Streatham & Clapham High School is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18, in south London. The school was founded in 1887 by the Girls' Public Day School Company, which established schools for girls providing academic, moral and religious education. The Head Master is Dr Millan Sachania. The ability profile of the school is above the national average, with a proportion of pupils being far above the national average. The 2019 Independent Schools Inspectorate report awarded the school the highest grade in both categories inspected : the quality of pupils' academic and other achievements and the quality of their personal development. The school is located on two sites, the Prep School in a Victorian building in Wavertree Road, London SW2, and the Senior School in buildings designed in the 1930s by J. E. K. Harrison, FRIBA, on Abbotswood Road, London SW16.
History
'Brixton Hill High School' began in February 1887 in a house at 260 Brixton Hill. Continued expansion led in 1894 to a temporary move to a home in Palace Road to await the completion of the new building in Wavertree Road, Streatham Hill. The building was opened by H.R.H. Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll in 1895, and the school was soon renamed Streatham Hill High School. In 1938 Streatham Hill merged with the older Clapham High School, and was renamed 'Streatham Hill and Clapham High School'. During the Second World War some girls were evacuated from London, while others continued their schooling in often difficult conditions. A V-1 bomb damaged the school on 27 July 1944, and though parts of the building were still usable, the operation of the school had to be split between four separate sites. Two of the sites were 'Winchester House' on Upper Tulse Hill and 'Courtlands' on Christchurch Road. The contract for rebuilding was signed in 1949, and then followed three years of demolition and reconstruction. On 22 October 1952, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, as Patroness of the Girls' Public Day School Trust, opened the new Wavertree Road building. The further expansion of the school led to the GPDST's purchase in 1993 of a new site at Abbotswood Road, the former buildings of the Battersea Grammar School, purchased from London South Bank University. Since then the Abbotswood Road site has been expanded with the Millennium Building, comprising an Art Suite, Music Suite and a Recital Hall, and a Sports Hall. In January 2017, a new Sixth Form Centre opened on the newly built fourth storey on the Harrison building, followed in April 2018 by a new dining hall, reception and fountain atrium. These additions to the school, designed by Cottrell and Vermeulen Architecture, won the Royal Institute of British Architects' London Award and the Retrofit Award in the School Project category, and were also shortlisted for the Education Architect of the Year Award.
Findings of the ISI Inspection 2019
The Independent Schools Inspectorate inspected Streatham & Clapham High School in October 2019 and awarded the school the highest grade in both categories inspected: the quality of pupils’ achievements and the quality of pupils’ personal development.
