Didcot Girls' School (also known as DGS) is a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

with academy status for students in

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, located south of Oxford, east of Wantage and north west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Historically part of Berkshire, the town is noted ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

and the surrounding

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

. The school was awarded

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 successf ...

and Enterprise College status in 2006. The mixed sixth form, known as Didcot Sixth Form, is shared with St Birinus School. The current headteacher is Georgina Littler, having been appointed in May 2020. The "Friends of Didcot Girls' School" charity was registered formally in 2020 to raise funds for the school.

History

The school was created by the merger in the early 1970s of the former St. Frideswides

secondary modern school A secondary modern school () is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupil ...

and adjacent Didcot Girls'

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 Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Notable former pupils

Henrietta Knight (racehorse trainer) Henrietta Catherine Knight (born 15 December 1946) is an English Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Knight is best known as a trainer of National Hunt racehorses. She trained triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate (2002, 2003, 2004), also winn ...

, trainer of

Best Mate Best Mate (28 January 1995 – 1 November 2005) was an Irish-bred, English-trained racehorse and three-time winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He was a popular horse, and his sudden death while racing made front-page news. Background Best ...

(1995-2005 racehorse) *

Ann Packer Ann Elizabeth Packer MBE (born 8 March 1942) is an English former sprinter, hurdler and long jumper. She won a gold medal in the 800 metres and a silver in the 400 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics. Biography In 1959 Packer won the E ...

MBE, middle-distance runner who, at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

, won gold in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

(in a world record) and silver in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

; she held the women's 800 metres world record from October 1964 to June 1967 * Summer Watson, opera singer and recording artist

References

External links

School website
Girls' schools in Oxfordshire Secondary schools in Oxfordshire Academies in Oxfordshire Didcot {{Oxfordshire-school-stub