• Source: St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls

      • 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.
      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. 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. 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.
      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. 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.


      Performance


      Despite a low turnout during 2011–13, St Martins' was in the top 5% of similar schools in England. Its results and level of achievement had recently declined. St Martin's had in recent years won the Lambeth Debating competition four times in a row.


      Notable former pupils



      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


      List of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom


      Further reading


      D. H. Thomas. A Short History of St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for Girls (1929)


      References




      External links


      Official website
      St Martin-in-the-Fields Old Girls Association
      Ambassador Schools

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