Our Mission | Streatham & Clapham High School

Our Mission | Streatham & Clapham High School

Our success: in the top 20% of independent schools nationally

The pursuit of excellence across all fields of endeavour is our defining feature. Last year our pupils achieved their best-ever examination results, placing the school in the top 20% of independent schools nationally. Read our recent inspection report, and you will see the words ‘excellent’, ‘outstanding’, ‘good’ scattered liberally across its pages. All this reflects the following.

Our focus on achieving beyond expectation

Inspiring, enlightened and intellectually rigorous — this is the education offered by Streatham & Clapham High School. Our pupils prosper in a vibrant setting that provides challenge and width of opportunity in a warmly supportive and enabling environment. They thrive on account of the school’s family ethos, which allows them to be known, valued and nurtured as individuals. Equally, they draw strength and derive wisdom from the school’s rich social and cultural mix. Put simply, ours is an exceptional learning community.

Our exceptional pastoral care within a ‘family’ school

We do not view outstanding pastoral care as an ‘add-on’ to our academic programme. Neither do we believe that a ‘hothouse’ atmosphere is desirable or healthy. Girls achieve best if they are happy and settled in their social relationships. Hence the ‘family’ ethos of our school. The way in which we nurture and value individuals is intrinsic to our girls’ success. This level of care and personal attention stimulates each of our pupils to make rapid progress. All members of staff, up to the Head, are easily accessible to pupils, providing for an environment in which pupils feel warmly supported and valued.

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Fearless Learning

Before we had the frontage, people weren’t necessarily aware of this school. We are proud of who we are and we are proud of our girls and we are proud of our staff, and we want people to know this school and to be part of this school.

What we’ve done with these two elements of 6th form and the dining hall has really tried to work with the existing building but transformed it at the same time, to reorient it towards its immediate community. In some ways we sort of choreographed the route into the school, it’s a very deliberate sense of progression. The new sixth form needed to be an aspirational space and it’s an obvious thing in the way you build a sort of penthouse on top of a building, and when you’re up there you have the most fantastic views.

It’s like a little home, it’s so nice up there. On the one end there’s a great space to hang out, chat with my friends and, you know, do a bit of group study if I want to, and then on the other end there’s a study centre, which is actually, we don’t talk so it’s very silent and it’s a great place to work.

It feels as if the client, by which I mean the school, and the users, by which I mean the girls, have been integrated in the design process and I think it shows in the result.

They have space, they can socialize and communicate with one another, whether that’s just over lunch, but also if they’re planning their next event with the local community or they might be planning their next expedition to somewhere like Cambodia where they’re going; so it’s really important that they have the space to do all of that.

It’s really refreshing like after coming out classes and just coming to a space; eating and be able to just relax I think that’s really important, and that dining room really provides that to somewhere to like reflect and think about what we just learned; and we also talk to our friends about it.

This is a new concept that the teachers now dine and have lunch with the girls, which I think makes a big difference because it builds on that relationship between the teachers and the pupils.

Daylight is very important, we had to work quite hard to bring a lot of light in from the front of the school, but also roof lights, to allow for a decent amount of daylight. The lighting is more like a sort of cafe space, it’s more grown-up.

I think, more than anything I think it represents progress, I think we’ve come so far like you’ve got a crest and now we have this new amazing building.

Well I feel so very proud, of the fact that they are able to pursue their education in such enlightened settings. Which, I think, will not only enable them to grow as individuals but actually expand their minds, acquire new perspectives on life through this wonderful free-flowing space.

At the heart of our pupils’ success are our expert and alert pastoral systems. The care we extend to all pupils enables them to make outstanding progress, both academically and in their personal development. We strive to empower them to pursue ideals and knowledge unafraid: to learn fearlessly. As a result, our pupils mature into confident, accomplished and well-adjusted young women, prepared for the challenges of university education, their future careers, and everything else that their future lives may hold.

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