Greenford High School

Greenford High School
Motto Learning To Succeed
Established 1939 (1939)
Type Foundation school
Headteacher Mr Mathew Cramer
Location Lady Margaret Road
Southall
Greater London
UB1 2GU
England
Coordinates: 51°31′52″N 0°22′10″W / 51.5312°N 0.3694°W / 51.5312; -0.3694
Local authority Ealing
DfE number 307/5401
DfE URN 101940 Tables
Ofsted Reports
Students c.1800 (Whole School) As of August 2016
Gender Mixed
Ages 11–19
Website Greenford High School

Greenford High School (abbreviated as GHS) is a mixed 11-19 secondary school with a comprehensive intake located in the London Borough of Ealing.

History

When it was built, in 1939, the then Greenford County School was a grammar school for boys and girls. It served the needs of the rapidly growing population of the western edge of the Municipal Borough of Ealing and was provided by Middlesex County Council. It remained a selective county school until 1974, when the new London Borough of Ealing reorganised to a comprehensive system, and the school undertook expansion to cope with greater numbers of pupils and the raising of the school leaving age. In 1992, Greenford High School became a grant maintained school; the change was made in order to keep its sixth form, which was threatened by proposed reorganisation of post-16 education. The following year, the roll increased again when Year 7 students were admitted to the school for the first time since 1974. Greenford High School is now a foundation school, which has over 1600 students on roll, with over 550 in the new sixth form. In addition to this there is a School Governing Body made up of 16 members. Consisting of staff, parents, LEA and community School Governors. The chair of Governors is Scott Packman (parent) and the vice chair of Governors is Andrew Whitfield (parent).

The head teacher (since 1991) was Kate Griffin, who is a former President of the Association of School and College Leaders and currently President of the International Confederation of Principals, the first British head elected to lead the worldwide organisation representing headteachers. (She is also an additional member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), a board member of the Catholic Education Service and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts). Kate Griffin retired on 31 December 2008 and was replaced by Mathew Cramer, who was formerly a deputy head teacher at Greenford High School.

Greenford High School now occupies a new suite of buildings completed September in 2007 in mini-campus style whilst the former buildings are to be demolished to provide up to date sports facilities. The new school's ICT resources boasts state of the art and latest technologies. School's ICT case study appears on website of its ICT partner, Dell Corp. Ltd.

The school is one of the most ethnically mixed in Ealing, and includes students from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds; Bangladeshi, Somali, Indian, Afro-Caribbean, Pakistani, English and Irish, including students from many faiths, such as Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians.

Education

The 2006 examination results were the best ever achieved. 90% of students were awarded 5 or more A* to C grades. It is notable that 80% of students were awarded grade C or better in English, and 71% received C or above in Mathematics. (See DFES Performance Tables)

The school is designated as a Specialist Language College, a Training school, a Leading Edge School and a hub for Student Voice and Deep Learning, and has held Investors in People status since 1995. The school received the national 'School Achievement Award' on all three possible occasions. All of this has enabled all the students, from the most to the least able, to benefit from innovative programmes designed to build their confidence and expertise. Its success has been recognised by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust through inclusion in the list of high performing specialist schools. In recognition of these outstanding achievements the headteacher has been elected an additional member of HMC (The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference).

The school has a commitment to the equality of opportunity for all its students and seeks to use the school’s cultural diversity in a positive way through initiatives such as Student Voice. The Junior Leadership Team, established to mirror the school's Senior Leadership Team and make a real contribution to student-focussed education, won the national competition organised by the SSAT in 2007 for outstanding practice in Student Voice.

Greenford was the first school to have a non-teacher as the head of social inclusion, and the school has effectively brought in-house a multi-agency team – many of whom had not worked in schools before – led by the non-teaching social inclusion manager who is part of the senior leadership team.

Language specialism

As a Specialist Language College, students have benefited from such things as classes with British Airways (regularly using their training centre), visits to the Japanese Embassy, visits to the French Theatre and participation in Language Study Conferences. new links are being developed in China, South America and Africa.

In addition the school provides French teaching in eight Primary Schools and is currently working with the London Borough of Ealing to increase this provision. It provides after school classes, free of charge, in Gujarati and Punjabi for school-aged children in the Borough. The adult evening Spanish classes are always popular and very successful. A variety of languages are offered within the school: Spanish, French, German, Punjabi, Japanese, Gujarati (after school) and Chinese. There are a variety of assessment and accreditation opportunities, not just GCSE. The "Certificate in Business Language Competence" has proved very successful amongst Advanced Vocational Business students in the Sixth Form.

Sixth form

Greenford High School has a very large Sixth Form offering a wide variety of courses and has an excellent "track record" in obtaining University places for its students. 97% of 2006’s A level students have now progressed to Higher Education. The school's achievements in developing the aspirations of pupils from a wide variety of backgrounds were recognised by the 2007 London Education Partnership Awards, when Greenford received the award for the most outstanding individual institution in developing access to Higher Education.

Staff

The most recent Ofsted Inspection team were very impressed by the harmonious and welcoming ethos within the school and said:

“Greenford High School is a very effective school. There is a good, inclusive ethos in which staff and pupils work well together. The positive attitude of the pupils enhances their learning and the behaviour of the pupils is very good” (see OFSTED report)

Notable former pupils

External links

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