Coombe Girls' School is an all-girls secondary school and

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 ...

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 ...

with academy status in

New Malden New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Rayne ...

, South-West London, England. The school is a

Leading Edge School In typography, leading ( ) is the space between adjacent lines of type; the exact definition varies. In hand typesetting, leading is the thin strips of lead (or aluminium) that were inserted between lines of type in the composing stick to incr ...

, a Training School and specialises in languages. The school and nearby

Coombe Boys' School Coombe Boys' School and Sixth Form is a non-selective state secondary school with a mixed sixth form in New Malden, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, England. The cohort comprises boys from Years 7 to 11 and a joint sixth form facility is ...

are known jointly as The Coombe Federation.

History

Coombe Girls' School, formerly called Coombe County Secondary School for Girls, was established in 1955, and has remained an all-girls school ever since. The school is federated with Coombe Boys School. In September 2012 the school had a new headteacher, Mrs Walls, who succeeded Mrs Campbell. Since then, the school has seen Ms Barnes as Headteacher.

School inspections

As of 2023, the school's most recent inspection by Ofsted was in 2013, with a judgement of Outstanding.

Houses

The school sorts the pupils into house tutor groups. Citizenship is taught in these groups. These are named after seven of the planets in the solar system and one constellation. Each group has a form tutor who will be with the class for registration before school and before fifth period. This tutor will stay with their class, unless they leave the school, for the whole five years in which the girls are pupils of the school. Up to Year 9, subjects apart from Maths, Science and Technology are taught in Teaching Groups.

Exam results

Coombe Girls' School's overall exam results ranked in the top 20% of similar schools' results, and in the top 20% of all schools, for 2013. The Federation was named one of the best state secondary schools in the country in ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

'' magazine's 2015 State Schools Guide. In 2016 the school received a letter from

Nick Gibb Nicolas John Gibb (born 3 September 1960) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Schools since October 2022, having previously held the office from 2010 to 2012 and again from 2015 to 2021. He has served at the Department for ...

MP congratulating the school on being in the top 100 non selective state-funded schools for the percentage of pupils attaining 5 GCSEs at A* to C with English and Mathematics, for the percentage achieving the English Baccalaureate and for the school's key stage 2 to key stage 4 value added figure.

Notable former pupils

Jacqueline Wilson Dame Jacqueline Wilson (née Aitken; born 17 December 1945) is an English novelist known for her popular children's literature. Her novels have been notable for featuring realistic topics such as adoption and divorce without alienating her lar ...

, author *

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer". After briefly w ...

, singer *

Penny Spencer Penny Spencer (born 1 January 1948) is a British actress, best remembered for her performance as coquettish schoolgirl Sharon Eversleigh in the LWT television comedy series '' Please Sir!'' (1968–70). She attended Coombe Girls School in New ...

, actress best-known for playing Sharon in the first three series of the ITV school sitcom ''Please Sir!''.Look-In Issue 7, 20th February 1971, p19

References

External links

School WebsiteOfsted school data dashboard
{{authority control Training schools in England Girls' schools in London Academies in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Educational institutions established in 1955 1955 establishments in England Secondary schools in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames New Malden