Sydenham High School is an independent school for 4- to 18-year-old girls located in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Sydenham High School was founded by the Girls’ Public Day School Trust in 1887. Since then, the original school roll of 20 pupils has grown to 724 girls. The school is separated into the senior and prep schools, each with a separate site on Westwood Hill in Sydenham.

History

The school was created by the Girls’ Public Day School Trust in 1887 with an initial school roll of twenty and Ms I Thomas as the founding head. Sydenham High School's first building in 1900 In 1901 the mathematics graduate

Helen Sheldon Helen Maud Sheldon (15 October 1859 – 16 May 1945) was a British headmistress of Sydenham High School and an educationist. Life Sheldon was born in Handsworth in 1859 where her father was the vicar. or 1860 She had two brothers who survived and ...

became the school's second head teacher. She created the school's first orchestra. She introduced the idea of senior girls becoming prefects and she divided the school into houses. Sheldon's family had left her money and she used some of this to offer her school interest free loans. A minor addition was a school pavilion that was created from an old tram, but the major additions was to the school grounds. Using the money she lent to the school the campus was increased by the purchase of adjoining land. In 1910 Sheldon obtained permission for the school's buildings to be increased by the use of two former residential houses. Sheldon retired in 1917. In April 1934, the school moved to Horner Grange, a former house built for diamond magnate William Knight in 1884, where he lived until his death in 1900. The premises subsequently became a hotel before the school bought the freehold. It was damaged by fire in 1997, but the building was restored. The school's original Anglo Saxon motto, ''Nyle ye drede'', means "fear nothing" and is adopted by the school as a whole. As distinct cohorts within a shared community, the school actively encourage pupils to step outside their comfort zones, developing both independence of mind and the courage to take risks. 2022 marks the school's 135th anniversary and has refreshed its straplines for each of the three sections of the school: "Flourish and Fly" (Prep), "Use Your Voice" (Senior) and "Own Your Future" (Sixth) whilst alumnae "Lead The Way".

Headmistresses

* Miss Irene Thomas, 1887-1901 * Miss Helen Sheldon, 1901-1917 * Miss Sanders, 1917-1930 * Miss Smith, 1931-1941 * Miss Yardley, 1942-1966 * Miss Hamilton, 1966-1987 * Mrs Baker, 1988-1999 * Dr Lodge, 1999-2002 * Mrs Pullen, 2002-2016 * Mrs Woodcock, 2017-2022

Notable former pupils

G. E. M. Anscombe Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (; 18 March 1919 – 5 January 2001), usually cited as G. E. M. Anscombe or Elizabeth Anscombe, was a British analytic philosopher. She wrote on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, ...

, philosopher * Elly Jackson, lead singer with pop group

La Roux La Roux ( ) is an English synthpop act formed in 2008 by singer Elly Jackson and record producer Ben Langmaid. The act's debut album '' La Roux'' (2009) was a critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy Award and producing hit singles su ...

Emily Joyce Emily Sian Joyce (born 12 April 1969) is an English actress best known for playing the role of Janet Dawkins in the BBC comedy series '' My Hero'', between 2000 and 2006. Early life Joyce is the youngest of three sisters, all of whom are in t ...

, actress *

Gertrude Leverkus Gertrude Leverkus (26 September 1898 – 8 November 1989) was a German-British architect. Early life and education Gertrude Wilhelmine Margaret Leverkus was born on 26 September 1898 in Oldenburg, Germany. She was the second of three daughters ...

(1899–1976), architect *

Margaret Lockwood Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 – 15 July 1990), was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included '' The Lady Vanishes'' (1938), ''Night Train to Munic ...

(1916-1990), actress *

Sophie McKenzie Sophie McKenzie is a British author of books for young adults. Many of her novels have won several awards, the most famous being '' Girl, Missing''. Others include '' Blood Ties'' and ''The Set Up''. McKenzie writes full-time and lives in Lond ...

, author of books such as '' Blood Ties'' * Khadijah Mellah (b.2000) first competitive jockey to wear the

hajib A ''hajib'' or ''hadjib'' ( ar, الحاجب, al-ḥājib, to block, the prevent someone from entering somewhere; It is a word "hajb" meaning to cover, to hide. It means "the person who prevents a person from entering a place, the doorman". The ...

and winner of the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood * Sandy Powell, BAFTA-winning costume designer * Florence Rawlings, musician * Kathleen Shackleton (1884-1961), artist

Notes and references

External links

Sydenham High School
{{authority control Independent girls' schools in London Educational institutions established in 1887 Independent schools in the London Borough of Lewisham Schools of the Girls' Day School Trust 1887 establishments in England Sydenham, London