The Lady Eleanor Holles School

Motto	"Spes Audacem Adjuvat"
Established	1711
Type	Independent All-Girls
Mrs Gillian Lowe (Oxon)
Students	890 (approx)
Location	Hampton, London, England
Website	The Lady Eleanor Holles School

The Lady Eleanor Holles School (often abbreviated to LEH or LEHS) is a selective, independent girls' school in Hampton, London, England, originally founded in 1711. The school has a Junior Department with some 190 students aged 7-11 and a Senior Department for ages 11-18 with some 700 pupils.

According to the Good Schools Guide, it is "Deservedly one of the top girls' schools in the country". It also states that the school is "Highly sought-after for its academic delivery, celebration of female success, top of the range facilities and cream of the crop intake."^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Facilities and Extra-Curricular Opportunities 3 Notable Alumnae 4 Past Headgirls 5 House Names 6 Headmistress 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

The school was established in 1711, when a trust for its endowment as a Christian foundation was created under the will of Lady Eleanor Holles, daughter of John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare, which prescribed that money from her estate should be used to set up a school. First located in the Cripplegate Ward of the City of London, its original site is marked by a plaque on one of the Barbican walkways. The school went on to occupy other premises in the City until 1878, when it moved to Hackney. The current premises in Hampton were purpose built, and were opened in 1935 by HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester. One of its original aims was to produce 'young ladies of grace and integrity', something that the young ladies of today continue to strive towards.

[edit] Facilities and Extra-Curricular Opportunities

The school boasts an impressive array of facilities, including a large sports hall, swimming pool, boat house on the Thames, playing fields, tennis courts, netball courts, athletics facilities, science laboratories, modern languages laboratory, design and technology suite, music and art suites, computer rooms, and, most recently, a new Learning Resources Centre. Girls can join a huge variety of clubs within the school, including Amnesty International, Chess Club, Debating Society Christian Union, Choirs, Orchestral and Chamber groups, and many more. There are also many sports teams, for example lacrosse, netball, tennis, gymnastics, athletics, rounders, swimming, rowing and fencing.

[edit] Notable Alumnae

• Charlotte Attenborough, daughter of Richard Attenborough
• Lynn Barber, journalist
• Caroline Bird, published poet
• Jay Hunt, Controller of BBC One
• Clare Lawrence, actress
• Annie Nightingale, BBC journalist
• Barbara Pearse, biological scientist
• Saskia Reeves, actress
• Gail Trimble, captain of the victorious (later disqualified) Corpus Christi College, Oxford University Challenge team, 2009

[edit] Past Headgirls

Venetia Barrett

Pilar Garrard

Daisy Barlow

Michelle Gomes

Hannah Morrill

Charlie Lawson

[edit] House Names

De Vere

Fitzwilliam

Holles

Tyrconnel

[edit] Headmistress

The Head Mistress of The Lady Eleanor Holles School is Mrs Gillian Low. Mrs Low was born in Wales, but grew up in Stanmore, in North London, where she was educated at a state primary school before gaining a free 11+ place at The North London Collegiate School in Edgware under the direct grant scheme. She went on from there, with an Open Scholarship, to read English at Somerville College, Oxford. After two years as a management trainee with Courtaulds, she decided to follow a career in teaching, and worked in Reggio di Calabria in Southern Italy for a year, teaching English as a foreign language, before taking her Post-Graduate Certificate of Education as a member of Trinity College, Cambridge. After gaining a Distinction in her PGCE, she took a series of increasingly senior teaching posts in comprehensive schools in Sussex and Middlesex, before becoming Deputy Headmistress of The Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith in 1994. In 1998 she was appointed Headmistress of Francis Holland School, Clarence Gate, in North London, a position she held for six years before moving to take up her current post at The Lady Eleanor Holles School in 2004.

She is President Elect of the Girls' Schools Association, and will serve as President in 2010. She is a member of the HMC/GSA Education and Academic Policy Committee, and will soon join the GSA/HMC Universities Committee. She is an Inspector of independent schools with the Independent Schools Inspectorate. Mrs Low sits on the committee of the Independent Schools Travel Association, and is the GSA representative on the International Confederation of Principals.

She is currently a governor of two girls' schools, Queen's College, Harley Street, and Queenswood School in Hertfordshire, where she chairs the Education Committee. In addition, she has been a governor of the preparatory school Sarum Hall, in Hampstead, and also of The Moat School in Fulham, which specialises in educating children with severe specific learning difficulties, and where she chaired the Education Committee.

Mrs Low has three children: a son of 23 who is a student at the London School of Economics, and daughters of 20 and 17, the first at Manchester University, and the second studying for her A levels.[1]

[edit] References

http://www.lehs.org.uk/The_Governors_and_Staff_31/The_Head_Mistress_54.php

[edit] External links

• The Lady Eleanor Holles School website
• Profile at the Good Schools Guide
• The Lady Eleanor Holles School DVD

Coordinates: 51°25′39″N 0°22′07″W / 51.4275°N 0.3687°W / 51.4275; -0.3687