140 Magazine by GDST

WELCOME

For 140 years, Bromley High School has been providing an exceptional education to talented girls.

The school was founded by a group of Victorian pioneers whose mission was to provide a ﬁrst-class education to as many girls as possible. Their cause was to give girls the same opportunities as their brothers, at a time when opportunities for girls to be educated were scarce and hard won.

The school’s motto Fides et Opera (By Faith and by Works), reﬂects the school’s intention to imbue pupils with self-belief and to nurture the conviction that much can be achieved by hard work and consistent e ort.

We are immensely proud of our heritage and much of the original cause still guides our mission now; but it is Bromley High School’s readiness to innovate which has seen the school thrive for almost a century and a half.

40 years ago, the school moved from Bromley town centre to the inspirational green parkland in Bickley, reinventing itself amongst 25-acres of green open space to provide its pupils with the room they need to breathe and grow.

Our mission is to provide an exceptional education for girls; empowering and inspiring bright minds to carve out bright futures. To become the next generation of responsible female leaders, equipped with the skills, knowledge and compassion to make our planet a better place.

To mark our 140th anniversary, the school will hold a number of exciting events throughout the year, celebrating our rich history and exciting future with past and current pupils.

I look forward to our continued work together and hope you enjoy reading our 140th anniversary magazine.

Mrs Emily Codling, Headmistress

HEADMISTRESSES WALL OF FAME

Miss Heppel 1883 - 1908 Miss Hodge 1908 - 1924 Miss Littlewood 1924 - 1939 Mrs Hancock 1989 - 2000 Mrs Duggleby 2001 -

FAME

Miss East 1940 - 1949 Miss Leale 1949 - 1963 Miss Hardwick 1963 - 1971 Duggleby - 2009 Ms Simpson 2010 - 2014 Mrs Codling 2022 Mrs Drew 2014 - 2022

BUILDING A BRIGHT FUTURE

1883: The School opens in ‘Fernbank’ house

1887: Three classrooms, cloakrooms, hall and gallery built

1903: Three classrooms added

1920: ‘Hawthorns’ acquired, becoming the Junior School

1925: Gymnasium, two classrooms and studio built and over 5 acres of land for playing ﬁeld was acquired in Bickley

1932: The ‘New Wing’ is built

7 8 9 10 11

1932: Canteen and domestic science room built

1946: ‘Speldhurst’ acquired, the ‘new’ Junior School

1948: ‘Oakdene’ acquired

1961: Four laboratories built

1962: ‘Elmﬁeld House’ acquired

1971: 20 acres of land acquired in Bickley

1981: New Bickley site opened

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 9 1 2 3 4 5 6

When Bromley High School was founded in 1883, the original site stood on Elmﬁeld Road, adjacent to Bromley South railway station.

1981-1983

In 1981, the Senior School was opened by H.R.H. Princess Alice the Duchess of Gloucester. The Junior School was opened by Dr Caroline M. Barron in 1983.

22nd April 1988

The 25-meter swimming pool was opened by Hon. Colin Moynihan MP. It now regularly hosts inter-school ﬁxtures, house competitions as well as Kent and national events.

10th March 2003

The Crompton Library and Sixth Form Centre were opened by H.R.H. Princess Alice the Duchess of Gloucester.

30th June 2021

The new multi-million pound extension and refurbishment of the Junior School opened, including new specialist teaching spaces, all with panoramic views of the grounds.

24th May 1994

The ﬁrst Junior School extension was opened by Dr A.P. Hogg, Chairman of Council.

13th March 1994

The Sports Hall was opened by Mary Bearwood, Senior England Netball coach.

Bromley High School moved from Elmﬁeld Road to the new 25-acre site of green open space on Blackbrook Lane.

140 YEARS OF CELEBRATIONS

1933

Bromley High School celebrated the school’s 50th Anniversary with a Jubilee dinner at St. Ermin’s Hotel in London.

1983

The school celebrated its 100th anniversary with a Centenary Thanksgiving Service at St Paul’s Cathedral.

2008

Bromley High School celebrated its 125th anniversary at the spectacular Royal Albert Hall.

“Performing at the Royal Albert Hall in the ‘Flying High’ celebration show was a highlight of my time at Bromley High School.”

Extract from pupil interview

1958

Bromley High School celebrated its 75th anniversary at the Hyde Park Hotel in London. Headmistress Miss Leale invited the school’s godmother, Mrs Cash for the traditional cake cutting ceremony.

“All the Old Girls were invited and my aunt was there. She had been one of the evacuees during World War II when Bromley High School pupils went to Nottingham High School. I spent most of the service looking at the beautiful ceiling!”

Anna-Britt Nicholson, former pupil 1984-1991

2013

Bromley High School celebrated its 130th anniversary with a Community Festival, inviting past and present pupils, parents, Governors and visitors from local schools and care homes.

18th January 2023

As part of the school’s birthday celebrations, Headmistress

Mrs Codling held a special assembly where, following school tradition, the eldest and youngest pupils cut a birthday cake together. All pupils were treated to a delicious 140th birthday cupcake. Junior pupils dressed up as a prominent woman from the last 140 years.

30th January 2023

The school held a cake competition and bake sale to celebrate, raising money for the Wonder Foundation.

23rd January 2023

Bromley High School hosted a whole school House Afternoon Tea with guest alumnae. Junior and Senior School pupils dressed up in their House colours and exchanged celebratory 140th anniversary pins with each other.

5th March 2023

Bromley High School held a Gala Concert at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music.

19th May 2023

The Music department hosted ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat!’, a concert with 140 minutes of non-stop music at school.

10th June 2023

Alumnae reunite for a 140th Anniversary Tea Party at school.

23rd January 2023

All pupils pledged 140 minutes of their time volunteering in the local community.

6th July 2023

Junior and Senior Schools pupils are invited to our Bromfest 140 Summer Festival.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

When the school was founded in 1883, girls did not have a school uniform. Pupils wore dresses that followed fashionable lines; often a loose calf-length smock-frock or skirt in the 1890s and early 1900s.

(Photo of ﬁrst Headmistress Miss Heppel and pupils from 1899)

Every Friday morning, pupils practiced their Swedish Drill, a series of movements performed under the teacher’s vocal instructions. “For this, we wore navy blue pleated skirts and woollen jerseys with pale blue ties. This was our only school uniform during World War I” Former pupil. (Photo from 1911)

The ‘gym slip’, which became known as the pinafore dress, was initially a gym uniform and came to be adopted as the girls’ uniform style in the early 20th century. (Photo from 1924)

After World War II, girls start wearing ties, blouses and pleated skirts with blazers.

(Photo of Sixth Form from 1949)

A uniform receipt for a Senior pupil. Families purchased the school uniform from ‘Kinch & Lack’, formerly at 42 High Street in Bromley. (Receipt from 1972)

In the late 1900s, Junior pupils wore a pink or blue school dress. Senior pupils wore a grey skirt and burgundy school jumper. Sixth Formers were dressed in a ‘smart and business-like manner’.

(Photos from 1983 & 1991)

Today, Junior pupils wear the school Summer dress in the warmer months and their checkered pinafore for the rest of the academic year. Since September 2013, Senior pupils have worn a new style skirt, today’s checkered kilt, with a blazer. Pupils also have the option of wearing the school trousers or culottes. Sixth Formers continue to follow the ‘smart wear’ dresscode. Uniform and sportswear can now be purchased from the school uniform shop or online. (Photo of current Junior & Senior pupils)

(Photo of 2023 pupils wearing the old and current uniform)

SCHOOL THEN & NOW

Early Days

The school ﬁrst opened on 18th January 1883 with just 24 pupils, aged between 7 and 17. In September 1888, six pupils aged 3 to 6 years old joined; marking the beginning of the Junior School. During the same year, the school’s ﬁrst charitable project began, working with the Bromley branch of the Waif and Stray Society to adopt and provide education for several young orphans and women. By Miss Heppel’s retirement in 1908, 184 pupils were registered. (Whole school photo from 1898)

Boys at Bromley High School

In September 1890, boys began to enrol in the Junior School. Mainly brothers of current pupils, the boys joined aged 3 and left aged 7 to be taught at a boys’ school. Between 1890 and the late 1930s, over 230 boys were taught at Bromley High School. Former pupil William Gibbs became the youngest Mayor of Bromley between 1932 and 1934, aged just 27 years old.

The last record of boys enrolling was in 1938. (Photo from 1899)

1914 - 1918: World War I

In Autumn 1914, one pupil recalled hearing the thunder of the troop trains rushing through Bromley South Station to take troops to the Front. In 1915, ﬁve girls from Belgium and another from France joined Bromley High School as refugees. Pupils helped the war e ort by knitting blankets, making garments in their needlework lessons, making treasure bags for the wounded, visiting soldiers or the Red Cross, growing potatoes and vegetables and keeping chickens.

The school also organised a series of patriotic concerts in the main hall, attracting large audiences and raising a substancial amount of money for various war and local charities. (Photo of Orchestra from 1916)

“On 11th November 1918, the sirens went o , not to warn us of another raid but to tell us that the nightmare of the last four years was over, and we celebrated the Declaration of Peace.” Miss Hodge, Headmistress (1908-1924)

Interwar Years

From 1918 onwards, the pupils continued to grow in numbers requiring the school to expand its site. By the time Miss Hodge left the school in 1924, 400 pupils were registered. In 1930, the House system was inaugurated with Houses named Lancaster, Tudor, Stuart, Windsor, Plantagenet and York.

(Photo from 1924)

1939 - 1945: World War II

In July 1940, the outbreak of war brought reorganisation of the school curriculum. Air raid shelters under the playground were completed at the start of the term.

“In 1944, I was pedalling home along Palace View, when a silent Aying bomb passed over my head, a ball of ﬂames. Those of us who travelled to and from school on our bicycles became quite adept in beating the siren, or pedalling for our lives if we did not!” Extract from pupil interview.

Many Bromley High School girls were evacuated to Nottingham High School for the long holiday, along with girls from other GPDST schools in the danger zone.

140 Years Later

Today, Bromley High School has a record number of 896 pupils enrolled. Charitable giving is a huge part of school life and central the mission for house activities; the Senior School alone raises around £25,000 a year and pupils collectively volunteer over 1,500 hours each year for the Duke of Edinburgh scheme. Junior School girls are enthusiastic and creative fundraisers and have particularly enjoyed sponsoring two African girls’ education this year. The GDST also recently sponsored a number of refugee Ukrainian children, o ering fully funded places. The Houses are now named Malala Yousufzai, Elizabeth Windsor, Malorie Blackman and Amelia Earhart in the Junior School and Oakdene, Fernbank, Speldhurst and Elmﬁeld in the Senior School. (Whole school photo 2022-2023)

(Photo by Gillman & Soame)

SCHOOL THEN & NOW

Scholarships

In 1885, the ﬁrst Trust Scholarship was o ered. Over the last 140 years, the school’s scholarship programme has grown signiﬁcantly o ering over 1,100 scholarships to girls demonstrating exceptional promise.

(Photo of ‘Upper Second’ from 1911)

Societies

Numerous school societies were founded and developed including the Debating Society which was established in 1916. Today, the school has over 160 clubs and societies and the hugely enthusiastic Debating Society regularly competes at national level.

Sports

In 1893, the ﬁrst ‘School Sports’ (now called Sports Day) was held in the school playground and became an annual event. In 1908, the only games played were hockey and tennis. Netball was soon introduced and became very popular. It wasn’t until 1920 that girls started playing cricket, which was unusual for girls at the time. In 1920, for the ﬁrst time in the history of the school, Bromley High School won the Junior Netball Cup, a London Trust-wide competition. (Photo from the late 1940s)

Today, Bromley High School has an excellent reputation for sporting success with national titles including the National Tier 4 under 18 Hockey Champions and National Bath and Otter Cup Champions in swimming. Pupils also participate in netball, gymnastics, basketball, volleyball, dance, health related ﬁtness, trampolining, water polo, tag rugby, football, tennis, athletics and cricket.

University Destinations

The school’s ﬁrst Headmistress Miss Heppel aimed for a high standard of scholarship. She succeeded in her aim with a long list of pupils pursuing careers in scientiﬁc research, medicine, art, social and charitable work, and missionary enterprise.

(Photo from 1949)

Today, our leavers go to a wide range of presitigious higher education destinations across the UK and internationally.

Curriculum

In 1920, Sixth Form pupils studied three main areas of specialisation which were Classics, Modern Languages and History, Science and Mathematics; while Scripture, English Essay, Political and Social Science and Drill were compulsory for all. In the late 1920s the curriculum was widened to include Craftwork (including weaving and pottery), Advanced Needlework, Cookery and Laundry, Economics, Geography, and Music. In 1933, Science was introduced, with a focus on Biology. (Extract of curriculum from 1923)

Today the school o ers a distinctive curriculum of great breadth and depth including Fine Art, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Classical Civilisation, Computer Science, Dance, Drama, DT Product Design, Economics, English Literature, French, Geography, German, History, Latin, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Music, Photography, Physical Education, Physics, Politics, Philosophy & Theology, Psychology and Spanish.

FUNDRAISING FOR A

BRIGHTER FUTURE

The school has set an ambitious fundraising campaign that will celebrate 140 years of Bromley High School and provide an enduring legacy for decades to come.

BURSARY PROGRAMME

Our fundraising campaign will see investment in our bursary programme, to enable even more girls from diverse backgrounds to beneﬁt from a Bromley High School education.

OUTDOOR LEARNING

At Bromley High School, we are fortunate enough to have the 25-acre grounds as an extension to the classrooms. To further enhance the school’s outdoor learning provision, our fundraising campaign will see investment in a school pavilion, climbing wall and refurbished outdoor courtyard which connects our Junior and Senior Schools.

• Pavilion

Bromley High School gave me the conﬁdence to follow my chosen path; I will always be grateful for the education and opportunities I received.

Chantelle Hopkins, Bursary Alumna Director of Take a Seat Productions

Following the renovation of our new state-of-theart Astro, the school would like to build a multipurpose pavilion to further develop our facilities.

The pavilion will include a waiting area to improve spectator access, allowing us to host tournaments and regional academy training at a higher level. The pavillion will also serve as an exhibition space, for functions and performances.

• Outdoor Learning Pods

It is well known that learning outside the classroom is recognised as important for the personal, social and emotional development of students.

Outdoor pods set within our beautiful grounds will bring the outdoors inside to provide our pupils with an inspiring space to learn.

• Pond Refurbishment

Our school pond is a valuable habitat for wildlife and a brilliant resource for outdoor learning. By refurbishing the pond to clear overgrown weeds and add decking around the water, pupils can engage with the local natural environment. The pond can also be used to enhance curriculum studies in science, geography and forest school.

• Courtyard Refurbishment

To celebrate being an all-through school and providing a seamless education, our campaign will fund the refurbishment of the outdoor courtyard that connects our Junior and Senior Schools with a brick path.

We invite parents and alumnae to become a permanent part of Bromley High School’s site by buying a custom engraved brick featuring their name or the name of a loved one. This is a meaningful and permanent way to remember someone special in your life and also support Bromley High School.

DONATE TODAY COMMUNITY SPONSORED EVENTS

Bromley High School will be organising community-sponsored events annually to generate funds for our bursary programme. This summer, our Headmistress Mrs Codling will host an exciting sponsored 24-hour swim; donations can be made online through the JustGiving website.