Lady Margaret School an all-girls'

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

secondary school in Parsons Green, Fulham, London. It was awarded specialist school status (a government funding scheme defunct since 2010) as a Mathematics & Computing College in September 2003, and 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 philosop ...

in September 2012. In September 2017 it celebrated its 100th anniversary. Princess Alexandra is patron of the centenary having previously opened the new assembly hall in 1965. Princess Alexandra attended a service to celebrate the centenary of Lady Margaret School at Westminster Abbey (the resting place of Lady Margaret Beaufort) on Tuesday 17 October 2017. The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, John Hall.

Now

The school has approximately 742 girls aged between 11 and 18 years, about 175 of whom are in the sixth form. The majority of girls stay on into the sixth form. A number of students from other schools are given places in the sixth form following its expansion with the opening of the purpose-built Olivier Centre in 2010. The headteacher is Elisabeth Stevenson, following the retirement of Sally Whyte in July 2015. Today Lady Margaret School is a Church of England academy in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. In 2003 the school achieved specialist status in mathematics and computing. In 2007 the school was described by Ofsted as 'good with outstanding features' and by the Statutory Inspection of Anglican Schools as 'outstanding'. In 2010, the school opened a new building named 'The Olivier Centre', named after the former headmistress, Joan Olivier. The auditorium there was named after Colin Busby, a deputy head who also retired in 2006. It was reviewed again in 2011, with Ofsted describing the school as 'outstanding'. Having been designated a 'high performing specialist school' following the successful Ofsted inspection, the school was awarded a second specialism in music. In December 2012 the school was given the go-ahead by Hammersmith and Fulham Council to expand to permanently admit four forms of entry in year 7 following the success of two earlier 'bulge' years. From September 2014 the school admitted four forms (120 pupils) in year 7. In December 2016, the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) conducted an inspection to evaluate the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the school as a church school. The report judged the school to be ‘Outstanding’ in all categories.

History

Lady Margaret School has its origins in Whitelands College School, founded in 1842, a year after the creation of

Whitelands College Whitelands College is the oldest of the four constituent colleges of the University of Roehampton. History Whitelands College is one of the oldest higher education institutions in England (predating every university except Oxford, Cambridge, Lo ...

, one of the oldest higher education institutions in England. The latter was founded by the

's National Society as a

teacher training college A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

for women. The college was named after its first home, a Georgian building, Whitelands House, on

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

. In 1917, Whitelands School was threatened with closure, and it was only by the strenuous efforts of Enid Moberly Bell and her staff that a substantial number of the pupils were "rescued", forming Lady Margaret School that September. Records in

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

suggest that Enid Moberly Bell was its founding headmistress. The school was named after the Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, founder of St John's and Christ's Colleges, Cambridge, and a benefactress of education. The school began life in the oldest of the three houses facing Parsons Green which now form the present school: Belfield House. In 1937, the second house, Elm House, was purchased through the generosity of Anne Lupton (died 1967) and was renamed Lupton House. The school was for many decades a fee-paying school. However, with the passing in 1944 of the "Butler Act", which introduced free secondary education in the UK, the school's kindergarten and junior school were phased out and Lady Margaret became a two-form entry grammar school. In April 1951 its relationship to the Church of England was regularised when it became a voluntary aided school. It became a comprehensive school on its 60th Anniversary in September 1977.

Houses

There are six houses in the school: Moberly Bell and Marshall joined the four original houses in 2001/02. Three of the six houses are named after women and the other three are after men. They are as follows: Moberly-Bell, (named after Enid Moberly-Bell, first headmistress of LMS) (pink), Lyttelton (after Edward Lytelton, a benefactor of the school) (blue), Carver (named after an early benefactor of the school, Gertrude Carver, who was also a close family friend of Enid Moberly Bell) (green),Marshall (Florence Marshall, a previous headmistress)(purple), Chirol (Sir Valentine Chirol, a benefactor of the school) (red) and Kensington (the Bishop of Kensington) (yellow).

Notable former pupils

* Louise Alder – soprano * Laura Barnett – author and journalist *

Mahalia Belo Mahalia Belo is an English film and television director. Biography Belo graduated from the National Film and Television School in 2012. Her graduation film, ''Volume'' won a BIFA award in the Best British Short Film category and was shown at t ...

– film director * Jessie Burton – actress and writer *

Martha Fiennes Martha Maria Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes () is an English film director, writer and producer. Fiennes is best known for her film '' Onegin'' (1999), which starred her elder brother, Ralph, and her subsequent film ''Chromophobia'' (2005). Career ...

– film director * Jill Saward, rape law reformist, aka the ''Ealing Vicarage Rape Victim'' *

Mia Soteriou Mia Soteriou is a British musician and actress. Soteriou was born in London. She studied piano at the Royal College of Music and English at Oxford University. Musical career Soteriou has written music for and played in numerous stage producti ...

, (Maria Soteriou) – actress and musician

Grammar school

Nadine Baylis Nadine Paula Ann Baylis (15 June 1940 – 3 November 2017) was a British stage and costume designer, who "set the standard for modern dance costume". Early life Nadine Baylis was born in London, the daughter of Alice (nee Down) and Sydney Baylis, ...

(1940-2017), stage and costume designer * Betty Birch, England cricketer (1951-1958), pupil and PE teacher at the school * Barbara Boxall, Editor from 1964–74 of ''

Woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

'', and from 1962–64 of ''

Woman's Realm ''Woman's Realm'' was a British weekly women's magazine first published in 1958. One of the editors-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility f ...

'' * Diana Garnham, Board member Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Chief Executive 2006 – October 2015 of the Science Council, and from 1991–2005 of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) *

Kelly Hunter Kelly Hunter (born 21 July 1963) is a British film, television, radio, stage and musical actress, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. She is a Laurence Olivier Award nominee and Radio Academy Award and TMA A ...

– actress *

Nigella Lawson Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English food writer and television cook. She attended Godolphin and Latymer School, London. After graduating from the University of Oxford, where she was a member of Lady Margaret Hall, Lawson st ...

(briefly) and her sister Horatia * Janet Street-Porter — editor-at-large at the Independent newspapers

References

External links

* {{authority control Girls' schools in London Secondary schools in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of London Academies in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Houses in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Fulham Educational institutions established in 1917 1917 establishments in England King's Road, Chelsea, London