St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox school
| name = St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls
| image = StMartinsLogo.JPG
| image_size = 120px
| coordinates = {{coord|51.444|-0.110|type:edu_region:GB_dim:100|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| motto = Caritate et disciplina
(With Love and Learning)
| established = {{Start date and age|1699}}
| closed = August 2024
| type = Academy
| religious_affiliation = Church of England
| president =
| head_label = Headteacher
| head = Josephine Okokon
| r_head_label =
| r_head =
| chair_label = Chair of Governors
| chair = Alicia Walker
| founder = Parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields
| address = 155 Tulse Hill
| city =
| county = London
| country = England
| postcode = SW2 3UP
| ofsted = yes
| dfeno = 208/5404
| urn = 137966
| staff = 50+
| enrolment = c. 400 (2022–23)
| gender = Girls (coeducational 6th form)
| lower_age = 11
| upper_age = 18
| houses =
| colours = Blue and Grey
| publication =
| free_label_1 =
| free_1 =
| free_label_2 =
| free_2 =
| free_label_3 =
| free_3 =
| website = http://www.stmartins.academy/
}}
St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls was one of the oldest schools for girls in Britain. It was established in 1699 as a charitable enterprise by the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Its popularity and growth led to its relocation in 1928 on a larger site in Tulse Hill, in the South London borough of Lambeth, England. For most of its history it was a grammar school, but at its closure in 2024 it was a secondary school with academy status.
The school badge depicts the eponymous St. Martin of Tours. The school motto, Caritate et disciplina translates as "With Love and Learning". The school remained Christian but accepted girls of all faiths.[http://www.stmartins.lambeth.sch.uk/ Official Site]
Following the school's closure because of declining enrolment, it was announced that the building would become a youth hub called Oasis St Martin's Village.
History
The school was founded by the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields in 1699 as a charity.London County Council, (1962), Secondary Schools in Bermondsey, Lambeth and Southwark, Division 8, page 17 Those who ran the parish at the time, and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, were considered radical for their notion that there should be a local school for girls as well as boys.
The school was originally in Charing Cross Road, near the St. Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square. It was known as St Martin's Middle Class School for Girls, and only later became known as St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls.M. Bryant, The London Experience of Secondary Education, page 339 Parish endowments thus made possible the education of girls. The school did well and grew, in what was a populous fast-growing parish. By the early twentieth century growth was such that a bigger building with proper grounds and playing fields became necessary. The school relocated to its present site in Tulse Hill in 1928. The nearby Strand School had moved to the same area fifteen years earlier for similar reasons. St Martins' new buildings were officially opened by the then Duchess of York, wife of the future King George VI, better known in later decades as the Queen Mother.
In 1999, Queen Elizabeth II took part in the school celebrations of its tercentenary.
St Martin's was given technology college status in 1996. The school was awarded a Sportsmark and was identified as an Ambassador School for Gifted and Talented Youth. It had a long-standing exchange link with Anchovy High School in Anchovy, near Montego Bay, Jamaica.{{cite web |url=http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/hl.s1/26807 |title=South London students to visit Jamaica |access-date=2011-03-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218172315/http://www.jis.gov.jm/news/hl.s1/26807 |archive-date=2011-02-18 }} Jamaican Information Service news item, February 2011
In the 21st century, an estimated 36% of children in St Martin's catchment area received free school meals, and a high percentage were from lone-parent families. Almost 90% of the school's pupils were of Caribbean or African extraction, with an estimated 27% speaking English as an additional language.
The school announced in May 2023 that because of declining enrolment amid a low birth rate in London, it would close at the end of the 2023–24 school year.{{cite news |author=Liz Jackson |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-65581380 |title=Lambeth school announces closure amid falling numbers |publisher=BBC News |date=13 May 2023 }} In July 2024, it was announced that the site would become a youth hub called Oasis St Martin's Village, run by Oasis Charitable Trust.{{cite news |author=Sally Weale |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/08/former-girls-school-in-london-to-reopen-as-pioneering-youth-hub |title=Former girls' school in London to reopen as pioneering youth hub |newspaper=The Guardian |date=8 July 2024 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.stmartins.academy/index.php?id=749&parent=148&n |title=Future of St Martin's Site |website=St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls |date=10 July 2023 |access-date=9 July 2024 }}
Performance
Notable former pupils
{{alumni|date=August 2024}}
- Carol Barnes, broadcaster
- Gloria Craig CB, from 2007 to 2011 Director of International Security Policy at the Ministry of Defence
- Monica Pidgeon, interior designer and writer
- Skin, singer–songwriter
- Lynn Trickett, graphic designer, co-founder of the Trickett & Webb advertising agency
See also
Further reading
- D. H. Thomas. A Short History of St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls (1929)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.stmartins.academy/ Official website]
- [http://www.stmoga.co.uk/ St Martin-in-the-Fields Old Girls Association]
- [http://www.nagty.ac.uk/professional_academy/ambassador_schools/index.aspx Ambassador Schools]
{{Schools and colleges in Lambeth}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Martin-In-The-Fields High School for Girls}}
Category:Girls' schools in London
Category:1699 establishments in England
Category:Educational institutions established in the 1690s
Category:Defunct schools in the London Borough of Lambeth
Category:Defunct Church of England schools