Headteacher's Welcome
Sydenham School is a successful, diverse and inclusive girls' community secondary school with a co-educational sixth form, established in 1917. We provide a nurturing environment for students to feel safe, confident, happy and achieve academic excellence.
Our motto "Aim High" reflects our commitment to instilling the Sydenham Characteristics of ambition, determination and respect. We encourage ambitious goal-setting, exploration of passions, resilience-building, self-respect, respect for others and developing empathy. Students are equipped with the grit to persist through challenges and reach desired outcomes.
Our curriculum is designed to not only fulfil the requirements of the national curriculum but also go beyond it. This approach aims to instil a genuine passion for learning in every subject among our students. Our teachers believe that by ensuring students enjoy learning they will also want to dig deeper, explore further and develop their own interest and motivation to learn more. We celebrate each subject’s discipline, its creativity, the use of active learning, problem solving and collaboration in the classroom so that our students know more, remember more and become more confident and engaged. As an inclusive school we are proud of the results of all our students and believe that every student can achieve highly regardless of their starting points.
We have extensive extracurricular opportunities that enrich students’ experiences and unlock their potential through clubs, trips, sports and programs such as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. These build excitement, engagement, confidence, friendships and enable risk-taking and learning to overcoming challenges. We nurture leadership skills by providing platforms like the School Council, Sports Leaders, Debate Mate and Student Leadership roles for active community/global citizenship.
Local and national partnerships with SSAT, Best Practice Network, Royal Academy of Arts, Lawn Tennis Association and the Rugby Football Union, expose students and staff to best practices. As a teaching hub, we lead the way in early career teacher training, ensuring access to the latest educational developments.
Our thriving SFH6 sixth form offers an extensive range of A Levels and vocational Level 3 courses. We take immense pride in our sixth form results and the breadth of destinations to which our students progress. Our careers, university and Oxbridge preparation programme ambitiously supports applications to the most competitive universities, while respecting each individual's aspirations and the myriad options for undergraduate study and direct workplace entry.
Our holistic approach develops well-rounded, articulate individuals prepared to make positive societal contributions in their communities and beyond.
Emma Wijnberg