Waldegrave School is a state

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

with academy status in Twickenham, London, England. It takes girls between the ages of 11 and 16 and has a coeducational sixth form, opened in September 2014. There are four houses and each house is named after prominent women: (Mary) Seacole, (Emmeline) Pankhurst, (George) Eliot and (Rosalind) Franklin.

Description

Waldegrave School converted to academy status in 2012, having previously been part of the Richmond upon Thames LEA. The Headteacher is Elizabeth Tongue, who replaced Philippa Nunn in January 2019. Mrs Nunn held the post from 2006 when she succeeded Heather Flint. Waldegrave was a Beacon School from 1999 and became involved in a

Leading Edge Partnership The Leading Edge Partnership programme was established in 2003 by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in the United Kingdom. The programme's intention was to encourage Secondary schools in England to work in partnership to solve som ...

with Grey Court School in 2004. It was also awarded specialist Science College status in September 2004, and continues to specialise in science today. It is the only state-maintained girls' school (ages 11 to 16) in the borough. In 2014 it opened a co-educational 6th form with approximately 140 students in each year.

Academic performance

As with other schools, latest exam results and related data are published in the Department for Education's national tables. In 2010 Waldegrave was named the top state secondary school, without a sixth form, in the country, by The Times Parent Power and again in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. This is a survey based on the % of A and A* grades achieved by students. In 2016, it was named Comprehensive School of the year by the Sunday Times Schools Guide in recognition of its consistently good GCSE results and the high standard of results for its first A level cohort. In 2008, Waldegrave was reported to have received a higher proportion of fraudulent applications than for other secondary schools in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

History

Waldegrave School was formed in 1980 by the merger of two girls' schools – Twickenham Girls' School and Kneller Girls' School – on its present-day site. Its name commemorates Frances Lady Waldegrave, a former local resident of Strawberry Hill House.

Twickenham County School for Girls

Twickenham County School for Girls opened in 1909, later known as the all-girls Twickenham County Grammar School or the Cowsheds. With the end of selective grammar education in the borough in 1972, the school became a comprehensive known as Twickenham Girls' School in 1973. Ruth Kirkley (1935 – 21 July 2009), headteacher from 1977, continued as the first headteacher of Waldegrave school until 1991. The site of Twickenham Girls' School is now the St Richard Reynolds RC College

Kneller Girls' School

Kneller Girls' School opened in 1936 at the railway end of the ''Meadway'' site shared with the mirror building, but initially completely segregated, Kneller Boys' School. The building was augmented by huts following the raising of school leaving age to 15 after the

Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historians ...

. The schools merged as Kneller Secondary Modern School before 1959 when the boys moved to what is now

Twickenham Academy Twickenham School, is a co-educational secondary school located in Whitton, in the London Borough of Richmond, south-west London. It has two predecessor schools: Twickenham Academy and before that Whitton School. Twickenham School is an acade ...

in Whitton, and the school reverted to all-girls and its original name. The girls' numbers were increased with the transfer of secondary school age girls from the Stanley Road school. In 1978 the school relocated to the site in ''Fifth Cross Road''. (The ''Fifth Cross Road'' site had previously been occupied since 1928 by the Thames Valley Grammar School which became a Sixth Form College in 1973 and had closed in 1977 with the formation of

Richmond upon Thames College Richmond upon Thames College is a large college of further and higher education located on a single site in Twickenham. It provides education and training to 16- to 18-year-olds and adults from across the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames an ...

). The former Kneller school site in ''Meadway'' is now a residential estate.

Notable former pupils

Waldegrave School

* Anna Calvi, singer songwriter *

Kelly Marcel Kelly Marcel (born 10 January 1974) is a British screenwriter, actress and television producer. She co-wrote the film '' Saving Mr. Banks'' (2013) and wrote the film ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' (2015), and created and served as executive producer o ...

, screenwriter * Rosie Marcel, actress *

Anna Vakili The fifth series of ''Love Island'' began airing on 3 June 2019 on ITV2, and concluded on 29 July 2019. Caroline Flack presented the series, while Iain Stirling narrated it. It is the fifth from the current revived series, but seventh overall. ...

, TV personality

Twickenham Girls' School

* Caroline Flint, Labour MP for Don Valley since 1997

Kneller Girls' School

Jasmine Whitbread Jasmine Mary Whitbread (born 1 September 1963) is a British businesswoman, and the chair of Travis Perkins since 2021. From 2016 to 2021, she was the chief executive of London First, an independent non-profit organisation whose mission is to make ...

, CEO of Save the Children International *

Saimo Chahal Saimo Chahal KC (hon) is a British lawyer specialising in human rights. She was formerly joint head of the public law and human rights team at Bindmans LLP, in London. Education and personal life Chahal was born in Punjab, India. She attended pr ...

, human rights lawyer

Twickenham County Grammar School

* Margaret Bourne OBE, chairman from 1992 to 2001 of CORDA * Julie Girling, Conservative MEP for South West England 2009-2019 *

Dianne Jackson Dianne Jackson (28 July 1941 – 31 December 1992) was an English animation director, best known for ''The Snowman'', made in 1982 and subsequently repeated every Christmas on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. She had a long career as an animat ...

, animator, director of '' The Snowman'' * Valerie Vaz, British Labour Party politician and solicitor.

In popular culture

The school buildings appeared in the 1989 film ''Shirley Valentine'' starring Pauline Collins. It was also used in the series '' Goggle-Eyes'' adapted for television by the BBC as a four-episode mini-series, which was broadcast in 1993. The school was also featured in a short section of '' Before I go to Sleep'' (2014) starring Nicole Kidman and

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

References

External links

* {{authority control Girls' schools in London Educational institutions established in 1980 Secondary schools in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Academies in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Training schools in England 1980 establishments in England Twickenham