Clifton High School is a
co-educational
Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
private school
A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
in
Clifton, Bristol
Clifton is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The easter ...
, England. Clifton High School was founded as an
all-girls' school in 1877 for girls aged 7–17, and the nearby
Clifton College
Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...
was then a boys' school. In 1887, a preparatory class was set up where boys were soon admitted. It became fully coeducational in 2009. It is a member of the
Society of Heads
The Society of Heads, formerly the Society of Headmasters & Headmistresses of Independent Schools (SHHIS), or "S of H", is an association of circa 130 Headmasters and Headmistresses of various types of private schools in the United Kingdom, and was ...
.
History
Clifton High School for Girls was founded in 12 September 1877 (after some opposition from nearby
Bristol Grammar School
Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, mixed, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowe ...
) by visionaries including
John Percival (bishop), the first Headmaster of
Clifton College
Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...
.
In 1876, LT-Col. Pears discussed the possibility of founding a day school for girls in Clifton with Dr Percival, Mr Wollaston and others interested in starting an education. Dr Percival asked some of the most prominent Bristol Men, including
George Alfred Wills. The first council was started on 12 September 1877. The school officially opened its doors on 24 January 1878 with 67 students. The first student at the school was Bessie Percival, the daughter of the founder
John Percival (bishop). The first head was Ms Mary Alice Woods who was head in 1877–1891. In 1887, a preparatory class was set up where boys were soon admitted.
Clifton High originally opened in 1878 at 65 Pembroke Road. Around this time Clifton was at the height of its expansion with the
Victoria Rooms,
RWA,
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
and
Whiteladies Road
Whiteladies Road is a main road in Bristol, England. It runs north from the Victoria Rooms (Bristol), Victoria Rooms to Durdham Down, and separates Clifton, Bristol, Clifton on the west side from Redland, Bristol, Redland and Cotham, Bristol, C ...
all recently constructed. Within a year of opening, the school needed to expand and as such, on 23 January 1879, moved into a large house that had been built in 1876, on College Road. The house is now part of the school's main building.
In the sixty years following its move significant expansion took place, the original hall was built in 1889 and a new wing added to the original house in 1927 by
Sir George Oatley. The wing was funded by a performance performed by students entitled 'Chaucer's England' in 1926. In the mid–1930s the tunnel under the road and gymnasium were constructed. During this time the school also expanded into the houses on School Green and into properties on Clifton Park. By 1951, the school site was largely as it is today.
Boys first joined the Junior School in 1994, and the Sixth Form began accepting boys in 2008 and the school became fully coeducational the following year.
The school is the only one in the region to operate the
Diamond Edge model of education. This model means boys and girls are educated together from Nursery to Year 6, then separately in some subjects between Years 7 and 9. In Years 7 to 9 boys and girls are taught separately for English, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Games. They are then taught together in all subjects from Years 10 to 13. The Diamond Edge Model was applied in 2009, and is currently directed by deputy head, Manolis Psarros.
During the summer break of 2022, Clifton High School revamped some of its facilities and began construction of a new building for the Sixth Form. The same year, it was announced the school would be rebranding. The logo and possibly the uniform would be changed, and the school colours would be condensed into two colours—green and red. The school rebranding was made effective in September 2023, and introduced a new logo, tagline, and uniforms.
Following Head of School Mr Matthew Bennett's sudden departure in August 2023, Mr Luke Goodman was promoted from his position of Deputy Head to the Acting Head. Mr Will Phelan assumed the role of Head of School in September 2024.
Clifton High School has consistently been praised by external inspection agencies. A 2023 report by the
Independent Schools Inspectorate found the school "Excellent" in both assessed categories (Academic and Other Achievements, Pupils' Personal Development);
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...
has classified the school as "Outstanding" in all its judged criteria.
Rose Day
Clifton High School holds its annual Rose Day at the end of the school year in mid June. It is held to commemorate the school's history and is a celebration of its achievements.
One of the school's oldest traditions, Rose Day was established by Clifton High's first head teacher, Miss Woods, in the 1880s. The Rose was officially chosen by Ms Woods in 1891. In 1945, Rose Day was moved from the nearby
Clifton Cathedral to
Bristol Cathedral
Bristol Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bristol. The cathedral was originally an abbey dedicated to St ...
.
Houses
In the 1950s and 1960s the houses were named after the school's founders and early benefactors, Budgett, Percival, Pope, Pears,
Winkworth and Wollaston. Later, they were named after famous women:
Austen (pink);
Curie Curie may refer to:
*Curie family, a family of distinguished scientists:
:* Jacques Curie (1856–1941), French physicist, Pierre's brother
:* Pierre Curie (1859–1906), French physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Marie's husband
:* Marie Curi ...
(yellow); and
Odette (green). The house names were then changed in academic year 2009–2010 to Holmes, Radcliffe and Redgrave; as this was the first year allowing boys throughout the entire school. The house names were changed back in academic year 2010–2011, following a competition, to the names of the school founders, Wollaston (yellow), Winkworth (red), Pears (blue) and Percival (green).
Facilities
The Great Hall was opened in 1889 and boarding facilities were made in 1896 until the 1990s. A school orchestra was formed in 1893. Current school facilities include a sports centre, swimming pool (opened in 1967), multimedia language centre, cooking room and several
information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
rooms. The Rose Theatre was opened in 1967 along with the music and art department buildings, which then housed the sewing house and junior boarding house.
The school co-owns the Coombe Dingle Sports Complex, in partnership with the
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
, which has facilities including lacrosse, rugby and football pitches, and indoor and outdoor tennis courts.
In 2022, Clifton High revamped a large number of facilities, including the dining hall and arts department. Construction of a new Sixth Form Centre finished in March 2023, and was named after former headmistress, Joyce Walters. The school also opened the Walters Bistro, a café serving students and teachers in the Sixth Form Centre.
Head teachers
The Heads of Clifton High School, in list by chronological order:
*(1877–1891) Ms Mary Alice Woods
*(1891–1908) Ms Catherine Burns
*(1908–1933) Ms
Eleanor Addison Phillips
*(1933–1962) Ms D. Nonita Glenday
*(1962–1964) Ms Sybil McKillop
*(1965–1985) Ms Pamela Stringer
*(1985–1996) Ms Joyce Walters
*(1996–1998) Mrs Yvonne Graham
*(1998–2008) Ms Colette Cullingam
*(2008–2020) Dr Alison Neill
*(2020–2023) Mr Matthew Bennett
* (2023-2024) Mr Luke Goodman
[
* (2024-) Mr Will Phelan
]
Notable staff
* Mary Nicolay, British Australian Nightingale nurse, teacher from circa 1880-1888
* John Farmer, Composer, Head of Music, 1893-1897[
* Ivey Dickson, pianist, late 1940s
*]Nevill Francis Mott
Sir Nevill Francis Mott (30 September 1905 – 8 August 1996) was a British physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977 for his work on the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems, especially amorphous semiconductor ...
, Nobel Prize Laureate, Head of Physics, 1947-1955[
* Shane Cloete, Former Zimbabwe Cricketer, Director of Sport, 2023- ][ https://cliftonhighams.azureedge.net/CliftonHighStaffList2324-496.pdf?version=638319304252170000 ]
Notable former pupils
* Violet Alford, dancer
* Caroline Bammel, religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
historian
* Jo Durie
Joanna Mary Durie (born 27 July 1960) is a former world No. 5 tennis player from the United Kingdom. During her career, she also reached No. 9 in doubles, and won two Grand Slam titles, both in the mixed doubles with Jeremy Bates.
Born in Bri ...
, professional tennis player
* Catharine Edwards, ancient historian and academic
* Ruth Edwards, Conservative MP
* Elizabeth Filkin, British public functionary
* Elinor Goldschmied, English educationalist
* Margaret Irwin, novelist
* Glynis Johns, actress
* Melanie Johnson, Labour MP
* Mary Lobel, historian
* Dame Eileen Mayo, artist and designer
*Mary Nicolay, British Australian Nightingale nurse
* Helen Porter, biologist
* Mary Renault, writer
* Jane Shepherdson, businesswoman
* Hilary Spurling, writer
* Kate Shortman, Olympic artistic swimmer
* Isabelle Thorpe, Olympic artistic swimmer
* Helen Vanderplank, biologist
*Mona Wilson
Mona Wilson (29 May 1872 – 26 October 1954) was a British public servant and author. After voluntary social work, seeking to improve the conditions of working women in deprived industrial areas, she joined the civil service in 1911, and becam ...
, British author and public servant
Archives
Much of the school's information is found in its archives and history books. The school archives can only be accessed by teachers and students with special requests, such as writing about school history.[ Information can also be found at Bristol Archives.
]
Gallery
File:Clifton High School Main Building over the Years.jpg, Clifton High School Main Building 1877-2023
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Private schools in Bristol
Clifton, Bristol
Diamond schools