Forest Hill Secondary School

Forest Hill School is a boy's secondary comprehensive school located in Forest Hill, in the London Borough of Lewisham. The school has very close ties with the girls' secondary, Sydenham School, which is located close by. The school is in federation with Sydenham girls school. In 2005 the school was given Performing Arts status for its Drama, Dance, Music and Art courses and currently has a silver artsmark from the English Arts Council. The school is now often oversubscribed and the catchment area has recently been reduced by around 200 yards. The school also has a prestigious Investor in People award. HistoryForest Hill Comprehensive School opened in September 1956. It was a flagship of the London County Council's new policy of building comprehensive schools that aimed to breakdown the previous national policy of selecting children, largely on 11-plus results, to attend grammar, technical or secondary modern schools. It eventually grew to a role of around 1, 400 boys. Pastoral care was organised through six houses, each with seven mixed-year tutor groups. For academic subjects, boys were divided into nine forms by general ability, with sets for Maths and English. The first head teacher was Alexander E. Howard, who was a leading national figure in technical education. In its early years the school attracted considerable interest from educationalists. The following is a report of a visit to the school in July 1957 by the American educationalist Flaud C. Wooton. The academic quality of the early cadre of teachers is indicated by the careers that some went on to. Paul Ashbee became Professor of Archaeology at the University of Anglia. Laurie Taylor (sociologist) taught English and Drama and went on to a distinguished career in Sociology and is now best known for his broadcasting, especially the Radio 4 series ‘Thinking Allowed’. Brian Brookes, who taught Botany, went on to become a leading naturalist, with expertise in the plants of the Scottish Highlands, and environmental consultant, being awarded the MBE in 1983 for his services to education. David Stanbury, who taught Biology and became the School’s third Headmaster, researched and wrote on Robert Fitzroy, the Captain of the HMS Beagle, on which Charles Darwin was naturalist. Christ’s College Cambridge holds a collection of Stanbury’s papers.

Forest Hill School is a boy's secondary comprehensive school located in Forest Hill, in the London Borough of Lewisham. The school has very close ties with the girls' secondary, Sydenham School, which is located close by. The school is in federation with Sydenham girls school. In 2005 the school was given Performing Arts status for its Drama, Dance, Music and Art courses and currently has a silver artsmark from the English Arts Council. The school is now often oversubscribed and the catchment area has recently been reduced by around 200 yards. The school also has a prestigious Investor in People award. HistoryForest Hill Comprehensive School opened in September 1956. It was a flagship of the London County Council's new policy of building comprehensive schools that aimed to breakdown the previous national policy of selecting children, largely on 11-plus results, to attend grammar, technical or secondary modern schools. It eventually grew to a role of around 1, 400 boys. Pastoral care was organised through six houses, each with seven mixed-year tutor groups. For academic subjects, boys were divided into nine forms by general ability, with sets for Maths and English. The first head teacher was Alexander E. Howard, who was a leading national figure in technical education. In its early years the school attracted considerable interest from educationalists. The following is a report of a visit to the school in July 1957 by the American educationalist Flaud C. Wooton. The academic quality of the early cadre of teachers is indicated by the careers that some went on to. Paul Ashbee became Professor of Archaeology at the University of Anglia. Laurie Taylor (sociologist) taught English and Drama and went on to a distinguished career in Sociology and is now best known for his broadcasting, especially the Radio 4 series ‘Thinking Allowed’. Brian Brookes, who taught Botany, went on to become a leading naturalist, with expertise in the plants of the Scottish Highlands, and environmental consultant, being awarded the MBE in 1983 for his services to education. David Stanbury, who taught Biology and became the School’s third Headmaster, researched and wrote on Robert Fitzroy, the Captain of the HMS Beagle, on which Charles Darwin was naturalist. Christ’s College Cambridge holds a collection of Stanbury’s papers.