St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls is a school for girls (aged 11–18) in

Carshalton Carshalton ( ) is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated around southwest of Charing Cross and around east by north of Sutton town centre, in the valley of the Rive ...

in the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is an Outer London London boroughs, borough in south London, England. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to the east, ...

History

Foundation

The school was founded by the Daughters of the Cross in 1893 and is situated in twenty-five acres of parkland with some notable buildings. The main building on the property was once Carshalton House, a grand manor house built in the early eighteenth century by Edward Carleton. It was the home of the physician, Dr. John Radcliffe, until his death in 1714. Other owners included Sir John Fellowes, 1st Baronet, Sub-Governor of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

;

Lord Anson Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, PC, FRS (23 April 1697 – 6 June 1762) was a Royal Navy officer and politician from the Anson family. He served as a junior officer during the War of the Spanish Succession and then saw ac ...

, admiral; and

Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, (1 December 16906 March 1764) was an England, English lawyer and politician who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1 ...

, Lord High Chancellor.

Modern

In 2004, the school was awarded

Technology College In the United Kingdom, a Technology College is a specialist school that specialises in design and technology, mathematics and science. Beginning in 1994, they were the first specialist schools that were not CTC colleges. In 2008, there were 598 ...

status. In April 2006, it was awarded a Language College status alongside the Technology College status. In 2007, a new Learning Resource Centre, including a library, was opened. In 2016, a new classroom block, the Veritas Centre opened. The new block consists of eight total classrooms, the ground floor accommodating two Food Technology classrooms and two Science laboratories, and the upper floor with dual-purpose Arts and Textiles classrooms. Staff/equipment rooms that connect between classrooms are also on each floor.

Inspections

In 2008,

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 ...

judged the school to be Outstanding. The next full inspection was in 2022, with a judgement of Good. , this is the most recent inspection.

Controversy

In April 2012, a student reported St Philomena's to ''

PinkNews ''PinkNews'' is a UK-based online newspaper marketed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community (LGBTQ+) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded by Benjamin Cohen in July 2005, initially released in print, b ...

'' for urging its pupils to sign an anti-gay marriage petition in protest at the government's proposal to allow gay couples to marry in civil ceremonies.

Alumni

* Finola O'Farrell DBE (b. 1960) – High Court judge and barrister * Margaret Prosser OBE (b. 1937) – Labour life peer and former trade unionist

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Philomena's Catholic High School For Girls 1893 establishments in England Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Southwark Educational institutions established in 1893 Girls' schools in London Secondary schools in the London Borough of Sutton Voluntary aided schools in London