Our Lady's Catholic High School is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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 ...

for girls situated in

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...

, in the

London Borough of Hackney The London Borough of Hackney ( ) is a London boroughs, London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, Lond ...

, England.

History

On 11 January 1904, the Servite Sisters founded a small independent school called Our Lady's School, with Sr M. Phillipa as its first headmistress. The school later moved to 14-16 Amhurst Park during the 1930s. There were 27 pupils aged 10 and over; all the staff were

Servite The Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary (; abbreviation: OSM), is one of the five original mendicant orders in the Roman Catholic Church. It includes several branches of friars (priests and brothers), contemplative nun ...

sisters; parents paid fees of £2/10/00 per term. The rooms in the house built in the 1800s were used as classrooms. There was a grass tennis court in the garden. The school has since expanded and the premises consist of the original buildings and newer additions (the most recent in 2003). The first lay headteacher, only the sixth in the school's history, was appointed in 1994. Our Lady's is no longer directly run by the Servites but remains under their trusteeship."Then & Now"
ourladys.hackney.sch.uk; accessed 28 December 2015.

Current structure

Our Lady's is a Voluntary Aided Roman Catholic School, which has been awarded Specialist Status as a

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 ...

. Permission to expand by one form of entry has meant that the school's total number is currently 780 students. The Sixth Form Centre admits boys and girls and has currently 180 students. In 2010, the school became a split site, since as part of the Building Schools for Future (BSF), the school was to be completely remodelled and rebuilt. The lower school (years 7 and 8) remained at the old site in Stamford Hill. The upper school (years 9, 10, 11 plus sixth form) moved to

Upper Clapton Clapton is a district of east London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross. Geography and orig ...

, occupying a building put up for the lower school of

The Skinners' Company's School for Girls Skinners' Academy (formerly The Skinners' Company's School for Girls) is a school in the Manor House, London, Manor House (Woodberry Down) area for boys and girls aged 11–19. The academy opened in 2010 and is supported by the Worshipful Compa ...

. The rebuilding of the school was finished in 2012. The School came together back on one site in September 2012. Andy English became head in March 2022. Ofsted visited in March 2022 and reaffirmed the school's rating as 'Good'.

Departments of the school

There are 19 departments in the school. *Art *Business studies *Classical studies *Citizenship *Technology *English *Geography *Government and politics *Drama *Health and Social Care *History *ICT *Mathematics *Modern languages *Music *Psychology *Physical education *Religious studies *Science *Sociology *Economics

Notable former pupils

* Dame

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''.

(1937-2020) - actress,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'', attended the school circa 1940s-1950s (left without graduating) * Moira Stuart (b. 1949) - BBC broadcaster and newsreader *

Freema Agyeman Freema Agyeman (; born Frema Agyeman; 20 March 1979) is an English actress. She rose to fame with her role as the Doctor's companion Martha Jones in the BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2007–2010) and its spin-off '' Torchwood'' ...

(b. 1979) - actress, ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' as Martha Jones, attended the school circa 1990s

References

{{authority control Secondary schools in the London Borough of Hackney Girls' schools in London Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Westminster Servite schools Voluntary aided schools in London Educational institutions established in 1904 Stamford Hill 1904 establishments in England