The Sacred Heart Language College is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

secondary school for girls located in

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont and Kenton, and east of Headstone. The area accommodates ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, England.

History

Sacred Heart High School was founded in 1907 by the Sisters of St Chretienne who had fled religious persecution in their native France. The school taken over by the Sisters of Notre Dame des Missions in 1920 after the founding order returned to France. It was originally a boarding school for girls, although a small number of boys were admitted into the kindergarten. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the school, as with many Catholic schools in the country, faced financial struggles but remained open after much effort from pupils and staff to raise the necessary funds. In 1957 it became a

voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

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 1991 the first lay headteacher was appointed after long-serving headteacher Sister Anne Collette retired. During the 1990s, the school went through a tumultuous period during which pupil numbers and GCSE scores plummeted, coupled by a poor Ofsted inspection report in 1994. The appointment of Mary Waplington as headteacher in 1997 turned the school's fortunes around. It gained

Language College Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that succes ...

specialist status in 2003 and was renamed The Sacred Heart Language College. In 2005 an Ofsted report deemed it to be very good. The appointment of Miss Geraldine Higgins as headteacher in 2007 ushered in a new phase with outstanding Ofsted judgements recorded in both 2008 and 2014. The 2013 Diocesan report on how well it fulfils its Catholic mission deemed it to be outstanding for both its teaching and spirituality.History of the school
/ref> The Sacred Heart Language College converted to academy status in May 2019 and is now sponsored by the Blessed Holy Family Catholic Academy Trust.

References

External links

School Website
{{authority control Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Westminster Girls' schools in London Secondary schools in the London Borough of Harrow Academies in the London Borough of Harrow Educational institutions established in 1907 1907 establishments in England Specialist language colleges in England