Watford Grammar School for Girls

Infobox UK school
name = Watford Grammar School for Girls


size =
latitude = 51.6515
longitude = -0.3962
dms =
motto = "Sperate parati"
motto_pl =
established = 1704 and 1884
approx =
type = voluntary aided, partially selective comprehensive
religion =
president =
head_label = Headmistress
head = Mrs Helen Hyde
r_head_label =
r_head =
chair_label = Chairman of Governors
chair = Mr Percy McCloskey
founder = Elizabeth Fuller
founder_pl =
specialist = Visual Arts and Maths and Computing
specialist_pl = yes
street = Lady's Close
city = Watford
county = Hertfordshire
country = England flagicon|England
postcode = WD18 0AE
LEA = Hertfordshire County Council
ofsted = 117575
staff =
enrollment = 1250
gender = Girls
lower_age = 11
upper_age = 18
houses =
colours = Navy bluecolor box|navy and yellowcolor box|yellow
publication =
free_label_1 =
free_1 =
free_label_2 =
free_2 =
free_label_3 =
free_3 =
website = http://www.watfordgirls.herts.sch.uk/
website_name = watfordgirls.herts.sch.uk

Watford Grammar School for Girls is a voluntary aided secondary school for girls in Watford in Hertfordshire, UK.Despite its name, the school accepts girls of all abilities, although a proportion are selected for academic or musical aptitude.Its GCSE results were the highest achieved by non-grammar state schools in England in 2007.cite news
title = All-girl schools top results league table
author = Graeme Paton
date = 2007-08-24
work = Telegraph
url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/24/ngcse524.xml
accessdate = 2008-03-22]

History

The Girls' school and its brother school, Watford Grammar School for Boys, descend from a Free School founded as a charity school for boys and girls by Elizabeth Fuller in 1704 and refounded as a secondary school in 1884. [cite book
title = A Topographical Dictionary of England
author = Samuel Lewis (ed.)
year = 1848
edition = 7th edition
chapter = Watford (St. Mary)
chapterurl = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51382#s1
pages = p486
url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=445
accessdate = 2008-03-22] [cite book
title = A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2
author = William Page (ed.)
date = 1908
chapter = Watford: Introduction
chapterurl = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43307
pages = pp446-451
url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=305
accessdate = 2008-03-22] cite journal
title = Mrs. Fuller's Free School | author = W.R. Carter
journal = Watford Endowed Schools Journal | volume = 3 | year = 1894] cite book
title = Watford Grammar Schools for Boys and Girls: A History of their Foundation and Development
author = W.G. Hughes | coauthors = M. Sweeney
publisher = Mayflower Press | location = Watford | year = 1954]

The school has occupied its present site in central Watford since 1907.The name Watford Grammar School for Girls dates from 1903, but the school ceased to be a grammar school in 1975.cite book
title = Mrs Fuller's Free School: Three Hundred Years of the Watford Grammar Schools
author = Neil Hart (ed.)
publisher = Atlantic Publishing | location = Rickmansworth | year = 2005]

The school today

Watford Girls has been partially selective since 1995, though the proportion of selection has been reduced over this period.The school also gives priority to sisters of current pupils at the school.Prior to 2008 it also gave priority to sisters of pupils of Watford Grammar School for Boys. [cite news
title = Education: In a league of their own - or selective on the sly?
author = Judith Judd
work = The Independent
date = 1997-11-20
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19971120/ai_n14140591
accessdate = 2008-04-30] [cite web
title = Determination: Watford Grammar School for Girls
author = Elizabeth Passmore
publisher = Office of the Schools Adjudicator | date = 2008-09-26
url = http://www.schoolsadjudicator.gov.uk/upload/ADA%201295-1397%20WGS.doc] Its admission area reaches out about 5 miles, including some northern parts of the London boroughs of Harrow and Hillingdon.In comparison with the national average, its intake has significantly higher academic attainment, greater ethnic diversity and fewer children from poorer backgrounds.ofsted|117575|Watford Grammar School for Girls, Ofsted.]

An inspection in 2007 by the Office for Standards in Education rated the school as outstanding in all categories.It has long been near the top of performance tables for comprehensive schools, but when the key measure at GCSE was changed in 2007 to include English and mathematics the school moved to the top position.The headmistress, Helen Hyde, attributes part of their success to De Bono Thinking Tools, for which the school was one of the first in the United Kingdom to receive accreditation as a national training school. [cite news
title = Lateral thinking paves the way to GCSE success
author = Nicola Woolcock
work = The Times
date = 2008-01-10
url = https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/a_level_gcse_results/article3162232.ece
accessdate = 2008-03-22] [cite web
title = Why Thinking Skills? Why De Bono Thinking Tools?
author = Helen Hyde
year = 2004
month = July
url = http://www.fasna.org.uk/default.php?page=new0407
work = Foundation & Aided Schools National Association Newsletter
accessdate = 2008-04-30]

Notable alumni

* Geri Halliwell (pop singer and former Spice Girl) attended the school up to GCSE. [cite news
title = Girl power comes of age
author = Joanna Moorhead
date = 2007-10-24
work = The Guardian
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/oct/24/gender.pop
accessdate = 2008-03-30]

Headmistresses

(since the founding of the secondary school in 1884)
* 1884 Louise Walsh
* 1884–1895 Julia Anne Kennaby (married name Rogers from 1893)
* 1895–1913 Ann Coless
* 1913–1938 Grace Fergie
* 1938–1956 Jean Davidson
* 1957–1973 Jessie Tennet
* 1974–1987 Margaret Rhodes
* 1987–present Helen Hyde

References