St Paul's Girls' School


St Paul's Girls' School is an independent day school for girls, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.

History

St Paul's Girls' School was founded by the Worshipful Company of Mercers in 1904, using part of the endowment of the foundation set up by John Colet, to create a girls' school to complement the boys' school he had founded in the sixteenth century. The governors hold proprietorial responsibility, and some are representatives of the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and London.
The buildings for the school were designed by the architect Gerald Horsley, son of the painter John Callcott Horsley and one of the founder members of the Art Workers Guild.
The school has had several distinguished directors of music, most notably Gustav Holst and Herbert Howells. Holst composed his St Paul's and Brook Green suites for the pupils at the school. Holst also composed what is arguably his best known work, "The Planets", while teaching at St Paul's. John Linton Gardener held a part-time position as director of music at the school.

Exam results

St Paul's girls regularly perform extremely well in the GCSEs and A Levels.
Over half of girls at the school get all A*s in their GCSEs and many take extra languages or maths GCSEs.
In 2014, 99.3% of GCSEs were graded at A*s or As with 93.6% graded at A* alone. This was the highest ever A* percentage achieved by the school and in the country. In 2016, the school achieved the highest A Level results in its history with 60.0% of entries achieving an A* grade and 93.8% of entries achieving A* or A grades.
GCSE summary: last five years
A level summary: last five years

Music

was Director of Music at the school from 1905 to 1934 when he died, including the period he composed his orchestral suites, including St Paul's Suite and The Planets. He was succeeded by Herbert Howells before John Gardner followed in the 1960s. Gardner wrote many memorable pieces for the school, including his popular Christmas carols Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day and The Holly and the Ivy.

Drama

The school's main theatre, where most school productions are staged, is named after alumna Celia Johnson. Other productions are staged in the drama studio which is a smaller space.

Bursaries and scholarships

Bursaries

The school awards means-tested bursaries to students who join in Y7 and for students arriving in Y12. Bursaries fund up to 100% of tuition fees on a sliding scale depending on family income and assets, plus exam entry fees and a grant towards textbooks. Holders of 100% bursaries entering in Y12 also receive an extra package to cover additional expenses, such as the cost of sports equipment and music tuition.

Scholarships

Year 7: The school awards up to four academic scholarships and, usually, about three or four music scholarships to 11+ entrants.
Year 12: The school may also award music scholarships to current students and to new joiners, and two art scholarships to internal and external candidates. The Nora Day music scholarship is awarded every other year to a new joiner who shows exceptional musical potential. The school also awards scholarships worth £250 a year for academic distinction in the "Senior Scholarship", a dissertation written by students in the summer holiday following Y12.

Logo

The school logo is a Grecian laurel wreath, representing the school's competitive spirit. In 2007, this logo was replaced by High Mistress Clarissa Farr with a blossoming rose, chosen to suggest potential. The change provoked much opposition from students within the school The traditional wreath was retained as the symbol of the Old Paulina Alumnae Association. In 2013 it was announced that the old logo would be reinstated.

High Mistresses

The headmistress of St Paul's Girls' School is known as the High Mistress.
Alumnae of the school, known as "Old Paulinas", include:

Arts

The school was in the news in November 2017 with allegations of sexual abuse between the 1970s and 1990s. One teacher resigned on 22 November 2017 amidst these allegations.