City of London School for Girls

City of London School for Girls (CLSG) is a girls' independent school located in the Barbican Estate complex in the City of London, United Kingdom. It is sister school of the City of London School (a boys' school) and the City of London Freemen's School (a co-educational school).

History

The school was founded by William Ward in 1894. It was his conviction that girls should be given a broad and liberal education with an emphasis on scholarship; he left a third of his fortune to the City of London to fund the foundation of a girls' school, a £20,000 legacy for the City of London Corporation. The school now receives financial support from the City Livery Companies as well as banks and other City firms. Links with the City of London remain strong - the City administers the school and the Board of Governors is appointed by the Court of Common Council. The school has strong links with its brother school - the City of London School is just a ten-minute walk away.

The school celebrated its 110th Anniversary in 2004-2005, under the title of 'Women in Leadership'. It celebrated its 111th Anniversary in 2005-2006, under the same title. It celebrated its 112th Anniversary in 2006-2007 under the title of 'International Women in Leadership'.

General

The Good Schools Guide called the school an "Academic and hard-working day school that currently produces good results and unspoilt articulate girls but remaining low profile.

The school is for girls aged 7 to 18. Most pupils enter aged 7 ("7+" for the Prep School), 11 ("11+"), or 16 ("16+", for Sixth Form), although casual vacancies arise occasionally. The school's capacity is roughly 680 pupils. As its success rises, applications to the school continue to climb with new classrooms being continually created to meet this growing demand. They have a well known "Women in Leadership" interest, which continued in 2007 with an excellent conference concerning the global leadership of women.

Fees are currently £4,125 a term for the senior school exclusive of school lunches, and entrance is by examination. For 7+ and 11+ entry, the entrance exam consists of exams in English and Maths. At sixth form level, the entry process is more competitive, with exams being set in each of the subjects they propose to study at AS as well as a comprehension paper and logic test. The school remains relatively ethnically and socially diverse, although not as diverse as other leading London schools in both the state and independent sectors. There is a very active Jewish Society.

The new headmistress, Diana Vernon, is the 10th headmistress of the school.

Academic

The school has an outstanding academic reputation and leading league table results. In 2005, the school came first in The Sunday Times table of Prep Schools, and 2nd and 3rd respectively in many published tables of England's GCSE and A-level results. In 2008, the school topped The Times A-level league table of England's independent schools. The Good Schools Guide creditted the school with a "Very strong work ethic," noting that it "Continues to get good results.

Extracurricular

The school's success gives it the reputation of a hot house, however, the school also encourages extracurricular activities. The arts are popular, appropriately enough for a school located across a lake from the Barbican Arts Centre. Furthermore, teachers are encouraged to go 'beyond the syllabus', exploring wider issues to nurture girls in areas that are not examined.

Music lessons are available to individuals or groups, and the school has successful Junior and Senior Orchestras, Junior and Senior Choirs, a gospel choir, a barbershop group and a swing band.

In 2005, City held its first ever drama festival; a fortnight of productions and workshops. Sports are another strength at City, with clubs, teams and squads in abundance. The school has a swimming pool, a lecture theatre and an indoor gym with climbing wall, as well as a gym complete with exercise equipment such as treadmills and weights. Debating is another popular activity, with a weekly club and participation in public speaking events such as Model United Nations and European Youth Parliament.

Trips and visits are common, and City girls are offered language exchanges to France, Spain, Germany and China, as well as other travelling opportunities through schemes such as World Challenge, which has seen girls go recently to Venezuela. Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions have been confined to the UK since 2001, when student Amelia Ward was killed whilst abseiling on a Duke of Edinburgh trip in South Africa.

Pastoral

The school is secular, yet has mildly Christian traditions, with twice weekly hymns and an annual Carol Service in the neighbouring St Giles' Church. There is a weekly Jewish assembly, as well as a Not Necessarily Jewish Society, an Asian Society and an African-Caribbean Society.

The House System

City has a relatively new house system which consists of four houses. Each girl is allocated a house when they enter the school. There is a variety of inter-House competition, including drama, music, quiz and at Sports Day.

The four houses are:

• Fleet - after Fleet Street
• Tudor - after Tudor Street
• St. Bride - after St. Bride church on Fleet Street,
• Ward - after William Ward, the founder of the school.

Future Plans

There is now a Sixth Form Block, intended to cater for the ever growing number of girls - the 2000 intake swelled from the usual 60-70 girls per year to 90+. An all-weather playing field was added to the school's outdoor facilities after the winter term of 2008.

The current headmistress is Miss Diana Vernon, who joined the school in September 2007.

Notable Alumnae

• Sahar Hashemi, entrepreneur
• Claire Rayner, b.1931, journalist
• Dido, b.1971, pop singer
• Claudia Winkleman, b.1972, TV presenter
• Sophie Winkleman, actress
• Romola Garai, b.1982, actress
• Mary Nighy, actress
• Georgina Mace, Conservation scientist
• Ellen Miles, b. 1909, British spy during WWII
• Emily Leon, b.1908,architect
• Davina Bentley, b.1983, comedian
• Hermione Lee, professor of English at University of Oxford
• Anna Blundy, journalist
• Sara Nathan journalist

External links

• The school's official site
• Preparatory department profile on Times Online
• http://www.schoolsguidebook.co.uk/schools/City_of_London_School_for_Girls.html School profile] on SchoolsGuideBook.co.uk.
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/04/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/201_6005.stm League Table results] from BBC News.
• 2003 Report on the school from the Independent Schools Inspectorate.
• Profile at theGood Schools Guide

References