South Hampstead High School

South Hampstead High School is a private day school in Hampstead, north-west London, England, which was founded by the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST). It is for girls aged 4–18 with selective entry at ages 4+, 7+, 11+ and 16+ (Sixth Form).

History

The school was founded in 1876, the ninth school established by the GDST (previously known at the Girls' Public Day School Trust), with 27 pupils. Until 1886, the school was led by Rita/Rebecca Allen Olney; she left to found another school nearby with her sister Sarah Allen Olney who had been an assistant head at this school. The cross-dressing Mary Benton returned as headmistress when morale was low. The "Brigadier-General" built up the school until in the 1920s it was claimed that half of the school's students then at university were studying scientific subjects.

From 1946 until the late 1970s, it was a girls' direct grant grammar school, with around half the intake paid for by the local council.

In January 2015, alumna Helena Bonham Carter, opened a new 7-storey building for the Senior School, designed by Hopkins Architects. In January 2020, the school unveiled a new state-of-the-art performance space, Waterlow Hall.

Staff

Head teachers

Anna Paul (2023-present)
Victoria Bingham (2017–2023)
Helen Pike (2013–2016)
Jenny Stephen (2005–2013)
Vivien Ainley (2001–2004)
Jean Scott (1993–2001)
Averil Burgess (1975–1993)
Sheila Wiltshire (1969–1974)
Prunella Bodington (1954–1969)
Muriel Potter (1927–1953 )
Dorothy Walker (1918–1926) (Miss McGonigle 1926 one term)
Mary Benton (1886–1918)
Miss Allen-Olney (1876–1886)

Former teachers

Edith Allen, mother of food writer Raymond Postgate and Dame Margaret Cole (who married G. D. H. Cole), and wife of classicist John Percival Postgate
Rosalind Goodfellow, who taught history
Marianne Lutz, Headmistress from 1959–83 of Sheffield High School for Girls taught history from 1947–59.
Margaret Nevinson, suffragette, and mother of the painter C. R. W. Nevinson (taught classics in the 1880s)
Marie Orliac, who taught French in 1907–1910, founder of the University des Lettres Francaises (1910, Marble Arch, West London) that would become in 1913 the Institut Francais du Royaume-Uni.

Academic results

In 2019, South Hampstead High School was ranked 13th in the country for A Level results, based on data collated by the Independent Schools Council (ISC).

Typically around one fifth of the student body goes on to study at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

School motto

"Mehr Licht" – More Light (German)—the reputed last words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Notable former pupils

Katya Adler, journalist
Helena Bonham Carter, actress
Janet Neel Cohen, Baroness Cohen of Pimlico, author and former BBC governor
Lilah Fear, figure skater
Lynne Featherstone, Baroness Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP from 2005 to 2015 for Hornsey and Wood Green
Naomi Ishiguro, author
Glynis Johns, actress
Diana Kennedy, writer on Mexican food
Dame Angela Lansbury, actress and author
Joanna MacGregor, pianist
Aries Moross, graphic designer
Sophie Newton, entrepreneur
Julia Neuberger, rabbi
Margaret Quass, educationalist
Devika Rani, Indian actress
Netta Rheinberg MBE, cricketer
Jordan Scott, photographer, daughter of Ridley Scott
Rachel Sylvester, columnist at The Times
Fay Weldon, author
Olivia Williams, actress