In 2013, 2017 and 2022, Ofsted inspectors described Varndean as a 'Good' school. Varndean shares the Surrenden Campus with Balfour Primary School,[1]Dorothy Stringer School, Varndean College[2] and Downs View Link college.
History
Varndean was founded in 1884 in central Brighton as York Place Higher Grade School. An Organised Science School was added in 1894. The name changed to Brighton Municipal Secondary School for Girls in 1905. During World War I, the York Place buildings were taken over for use as an Indian Military Hospital and not returned until 1919.
In 1926, the school moved to a new site on the outskirts of Brighton. It was renamed 'Varndean' School for Girls, after the nearby farm. The new building was opened by the Duchess of Atholl. In 1929, a football club, Old Varndeanians, was established for former pupils.
During World War II half the school evacuated to Yorkshire.[citation needed]
The School was a Grammar school for girls until the comprehensive movement and the take-over of Brighton by East Sussex County Council saw the educational system reorganised. Between 1975 and 1979, Varndean Grammar School for Girls became Varndean High School, a coeducational comprehensive. The Boys' Grammar School became Varndean Sixth Form College.
The school’s position on Ditchling Road provides far reaching views across Brighton and Hove, and equally the school is visible from much of the City. The original building design from 1926 has been both modified and expanded since to accommodate increased pupil numbers. In the original building, several rooms have been converted into IT suites and extensions made to house new Mathematics rooms, a Music suite and extra PE facilities, such as a Fitness Suite and a Dance Studio. A Sports hall and an astro-turf pitch have also been added.
The Balfour Building, opened in 1993, houses Art and Design Technology. The Friar Building, in use since 2000, accommodates English and Humanities. In 2008, a new expanded Library opened in the Ditchling building, which was refurbished in 2013 as the new Reading Room. Further expansion works within the existing building footprint are due to proceed in 2021.
Varndean was the first specialist school in the city, being granted a specialism in Technology in 1998. In 2005 it went on to be designated a high-performing specialist school; in 2006 Varndean obtained its second specialism in Music, followed by a third specialism in Applied Learning in 2007.
Several Pygmy goats were introduced in September 2016 and were cared for by students. The goats were initially being rehomed and intended to control grass, but their therapeutic effects and recreational benefits were recognised.[3][4] In April 2021, the goats were moved to Ferring Country Centre during construction works at the school, but are now there permanently.[5]
Headteachers
Below is a list of all the headteachers of the school.[6]
1884–1894 M. Brion
1894–1901 A. North
1901–1909 L. Hilton
1909–1937 E. Ellis
1937–1961 M. Warmington (Varndean School for Girls)
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(October 2018)
Helena Normanton, the first woman to join an institution of the legal profession, second woman to be called to the Bar of England and Wales, first British married woman to have a passport in the name she was born with. Pupil when school called York Place Higher Grade School.[8]
Brighton and Hove is a city with unitary authority status in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administered by Brighton and Hove City Council, which is currently in Green minority control.
Peacehaven is a town and civil parish in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England. It is located above the chalk cliffs of the South Downs approximately six miles (9.7 km) east of Brighton city centre, on the A259 road. Its site coincides with the point where the Greenwich meridian crosses the English south coast. Peacehaven is next to Telscombe Cliffs, a later western extension to Peacehaven, which lies within a separate parish and has a separate town council.
Brighton Kemptown, often referred to as Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven by local political parties, is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a Labour Co-op MP.
Telscombe is a civil parish and electoral ward with the status of a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It consists of three distinct settlements, separated from each other by an open area of downland called Telscombe Tye.
Peacehaven & Telscombe Football Club is a football club based in Peacehaven, East Sussex, England. The club is affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. The club are currently members of the Southern Combination Premier Division and play at the Sports Park.
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Thomas Francis Peter Fraser is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.
Varndean College is a sixth form college in Brighton and Hove that serves the needs of sixth form students and adults.
Dorothy Stringer School is a secondary school located in Brighton, East Sussex, England. It has over 1,600 pupils and 115 members of staff. There are 64 forms, each with an average of 26 students.
Stuart Gary Tuck is an English former professional footballer who was most recently assistant manager at Whitehawk. Tuck played as a left back in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion until injury put an end to his professional career. Tuck then played as a centre back for many years in non-league football in Sussex.
Ian Russell Chapman is an English former professional footballer. Born in Brighton, he spent most of his career with hometown club Brighton & Hove Albion.
Darren Barry Andduet Freeman is an English football manager and former professional player who played as a winger and striker, making over 130 appearances in the Football League between 1995 and 2001.
Gilbert Murray Simpsonfriba (1869–1954) was a British architect from Brighton who did most of his work in the seaside resort. In 1890 Simpson joined his father Thomas, architect to the Brighton and Preston School Board and the Hove School Board, and helped to design some of the "distinguished group of board schools" for those institutions during the late 19th century. He took over the firm of Thomas Simpson & Son when his father died in 1908, and went on to design several other institutional buildings in Brighton. His elder brother Sir John William Simpson was also an architect.
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