{{Short description|Secondary school in Parsons Green, London, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Use British English|date=September 2013}} {{Infobox school | name = Lady Margaret School | image = Lady Margaret School, September 2016 01.jpg | caption = Lady Margaret School, 2016 | motto = I have a goodly heritage (Psalm 16.6) | established = {{Start date and age|1917|09|df=yes}} | closed = | type = Academy<br>Comprehensive school | religious_affiliation = Church of England | head_teacher = Elisabeth Stevenson | r_head = | chair_label = | chair = Philip Bladen | founder = Enid Moberly Bell | specialist = | address = | city = Parsons Green | county = London | postal_code = SW6 4UN | country = England | coordinates = {{Coord|51.474|-0.199|type:edu_region:GB_dim:100|format=dec|display=inline,title}} | urn = 138607 | ofsted = Yes | staff = | enrolment = 742 | sixth_form_students = 175 | gender = Girls | lower_age = 11 | upper_age = 18 | houses = {{Hlist|Carver|Chirol|Kensington|Lyttleton|Marshall|Moberly-Bell}} | colours = Black and red strips | publication = | website = {{URL|www.ladymargaret.lbhf.sch.uk}} }} '''Lady Margaret School''' is an all-girls' Church of England comprehensive secondary school in Parsons Green, Fulham, London. It was awarded specialist school status (a government funding scheme defunct since 2010) as a Mathematics & Computing College in September 2003,<ref>{{cite web|title=Specialist Schools Home |publisher=Department for Children, Schools and Families |url=http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/ |accessdate=2008-01-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060803055309/http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/ |archivedate= 3 August 2006 }}</ref> and became an academy in September 2012. In September 2017 it celebrated its 100th anniversary. Princess Alexandra is patron of the centenary having previously opened the new assembly hall in 1965. Princess Alexandra attended a service to celebrate the centenary of Lady Margaret School at Westminster Abbey (the resting place of Lady Margaret Beaufort) on Tuesday 17 October 2017. The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, John Hall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/press/news/2017/october/westminster-abbey-marks-centenary-of-lady-margaret-school|title=News archive | كنيسة وستمنستر}}</ref>
==Now== The school has approximately 742 girls aged between 11 and 18 years, about 175 of whom are in the sixth form. The majority of girls stay on into the sixth form. A number of students from other schools are given places in the sixth form following its expansion with the opening of the purpose-built Olivier Centre in 2010.
The headteacher is Elisabeth Stevenson, following the retirement of Sally Whyte in July 2015.
Today, Lady Margaret School is a Church of England academy in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. In 2003, the school achieved specialist status in mathematics and computing. In 2007, the school was described by Ofsted as 'good with outstanding features' and by the Statutory Inspection of Anglican Schools as 'outstanding'.
In 2010, the school opened a new building named 'The Olivier Centre', named after the former headmistress, Joan Olivier. The auditorium there was named after Colin Busby, a deputy head who also retired in 2006.
It was reviewed again in 2011, with Ofsted describing the school as 'outstanding'. Having been designated a 'high performing specialist school' following the successful Ofsted inspection, the school was awarded a second specialism in music.
In December 2012, the school was given the go-ahead by Hammersmith and Fulham Council to expand to permanently admit four forms of entry in Year Seven following the success of two earlier 'bulge' years. From September 2014, the school admitted four forms (120 pupils) in Year 7.
In December 2016, the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS) conducted an inspection to evaluate the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the school as a church school. The report judged the school to be ‘Outstanding’ in all categories.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ladymargaret.lbhf.sch.uk/publications |title=Lady Margaret School, a CofE academy for girls aged 11-18, Parsons Green, London - Publications |website=www.ladymargaret.lbhf.sch.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141120052112/http://www.ladymargaret.lbhf.sch.uk/publications |archive-date=2014-11-20}}</ref>
==History== thumb|left|Lady Margaret SchoolLady Margaret School has its origins in Whitelands College School, founded in 1842, a year after the creation of Whitelands College, one of the oldest higher education institutions in England. Whiteland College was founded by the Church of England's National Society as a teacher training college for women who undertook their training with the students at the adjacent Whitelands School. The college and school were adjacent to each other; the college being named after its first home, a Georgian building, Whitelands House, on King's Road in Chelsea, London. Whitelands School offered kindergarten classes for both boys and girls. Having completed kindergarten, most of the girls then attended the school's junior/primary classes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Records of Whitelands College Girls' School Old Girls' Association; Circular letter to Old Pupils, Hebblethwaite Literature Prize, Hebblethwaite Memorial Guild. |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/f831b431-86a2-4deb-beee-92fa058496a5 |publisher=National Archives, UK |access-date=3 May 2023 |date=2000 |quote=Whitelands College School, founded in 1842, was attached to Whitelands College, founded in 1841 as a training college for women teachers...In the early 1900s the pupils of the school were mainly daughters of doctors, officers at the Royal Hospital, shopkeepers, etc., in Chelsea, Kensington, Westminster, Battersea and Wandsworth. There was a Kindergarten for both girls and boys, and of girls...}}</ref><ref name="lms">{{cite web |title=School history |url=https://ladymargaret.lbhf.sch.uk/our-school/school-history/ |website=Lady Margaret School |access-date=22 December 2024}}</ref>
In 1917, Whitelands School was threatened with closure, and it was only by the strenuous efforts of Enid Moberly Bell and her staff that a substantial number of the pupils were "rescued", forming Lady Margaret School that September. The 1963 ''Who's Who (UK)'' records that Moberley Bell had taught "advanced" subjects at "Whitelands College School".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Addison |first1=H. |title=Who's who - Volume 115 |date=1963 |publisher=A. & C. Black |pages=214 |url=https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Who_s_who/CRb5qYtZa_UC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Whitelands+College+School+,+Chelsea+%3B+Head+Mistress+,+Lady+Margaret+School+,+Parsons+Green+,+S.W.6+.+,+1917-47&dq=Whitelands+College+School+,+Chelsea+%3B+Head+Mistress+,+Lady+Margaret+School+,+Parsons+Green+,+S.W.6+.+,+1917-47&printsec=frontcover |access-date=3 May 2023 |quote=Enid Moberley Bell...taught advanced...Whitelands College School...}}</ref> Records in The National Archives state that Moberly Bell was Lady Margaret School's founding headmistress.<ref>{{cite web|title=Records of Whitelands College Girls' School Old Girls' Association|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/f831b431-86a2-4deb-beee-92fa058496a5|website=The National Archives|accessdate=1 May 2017}}</ref> The school was named after the Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, founder of St John's and Christ's Colleges, Cambridge, and a benefactress of education.<ref name="lms" />
===Belfield and Elm Houses=== The school began life in the oldest of the three houses facing Parsons Green which now form the present school: Belfield House. In 1937, the second house, Elm House, with its bow windows overlooking a rear garden and long strip of playground, was purchased through the generosity of Anne Lupton (died 1967) and was renamed Lupton House.<ref>{{cite web |title=School of Discipline for Girls, Elm House, Fulham, London |url=https://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/ParsonsGreenIS/ |publisher=Peter Higginbotham |access-date=14 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=London Gardens |url=https://londongardenstrust.org/conservation/inventory/site-record/?ID=HAF031 |publisher=London Parks and Gardens Trust |access-date=21 November 2018 |quote=In 1937 the school moved out and Elm House was acquired by Lady Margaret School. The building was refurbished, and renamed Lupton House, in honour of Anne Lupton, who had been instrumental in acquiring the building for the school. |archive-date=21 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203918/http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.php?ID=HAF031 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Owen|first1=Brian|title=Lady Margaret School|url=http://www.ladymargaret.lbhf.sch.uk/school-history|publisher=Lady Margaret School Ltd. – 2015|accessdate=25 May 2015|quote=In 1937, the second house, Elm House, was purchased through the generosity of Miss Anne Lupton...Lady Margaret School opened with 86 girls and 11 boys on 19 September 1917 ...With the passing of the 1944 Butler Act – two of Rab Butler’s granddaughters would later become students of the school in the 1970s – the Kindergarten and Junior School were phased out.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ELM HOUSE - PARSONS GREEN SW6 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1079798?section=official-list-entry |publisher=Historic England |access-date=14 August 2025}}</ref> With the passing of the 1944 "Butler Act", the Kindergarten and Junior School were phased out and the school only enrolled girls at the secondary level.
The school was for many decades a fee-paying school.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Black |first1=A. and C. |title=The Girls' School Year Book - Public Schools |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=POQ6AAAAIAAJ&q=Lady+Margaret+school+++green+fee+paying |publisher=Adam and Charles Black |year=1962 |accessdate=21 November 2018 |quote=Lady Margaret School a Church of England Grammar School for Girls Parson’s Green, SW6 (Aided by London County Council) School Motto. — " I have a goodly heritage." • This School is a … Originally a fee-paying independent school, it is now a Voluntary Aided Secondary Grammar Day School. The London Diocesan Board of Education is Trustee…}}</ref> However, the 1944 "Butler Act" saw Lady Margaret become a two-form entry grammar school. In April 1951 its relationship to the Church of England was regularised when it became a voluntary aided school. It became a comprehensive school on its 60th anniversary in September 1977.
==Houses== There are six houses in the school: Moberly Bell and Marshall joined the four original houses in 2001/02.
Three of the six houses are named after women and the other three are after men. They are as follows: * Moberly-Bell, (named after Enid Moberly-Bell, first headmistress of LMS) (pink), * Lyttleton (after Edward Lyttelton, a benefactor of the school) (blue), * Carver (named after an early benefactor of the school, Gertrude Carver, who was also a close family friend of Enid Moberly Bell) (green), * Marshall (Florence Marshall, a previous headmistress)(purple), * Chirol (Sir Valentine Chirol, a benefactor of the school) (red) and; * Kensington (the Bishop of Kensington) (yellow).
==Notable former pupils== * Louise Alder – soprano<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ldbs.co.uk/centenary-lady-margaret-school-celebrated-westminster-abbey/|title=Centenary of Lady Margaret School celebrated at Westminster Abbey - London Diocesan Board for Schools|author=|date=7 November 2017|website=ldbs.co.uk|accessdate=29 March 2018}}</ref> * Laura Barnett – author and journalist<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.laura-barnett.co.uk/laura-barnett-greatest-hits-qa-nomad-books-london-thursday-13-july-7-30pm/|title=Laura Barnett 'Greatest Hits' Q&A at Nomad Books, London - Thursday 13 July, 7.30pm - Laura Barnett: Author and Journalist|author=|date=3 July 2017|website=laura-barnett.co.uk|accessdate=29 March 2018}}</ref> * Mahalia Belo – film director * Jessie Burton – actress and writer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/little-wonder-meet-author-jessie-burton-9669318.html|title=Little wonder: meet author Jessie Burton|author=|date=26 June 2015|website=standard.co.uk|accessdate=29 March 2018}}</ref> * Martha Fiennes – film director{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} * Jill Saward, rape law reformist, aka the ''Ealing Vicarage Rape Victim''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/09/jill-saward-obituary|title=Jill Saward obituary|first=Julie|last=Bindel|date=9 January 2017|work=The Guardian|accessdate=29 March 2018}}</ref> * Mia Soteriou, (Maria Soteriou) – actress and musician
===Grammar school=== * Nadine Baylis (1940-2017), stage and costume designer<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pritchard |first1=Jane |title=Nadine Baylis obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2018/aug/05/nadine-baylis-obituary |accessdate=7 August 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=5 August 2018}}</ref> * Betty Birch, England cricketer (1951-1958), pupil and PE teacher at the school<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/53738.html|title=Betty Birch|author=|date=|website=Cricinfo|accessdate=29 March 2018}}</ref> * Barbara Boxall, Editor from 1964–74 of ''Woman'', and from 1962–64 of ''Woman's Realm''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/barbara-boxall-rhpzj0jpv|title=Barbara Boxall|author=|date=6 April 2017|publisher=|access-date=29 March 2018|via=www.thetimes.co.uk}}</ref> * Diana Garnham, Board member Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Chief Executive 2006 – October 2015 of the Science Council, and from 1991–2005 of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/press-releases/2013/january/university-of-leicester-to-honour-gold-medal-winning-paralympic-athlete-and-science-campaigner|title=University of Leicester to honour gold medal-winning Paralympic athlete and science campaigner — University of Leicester|last=pt91|date=|website=www2.le.ac.uk|accessdate=29 March 2018}}</ref> * Kelly Hunter – actress{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} * Nigella Lawson (briefly) and her sister Horatia * Janet Street-Porter — editor-at-large at the Independent newspapers<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/top-schools-face-legal-action-for-grabbing-the-brightest-pupils-7211657.html|title=Top schools face legal action for grabbing the brightest pupils|author=|date=13 April 2012|website=standard.co.uk|accessdate=29 March 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Lady Margaret School}} * {{Official website|http://www.ladymargaret.lbhf.sch.uk/}}
{{Schools and colleges in Hammersmith and Fulham}} {{authority control}}
Category:Girls' schools in London Category:Secondary schools in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Category:Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of London Category:Academies in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Category:Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Category:Houses in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Category:Fulham Category:Educational institutions established in 1917 Category:1917 establishments in England Category:King's Road, Chelsea, London