Channing School

Last updated

Channing School
Channing School.svg
Address
Channing School
The Bank

London
,
N6 5HF

England
Coordinates 51°34′13″N0°08′39″W / 51.570220°N 0.144178°W / 51.570220; -0.144178
Information
Type Private day school
Religious affiliation(s) Unitarian
Established1885
Local authority Haringey
Department for Education URN 102162 Tables
HeadmistressL Hughes
GenderGirls
Age4to 18
Enrolment~670
Website channing.co.uk

Channing School is an independent day school for girls at Highgate Hill in Highgate, North London. Channing School is a member of the Girls' Schools Association. The junior school is for pupils aged four to twelve and includes the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

Contents

The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), in April 2015, awarded Channing School the highest possible judgements in each category inspected, saying 'The quality of the pupils' achievements and learning is exceptional'. [1]

The Good Schools Guide called the school "A sheltered, isolated school in a beautiful setting, less pressured than many London girls' schools but still getting excellent results and producing self-assured young women." [2]

History

Channing School, originally called Channing House, first opened in 1885 in Sutherland House under the Revd. Robert Spears and was endowed by the Misses Matilda and Emily Sharpe, the daughters of Samuel Sharpe, primarily for the daughters of Unitarian ministers, and named after William Ellery Channing. Robert Spears later became the first minister of Highgate Unitarian Church. There was assistance for six pupils by private benefactions. After a year, numbers had risen to about 90 pupils and by 1925 to about 125.

Ivy House, higher up the hill, was leased for dormitories and offices in 1885. In the same year the school also leased the semi-detached West View, immediately below Sutherland House and extended the frontage of both in 1887. In 1901 West View was bought, the other half of the semi-detached property, Slingley, was bought in 1921. This was done under the authority of Robert Mortimer Montgomery, who had been a Governor of the school since 1906, and became its chairman in December 1920. [3] The neighbouring building, Hampden House was acquired in 1925 and in 1930 the adjacent Arundel House; these two forming another pair of semi-detached houses. Fairseat, leased with two acres of land, was used from 1926. A hall was opened in 1927 and from 1931 the school became known simply as Channing School.

Channing was badly damaged by a parachute mine during World War II. During the War, Montgomery oversaw the temporary relocation of the school and its pupils to the West Country, his last major effort before resigning from the chairmanship in 1944. [3] Haigh House was built in 1954 to replace the damaged and bombed out buildings. In 1943 a Junior School opened at 12 Southwood Lane which was sold in 1955 when the junior school moved to Fairseat. There were 250 girls in 1950 and 390 in 1975. [4]

Buildings

The Junior School (also known as Fairseat)[ citation needed ] was the home of Sir Sydney Waterlow, 1st Baronet, who donated the park next door to the public after he died. There is a statue of him on the highest point in the park (just behind Fairseat's Tennis Courts) which shows him holding a key which is said to be the key to the park which he is offering to the public.

The Senior School has four buildings: Brunner House, Haigh House, Founders Hall and a complex completed in 2015 housing a Sixth Form Centre and a Sports Hall, with Fitness Suite. Founders Hall, once the Old Hall, was re-opened in February 2008 after renovations split the hall into two floors to extend the Sixth Form Centre. In 2014 Founders' Hall was renovated again to house a Music School with soundproofed practice rooms, a studio and teaching rooms. An upper floor was added to Brunner House in 2003, and constitutes staff offices and classrooms which double as the form rooms of year groups 7 to 9. Haigh House has the Science department, Art department, Mathematics department, ICT department, and dark room. The Mathematics department takes the place of the old dormitories, as the school was once a boarding school. A performing arts centre that seats 300 was completed in 2017.

Grounds

Channing Junior School's (Fairseat) Grounds are part of Sir Sydney Waterlow's park. In 2018 a large veteran Cedar of Lebanon had to be chopped down because it was infected with a fungus. Channing also has a cottage (It is called ' the Fairseat Cottage'), chicken coop, adventure playground and tennis courts.

The School also owns a large expanse of grass on Stanhope Road where summer sports are played and the Channing Fireworks are held.

Notable alumni

Among notable staff, physicist Gladys Mackenzie taught at the school before her academic career.

Pastoral care

Girls are placed in four houses:

Girls participate in activities within these groups including Sports Competitions.

Related Research Articles

Perins School is an academy, sports college and secondary school in New Alresford, Hampshire, England. The school was founded in 1696 by Henry Perin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hymers College</span> School in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

Hymers College is a co-educational private day school in Kingston upon Hull, located on the site of the old Botanical Gardens. It is one of the leading schools in the East Riding of Yorkshire and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highgate School</span> Private school in Highgate, London

Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is a co-educational, fee-charging, private day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate Pre-Preparatory School, Highgate junior school and the senior school (11+) – which together comprise the Highgate Foundation. As part of its wider work the charity was from 2010 a founding partner of the London Academy of Excellence and it is now also the principal education sponsor of an associated Academy, the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, which opened in September 2017. The principal business sponsor is Tottenham Hotspur FC. The charity also funds the Chrysalis Partnership, a scheme supporting 26 state schools in six London boroughs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The King's (The Cathedral) School</span> School in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England

Founded by King Henry VIII in 1541, The King's School is a state-funded Church of England Cathedral Chorister School located in Peterborough, England. It is the Chorister School for Peterborough Cathedral. Former pupils are known as Old Petriburgians.

Bethany School is a private boarding and day school for girls and boys aged 11–18, in Goudhurst, Kent, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tadcaster Grammar School</span> Academy in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England

Tadcaster Grammar School founded in 1557, is a coeducational comprehensive secondary school and sixth form located near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England, educating children aged 11–18 years old, and has an on-site sixth form. The school is located in the hamlet of Toulston just outside the brewery town of Tadcaster. The school's catchment includes Tadcaster and its surrounding villages, while traditionally taking pupils from the York area, including villages such as Appleton Roebuck, Copmanthorpe, Bishopthorpe and Bilbrough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leighton Park School</span> Private school in Reading, Berkshire, England

Leighton Park School is a co-educational private school for both day and boarding pupils in Reading in South East England. The school's ethos is closely tied to the Quaker values, having been founded as a Quaker School in 1890. The school's ethos is described as achievement with values, character and community. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windermere School</span> Private day and boarding school in Windermere, The Lake District, England

Windermere School is a independent co-educational boarding and day school in the English Lake District. Founded in 1863, it has approximately 360 pupils between the ages of 3 and 18, around a third of whom are boarders. The School is split across three campuses on over fifty acres of land: the junior school at Elleray; the senior school and sixth form at Browhead; and Hodge Howe, the school's Royal Yachting Association watersports centre on the shores of Lake Windermere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torquay Girls' Grammar School</span> Girls grammar school, academy in Torquay, Devon, United Kingdom

Torquay Girls' Grammar School is a selective grammar school for girls aged 11–18, in Torquay, Devon, UK. It is situated directly beside Torquay Boys' Grammar School, and became one of the first schools to achieve Humanities Specialist School status in September 2004, as well as one of the first to offer the AQA Baccalaureate. On 1 February 2011, the school officially gained academy status. It is a member of the South West Academic Trust – a collaboration of seven high-performing grammar schools and Exeter University. The examination results regularly place the school in the top twenty state girls' schools nationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Sydney Waterlow, 1st Baronet</span> English philanthropist and politician

Sir Sydney Hedley Waterlow, 1st Baronet, was a British philanthropist and Liberal Party politician, principally remembered for donating Waterlow Park to the public as "a garden for the gardenless".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Margaret's School for Girls</span> Private day school in Aberdeen, Scotland

St Margaret’s School for Girls is the oldest all-through girls’ school in Scotland and caters for pupils aged three to 18 in a nursery, junior school and senior school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunderland High School</span> Private school in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England

Sunderland High School was a mixed private day school located in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Founded in 1883 as the oldest girls' senior school in Sunderland, it merged with a local boys' school to become the current coeducational school. A junior school was later added and is located on a separate site nearby. It is owned by the United Church Schools Trust. The school closed at the end of the 2016 Summer term.

Kings Priory School is a mixed all-through school and sixth form located in Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear, England. The principal is Philip Sanderson. The school has a Christian foundation as the largest member of the Woodard Corporation, but accepts pupils of any religious background. It is located immediately to the east of Tynemouth Metro Station

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitehorse Manor Junior School</span> Academy in Thornton Heath, Greater London, England

Whitehorse Manor Junior School is a junior school for pupils aged between seven and eleven years. The school is in Thornton Heath. In April 2011 the school became part of the first Academy Trust in Croydon and the running of the school became part of the responsibility of the Pegasus Academy Trust, a public company limited by guarantee. The executive headteachers of the Pegasus Academy Trust are Jolyon Roberts and Lynne Sampson. The head of school is Nina Achenbach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grangewood Independent School</span> Private school in Forest Gate, London, England

Grangewoood Independent School is an independent primary school situated in Chester Road, Forest Gate, in the London Borough of Newham, United Kingdom. It is a member of the Independent Schools Association and was last inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate in May 2016. The school provides Christian education for boys and girls aged 2–11 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rishworth School</span> Independent school in Rishworth, West Yorkshire, England

Rishworth School is a co-educational independent school in the village of Rishworth, near Halifax, in West Yorkshire, England. With Heathfield, its junior school from the ages of 3 to 11, it provides education for pupils aged between 3 and 18 years, with boarding from the age of 11.

Robert Spears was a British Unitarian minister who was editor of the confessedly "Biblical Unitarian" Christian Life weekly.

Belmont was an independent co-educational school in Surrey which took pupils from the ages of 3 to 16. The school was a charitable trust, administered by an independent Board of Governors.

Wykeham House School is a former independent day school for girls and boys in market town of Fareham, Hampshire in South East England. Until its closure Wykeham House School was the only school in the Borough of Fareham offering specialised single sex education for both girls and boys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matilda Sharpe</span> British writer, teacher, educational reformer and painter

Matilda Sharpe was a British writer, teacher, educational reformer and painter. She founded what is now Channing School.

References

  1. "Channing School :: Independent Schools Inspectorate".
  2. Profile on Good Schools Guide
  3. 1 2 Walter H. Burgess, Unitarian Historical Society, Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society (1949), Vol. 16–17, p. 154-155.
  4. A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate (1980), pp. 189–199.
  5. Argent, Alan. "Elsie Chamberlain 1980-1991" (PDF). The Congregational History Circle Magazine. Vol. 4, no. 5, Spring 2003. p. 321.
  6. https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/21383155.love-highgate---channing-school-headteacher-barbara-elliott/
  7. https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/21383155.love-highgate---channing-school-headteacher-barbara-elliott/
  8. "Channing Magazine 2019-2020" (PDF). Channing School.
  9. "The House System". Channing School. Retrieved 26 November 2020.