Tanbridge House School

Tanbridge House School
Tanbridge House School
Address
	Farthings Hill; Horsham , West Sussex , RH12 1SR; England
Coordinates	51°03′53″N0°21′04″W / 51.06472°N 0.35107°W
Information
Type	Community school
Motto	"Exceptional everyday"
Established	1976 (current site built in 1994)
Local authority	West Sussex
Department for Education URN	126064 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Headteacher	Mark Sheridan
Gender	Coeducational
Age	11to 16
Enrolment	1268+
Houses	Redgrave, Radcliffe, Wilkinson
Colour(s)
Website	http://www.tanbridge-house-sch.co.uk

Last updated March 13, 2025

Tanbridge House School, formerly Horsham High School for Girls, is a coeducational secondary school located in Horsham, West Sussex, England. Its current head master is Mr Sheridan who started in 2022. The school teaches a variety of subjects across the curriculum. In 2012 95.7% of students achieved A*-C grades at GCSE. Of those, 79% achieved 5 A*-C including English and Maths.

In November 2012, and again in June 2024, the school achieved and maintained an 'Outstanding' Ofsted rating in all four key areas of inspection. This placed it in the top three per cent of secondary schools in the country and made it one of only seven 'Outstanding' secondary schools in the county.^[1]

School Information

There is a 'Student Voice' at Tanbridge which involves over 100 student representatives, who are involved in interviewing potential staff, leading on environmental and charitable issues and helping pupils make the transition from primary to secondary school.^{[ citation needed ]}

There are SMART Boards in every classroom, nine IT suites and another five computer areas and iPads.^[2] Since 2008, the school has had a Virtual Learning Environment and Moodle. The school has its own Learning Resource Centre.

The school theatre production is held every summer at The Capitol Theatre in Horsham, and has included West Side Story (2008) Sweeney Todd (2009) Les Misérables (2010), Evita (2011), The Phantom of the Opera (2012), Miss Saigon (2013), Jekyll and Hyde (2017), Made in Dagenham (2018), High School Musical (2022) and Sister Act (2023).

In 1971, pupils at the school, then Horsham High School for Girls, put on the play Antigone by Jean Anouilh jointly with Christ's Hospital school.^[3]

School Timeline

Date	Notes
1627	The original Tanbridge House built by Richard Nye.
1887	Tanbridge House rebuilt by Thomas Oliver in neo-Jacobean style. It is one of the first houses with electricity in Horsham. The building on Worthing Road is still extant today.
1904	The pupil-teacher centre which later became Horsham High School for Girls opened, originally in the Wesleyan Hall in London Road.^[4]
1920	Thomas Oliver dies; Tanbridge House is sold to West Sussex County Council for £7,000.
1924	The building becomes the Horsham High School for Girls.^[4]
1968	Tanbridge House described as "a fine example of the revived Wealden tradition".
1976	Horsham High School for Girls is merged with nearby Manor House School and becomes Tanbridge House School, a mixed comprehensive.^[4]
1988	Tanbridge House faces demolition but Audrey Robinson, a teacher at the school, launches a successful campaign to save the building.
1993	Foundation Stone for new school buildings off Guilford Road, adjacent to the A24 road (England) is laid by Sir Philip Ward. The new school had been planned by Chairman of Governors David Radbourne and Headmaster Neil Chapman.
1994	The new school site is opened. The former school buildings on the Manor House site are demolished (to be replaced by Sainsbury's supermarket), and Tanbridge House is sold for conversion to apartments.
2009	The school obtains the all-weather pitch from Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre.
2012	Housing developments begin around the school. It is agreed that Tanbridge House School will be given more sports pitches once the developments are completed.
2016	Extensions to current school site completed.

Notable former pupils

Horsham High School for Girls

Kirsten Cooke, actor
Maggie Gee, novelist^[5]
Barbara Yorke, historian^[6]