Prendergast School is a girls'

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) ...

and

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 ...

located on Hilly Fields,

Brockley Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. History The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood ...

, in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes throug ...

. It has an independent board of governors. The school motto is from Chaucer's Prologue to ''The Canterbury Tales:'' "Trouthe and Honour, Fredom and Curteisye". (In

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

and in this context, "fredom" is generosity, not liberty.)

History

Prendergast Grammar School was founded as a fee-paying

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in Rushey Green,

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdiv ...

in 1890 under the will of the late Dr. Joseph Prendergast, DD (

Cantab Cantab may refer to: * ''Cantab'' (magazine), produced by University of Cambridge students from 1981 to 1990 * Cantabrigian, a member of the University of Cambridge, a member or Alumnus of Harvard University, or a resident of Cambridge * Cantabri ...

), 1791–1875, Headmaster of

Colfe's School Colfe's School, previously Colfe's Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school in Lee in the London Borough of Lewisham, in southeast London, England, and one of the oldest schools in London. The school is a member of the Headmast ...

1831–1857. His endowment was supplemented from several quarters, including some ancient charities associated with the parish of

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

. In the first half of the 20th century the school accepted an increasing number of scholarship girls from LCC

Elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. Following 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 school became a maintained grammar school with

voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation (charity), foundation or Charitable trust, trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influ ...

status. In the 1970s, with the abolition of the grammar school system in the inner

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

area (i.e., under ILEA), the school became Comprehensive. In 1995, for reasons of space, the school moved to its present site following extensive refurbishment. The site had previously been occupied by the West Kent Grammar School, which closed in 1905 and the building was bought by the London County Council for the Brockley County Grammar School which opened in 1907. Prendergast had used the site for its Sixth Form Centre from 1983 to 1995.

The School today

Prendergast School is a voluntary aided, non-denominational Comprehensive school of about 770 girls in the 11-18 age range (Year 7 to Year 13), including 180 in the sixth form (Year 12 and Year 13). In the 2007/2008 academic school year, there was a small intake of boys into the sixth form. In Year 7 it accepts applicants of all abilities and the admissions policy is largely based on proximity, but, as the school specialises in music and modern foreign languages, up to 10% of its intake can be determined by aptitude in these subjects. In recent years, official KS2-KS4 value-added indicators have consistently put the school in the top 10–15% of maintained schools. The

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

report of March 2003 noted, however, that attainment on entry to the school was higher than the national average. In the subsequent Ofsted report of March 2007, the school was awarded Grade 1 (outstanding) in overall effectiveness. The school is linked with the

Worshipful Company of Leathersellers The Worshipful Company of Leathersellers is one of the Livery company, livery companies of the City of London. The organisation originates from the latter part of the fourteenth century and received its Royal Charter in 1444, and is therefore t ...

, a City Livery Company, which gives occasional financial support, mainly for capital projects. It also awards three bursaries each year to leavers who are going on to university. Four members of the company are foundation governors. Although secular, the school also has historical links with the parish of

. In 2008, there was a proposal, subject to consultation, to involve the school in a federation with Crofton School and a new 3-16 school in Lewisham. In September 2009, Prendergast School became Prendergast Hilly Fields College, having become part of a Federation with the Crofton School, now known as Prendergast Ladywell Fields College. Prendergast Vale College joined the federation in 2011. In 2015 all three dropped 'College' from their names and Prendergast also dropped 'Hilly Fields'. In 2015 an attempt was made to academise the school.

Site and buildings

The school is split over two sites spaced about two hundred metres apart. The upper site (originally the home of the West Kent Grammar School) was built in the 1880s and commands fine views over London, Kent and Surrey. It is a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

of Grade II* status due to the presence of a series of high quality and rare mural paintings carried out in the Assembly Hall between the years 1933 and 1936 by four painters connected with the Royal College of Art:

Evelyn Dunbar Evelyn Mary Dunbar (18 December 1906 – 12 May 1960) was a British artist, illustrator and teacher. She is notable for recording women's contributions to World War II on the United Kingdom home front, particularly the work of the Women's Land A ...

, Charles Mahoney,

Mildred Eldridge Mildred Elsie Eldridge known as Elsi Eldridge, (1 August 1909 – 10 March 1991) was a British artist, mural painter and book illustrator. Biography Eldridge was born in Wimbledon in London where her father was pawnbroker who later became a j ...

and

Violet Martin Violet Florence Martin (11 June 1862 – 21 December 1915) was an Irish author who co-wrote a series of novels with cousin Edith Somerville under the pen name of Martin Ross (Somerville and Ross) in the late nineteenth and early twentieth cent ...

. These murals are considered some of the most important achievements of 20th century mural painting. The upper site also contains some stained glass panels, salvaged from the Catford site, and houses most of the classrooms and administrative offices. Adjacent to this, a new music block was neatly incorporated into the southern perimeter wall in 2005. The sports ground is located in Bellingham, about 3 km to its south.

Notable former pupils

Tanith Lee Tanith Lee (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime ...

, science fiction and fantasy writer

References

External links

Lewisham: Prendergast School InformationDfES: Prendergast School Profile
{{authority control Girls' schools in London Secondary schools in the London Borough of Lewisham Educational institutions established in 1890 1890 establishments in England Voluntary aided schools in London