Central Foundation Girls' School - Secondary

As a large, oversubscribed, and inclusive 11-18 girls' school in the heart of London, Central Foundation Girls’ School is an exciting place to work and learn. Visitors often comment on the happy atmosphere of the school, and we take pride in our community spirit. In the words of Ofsted, October 2016 ‘School leaders have created a nurturing community that sees every pupil as unique and offers each a bespoke programme so that they can excel. Diversity is celebrated and opportunities abound. Leaders challenge pupils to excel in every aspect of their lives, academically, physically, socially and emotionally, within a supportive and extremely safe environment’. Central girls not only work together, they delight in the achievement of others as well as their own.

Our results demonstrate that we are consistently improving, with students achieving high grades each year at GCSE and in Post-16 studies. Our results place the school amongst some of the top providers in the country for attainment and progress at both GCSE and 6th form studies. The energy, determination and professionalism of the teaching and support staff, who strive to provide the students with the opportunities to succeed and to become well educated and confident young women, is a major factor in the school’s achievements to date.

At Central Foundation Girls’ School we

• Transform lives through our high expectations and high standards for all.
• Challenge and support each other to excel through our passion for learning.
• Value all members of our community and celebrate success.
• Empower ourselves to be a positive, creative, innovative and inspirational community.

We are keenly aware that tradition alone is not enough. While we are rightly proud of our heritage, we must always keep pace with the modern, changing world. Our aim of ‘Educating Tomorrow’s Women’ is central to the way we perceive our role.

The key words of our vision statement underpin our ethos. The education we provide at Central Foundation Girls’ School transforms our student lives; opening huge doors of opportunity. We expect our students to be active participants on this journey. As a rights respecting school we value each and every individual and insist that every member of the school community models rights and respect in their relationships with others.

‘Challenge’ is a key part of life at Central, coupled with good support our students are challenged to push the boundaries’ of their achievements; challenged to contribute; challenged to excel. We expect our students to be role models in all that they do.Every student at Central Foundation is unique, so valuing and celebrating our diversity is central to the school ethos. Our vision statement and ethos means that all our girls are empowered to be the best they can be in every area of their lives.

We want our students to learn how to find out what’s going on in the world, how to have a say and how to make a difference. To provide real experiences of that, we are working to help the school council become more effective. We have also trained students to research aspects of school life and inform the school management of their findings and concerns. Student Leadership opportunities exist across the curriculum from Year 7 through to the Head Girl and Student Ambassadors in the Sixth Form.

We expect all our students to show respect for the environment and for other people. We expect them to develop courtesy as well as their ability to care for others and to take every opportunity to participate in making the world a better place.

The curriculum offer is broad and balanced and provides all students with the opportunity to study a range of subjects. Our curriculum offer takes into account the needs of students and offers opportunities for both academic and vocational pathways, ensuring that all students have clear progression routes to GCSE (Level 2) and ‘A’ Level (Level 3) courses.

We welcome students from all religions and from all cultural backgrounds. As a Rights Respecting School we provide a safe and stimulating learning environment in which every student values her education and makes the most of every opportunity so that she is able to fulfil her potential.

We provide support for students who have been identified as having Speech and Language difficulties and may struggle with expressing themselves and / or understanding and processing language. These pupils are placed in groups and taught a wide range of skills, e.g. structuring sentences, improving memory, expanding vocabulary or using spoken and nonverbal communication to interact socially.

We are committed to ensuring that all students achieve their full potential by removing barriers to learning and participation in the classroom. When necessary we also make referrals for more detailed assessments to the Speech and Language therapist.

We carry out thorough assessments of students who struggle to acquire literacy and numeracy skills. Following tests, we produce detailed reports describing students’ particular difficulties and listing useful strategies. We then place students on intervention programmes which are tailored to their specific needs. The lists of strategies are also shared with classroom teachers so that they can produce materials students can access. We also ensure students’ needs are accommodated in controlled assessments and exams and award them extra time, a reader, a scribe or other adjustments where necessary.