Sydenham School
| Sydenham School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
Dartmouth Road , , SE26 4RD | |
| Information | |
| Type | Community School |
| Motto | Aim high, Achieve Higher. |
| Established | 1917 |
| Local authority | Lewisham |
| Department for Education URN | 100741 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Headteacher | Mrs Ruth Holden |
| Gender | Girls |
| Enrollment | 1462 |
| Website | http://www.sydenham.lewisham.sch.uk |
Sydenham School (known as Sydenham Girls by locals) is a comprehensive girls' school located on Dartmouth Road (A2216) in Sydenham, London.
History
The school was founded in 1917 as a girls' grammar school, known as Sydenham County Grammar School for Girls . London County Council commissioned Basil Spence & Partners, in the early 1950s, to design additional accommodation to allow the school to increase capacity from 600 to 1140 students and to merge with Shackleton School to become a comprehensive school. This took place in 1956 on completion of the new six-storey, E-shaped, classroom block, on which work had begun in 1954. The official opening ceremony took place on 28 February 1957.[1] In 2003 Sydenham School was granted Specialist Science College status and in 2008 it was granted specialis in Mathematics by the DfES. Sydenham School has close ties to Forest Hill School a nearby boys' comprehensive school.
Form system
In each year there are 9 tutor groups, each beginning with the year number they are in e.g. 7 with the letters S,Y,D,E,N,H,A,M,G attached to each form. In years ten and eleven the forms are mixed during lessons intermingling students from the different tutor groups for lessons. Every year, the set groups of S,Y and D, E,N and H and A,M and G share the same Modern Foreign Language. The tutor groups SYD learn French, ENH learn Spanish and AMG learn German. However, Not as many pupils as previous years applied-so the students who joined in 2010 and 2009 have only the tutor groups S,Y,D,E,N,H,A,M. Also, in 2010, the students who had joined in 2009 had their classess re-organised, so that only tutor groups S,Y,D,E,N,H,A,M remained, as there were few pupils and problems in one particular tutor group.
Uniform
In Key Stage 3 (years 7 and 8) students wear blue shirts, and in the first year of key stage 4(year 9-the school has a two-year key stage 3), while in the second and third years of Key Stage 4 (years 10 and 11) wear white shirts. Because of this difference, there exists the nicknames 'White Shirts' and 'Blue Shirts' to distinguish the students' years. The sixth form (a mix of Forest Hill Boys school and Sydenham school since 2010) are not required to wear any uniform.
Admissions
The current headmistress is Ms Carolyn Unsted. It has always been a girls' school. Forest Hill Pools and Forest Hill library is next door.
Academic performance
In the last OFSTED inspection, Sydenham School was graded as 'good with outstanding features '. It gets GCSEs and A levels above the England average.(64%)
Notable former pupils
- Tasha Danvers, 400 metre hurdler, bronze in the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
- Sarah Jane Crawford, BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ.
Sydenham County Grammar School for Girls
- Linda Ludgrove, swimmer
- Elsie Widdowson, dietitian
See also
- Sydenham High School (UK), nearby girls independent school for ages 4–18, and part of the Girls' Day School Trust (GPSDT)
References
- ^ "Sydenham School - Sir Basil Spence". Canmore. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
https://sydenham.fluencycms.co.uk/science