Heathfield School, Pinner

History

Heathfield was founded by Miss Gayford in 1900 in a house at the foot of Byron Hill in Harrow, with just thirty pupils. A year later it transferred to a large house in College Road.

In 1921, the school was bought by Miss Norris, who set about a programme of modernisation and enlargement which continued under the supervision of succeeding headships. New buildings and facilities were added at College Road and in 1930, the Sixth Form was added.

When Miss Norris retired, after seeing the school through almost half a century, there was a need to find a new site. Even so, it was not until 1982 that Heathfield finally moved to its present nine-acre site in Beaulieu Drive, Pinner, under the guidance of Mrs Ribchester.

Five years later, as a mark of its achievements, the school was taken into the Girls' Day School Trust. It was they who added the Junior wing and Nursery in 1990.

In the year 2000, as the school celebrated its Centenary under the headship of Miss Juett, a new indoor swimming pool, sports hall, fitness studio and Senior library were opened. A new Junior playground was built and a new Sixth Form centre was built in 2008. Work was later completed on a new building for Music, ICT, Careers and Physics. A new dining room and kitchen were built and existing areas for Art, Maths, Textiles and Design Technology were refurbished. A new Drama and Dance Studio was built in 2004.

A new sixth form centre was opened in 2008 and named the Pinner Leadership Centre.

The school was rated "excellent" in nearly all aspects during the 2010 ISI inspection.

Heathfield had enjoyed a strong rivalry in both academic and non-academic areas against North London Collegiate School (the first girls' school in the United Kingdom to offer girls the same educational opportunities as boys), until the merger with Northwood College in 2014 (whose rival is St. Helen's School).

Up to 2006, Heathfield's maintained strong links with its former brother school The John Lyon School. However, very little interaction took place between the two institutions other than an invitation to participate in the annual theatre production, which suited the dramatic students, and the Sixth Form Prom. Subsequently, JLS made links with Northwood College with a programme designed to enable boys and girls to interact. Such events include joint quizzes, debates, book discussions, cookery workshops, theatre trips, gallery visits, careers evenings, newsletter and inter-school competitions.

A few days (09-September-2013) after the start of the new term in September-2013 it was announced, that Heathfield GDST would merge with Northwood College. As a result of this merger the site in Beaulieu Drive closed. Heathfield school ceased to exist after nearly 113 years. In September 2014 all girls moved to the newly merged school in Northwood. The new school was renamed Northwood College for Girls GDST.

Detailed history of Heathfield School for Girls

Headmistresses'

Timeline:Heathfield School for Girls

Curriculum

GCSE, AS, A-levels and Open University extension programme are offered at Heathfield. There are 21 GCSE and 24 AS/A-level subjects to choose from. Most sixth formers take 4 subjects at AS-level, 3 at A-level. Out of the sixth form 40% take science A-levels; 30% take arts/humanities and 30% take both.

There are special provision set up to help pupils and some of the teachers even offer extra tuition.

There are a variety of languages offered at GCSE, AS and A-level such as Chinese, French, German, Latin and Spanish. There are regular French, Spanish, Chinese and German trips. There are also French and Spanish nationals in school as assistants.

ICT is taught both as a discrete subject and across the curriculum. There are 187 computers for pupil use, all networked and with email, internet and portal access. Sixth-form pupils have school laptops for home and school use.

Staff List

Houses

There are four houses at Heathfield School. From Lower Kindergarten (nursery) upwards, right through to the Sixth Form, each girl belongs to one of our four houses: Brontë, Curie, Nightingale and Pankhurst. This encourages social contact between the age groups and forms the basis for competitive sports events and inter-house competitions in Music, Dance and Drama, Swimming, Netball, Lacrosse, Rounders, Athletics (sports day) and Public Speaking. House meetings and house assemblies are also held periodically.

The houses represented powerful pioneering women, whose stories were repeated to the girls every year, thus serving as role models to students. Moreover, as a GDST school, female empowerment was integral to the fabric of the school, with the majority of assemblies and the curriculum tailored around women growing up in a stable environment with an understanding the significance of the sacrifices by the Suffrage Movement, achievements by different women in society in each subject area, and how to enhance their prospects in order to break the glass ceiling. This in turn resulted in highly articulate well-rounded young women, of whom a higher percentage chose a STEM subject at A Level, well above the national average. House Points were awarded by teachers in the form of Commendations which were signed by the Headmistress and returned to the pupils at registration.

Extracurricular Activities

There are many opportunities to be involved in interest clubs and non-academic pursuits. Girls have taken part in competitions such as the International Science Olympiads and national public speaking competitions. Other activities available include the World Challenge Expeditions, Duke of Edinburgh Award, Super Camp and charity drives.

There are also a variety of school teams and clubs, such as tennis, rounders, netball, lacrosse, swimming, cricket, athletics, football, badminton, available. Other activities include computer, social service volunteers, public-speaking, speech and drama, chess, Young Enterprise, art and craft, ballet, first aid and debating.

Up to 25% of pupils learn a musical instrument and instrumental exams can be taken in school. Musical groups include choir, orchestra, string group, recorder group. Each year Heathfield puts on a school production of either a famous musical or play students of all ages are encouraged to get involved. There are also dance and drama clubs run by members of the 6th form for younger girls.

Notable former pupils