St Bernard's Convent High School is a girls

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bilateral Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular: * Bilateria, bilateral animals *Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states *Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of ...

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) ...

located in

Leigh on Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011, it had a population of 22,509. Geography Leigh- ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, with a mixed

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 ...

.Official school website
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History

There has been a Catholic school on the site since 1875, however it was in 1910 that St. Bernard's Convent High School was created on the premises for young ladies by a group of Bernardine Sisters. St Bernard's school celebrated its centenary in 2010. In 2004 St. Bernard's school achieved Specialist Arts status, and in 2008 a Specialist Science status was also achieved. The school became an

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

in 2011.

Emblem

The school's emblem, which is featured on the school uniform as well as headed on letters from the school, is three swords within a double diamond. Below the diamond reads "Dieu Mon Abri" meaning "God Is My Shelter" in French.

Houses

There are currently 5 forms per year from years 7 to 11. Students in these years are placed in one of 6 different houses. These houses are: "A", "C", "F", "M" "R" and "H", which stand for Annay, Clairvaux, Fountains, Melrose, Rievaulx and Hyning, these being

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

s or

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

which are in some way connected to Saint Bernard.

Notable former pupils

* Dame Helen Mirren, actress"Helen speaks of horrid birth film at school"
''Basildon Canvey Southend Echo''. (25 October 2007). Retrieved 20 August 2020. *

Anne Stallybrass Jacqueline Anne Stallybrass (4 December 1938 – 3 July 2021) was an English actress who trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The television roles for which she is best known are Jane Seymour in ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII'' (197 ...

, actress *

Gemma Craven Rita Gemma Craven (''née'' Gabriel; born 1 June 1950) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her role as Joan Parker, the frigid wife of Arthur (Bob Hoskins), in the BBC TV drama '' Pennies From Heaven'' (1978). Biography Craven's family ...

, actress

References

External links

St Bernard's High School and Arts College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Bernard's High School Bilateral schools in England Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Brentwood Educational institutions established in 1910 1910 establishments in England Secondary schools in Southend-on-Sea Academies in Southend-on-Sea