sixth Form students are required to wear a suit which is conservative in style. There are five houses: St Patrick, St David, St Andrew, St George, and St Francis with many House Events available such as the House Quiz or Sports Day.

Academics

The school received the 11th best GCSE results and 9th best A/ AS level results in 2006 in Birmingham.

Notable former pupils

* Mary Sturge, second woman doctor in Birmingham *

Verily Anderson Verily Anderson (12 January 1915 – 16 July 2010) was a British author, best known for writing the screenplay of the 1960 film '' No Kidding'',Eloise Miller"Verily Anderson obituary" ''The Guardian'' (London), 29 July 2010. based on her 1958 book ...

, British television and play writer * Sally Davies, medical doctor and first woman to be appointed as chief medical officer for England *

Molly Dineen Molly Dineen (born 7 March 1959) is a television documentary director, cinematographer and producer. One of Britain's most acclaimed documentary filmmakers, Molly is known for her intimate and probing portraits of British individuals and instituti ...

, Canadian-born British documentary director, producer and cinematographer *

Elinor Wight Gardner Elinor Wight Gardner (24 September 1892, in Birmingham – 1980), a geology lecturer at Bedford College, London and research fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, is best known for her field surveys with Gertrude Caton–Thompson of the Kharga Oasis wh ...

, British university lecturer, geologist, and archaeologist * Julia Lloyd, educationalist and pioneer of kindergartensRuth Watts, 'Lloyd, Julia (1867–1955)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 201
accessed 1 August 2015
/ref> *

Sue Lloyd Sue or SUE may refer to: Music * Sue Records, an American record label * ''Sue'' (album), an album by Frazier Chorus * " Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)", a song by David Bowie Places * Sue Islet (Queensland), one of the Torres Straits isla ...

, British model, television and film actress *

Helen George Helen Elizabeth George (born 19 June 1984) is an English actress, best known for playing Trixie Franklin on the BBC drama series ''Call the Midwife''. In 2015, she participated in the thirteenth series of BBC One's ''Strictly Come Dancing''; ...

, television and film actress * Kate Williams, historian, author and television presenter *

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai ( ur, , , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997), is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second Pak ...

, women's education activist and

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiology ...

laureate

References

External links

School websiteEHS Old Girls' AssociationProfile
on

MyDaughter MyDaughter was a British website set up by the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) offering advice to parents of daughters on all aspects of raising and educating girls. Advice was provided by headteachers from the member schools of the Girls' Scho ...

Profile
on the ISC website {{authority control Private schools in Birmingham, West Midlands Educational institutions established in 1876 Girls' schools in the West Midlands (county) Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association 1876 establishments in England Edgbaston