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Nottingham Girls' High School is a girls' independent school, part of the Girls' Day School Trust, founded in 1875, situated just north of Nottingham city centre.

History

Nottingham Girls' High School was founded in 1875 by the Girls' Public Day School Company (now the Girls' Day School Trust). It was among the first schools opened by the GDST outside of London.

Facilities

Originally housed in a group of Victorian houses, the school has expanded considerably. Recent major works have ensured that pupils have fully equipped and purpose-built classrooms, laboratories and workshops, together with a well-stocked library, lecture theatre, drama studio and music house and a separate Junior School. The Sixth Form have their own facilities and the school is fully networked for IT.

The school grounds include a large all-weather pitch, gymnasium, sports hall and fitness suite. Preparations for a Performing Arts building are underway. There is also a sizeable sports field at Aspley. The school is immediately adjacent to Nottingham High School and a few extracurricular activities, such as joint theatrical productions, are organised with the boys who attend it. In recent years the following productions have been presented:

• Follies
• The Pirates of Penzance
• Annie
• Daisy Pulls it Off
• Les Misérables
• Guys and Dolls
• Seussical the Musical
• Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
• The Tempest
• Three Penny Opera
• Oliver!
• The Importance of Being Earnest
• Bugsy Malone
• A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Alice in Wonderland
• Cats
• Cinderella
• The lion king
• Hairspray

The four school houses are named after the four first headmistresses of the school; Bolton (Green), Hastings (Yellow), Luxton (Red) and Skeel (Blue). The house system was adopted relatively recently in the school's history, in 1995. The different houses compete in many different activities including Sports Day, House Performing Arts, Choral Speaking, House Debating. Relatives are put in the same house.

Academics

The school can accommodate around 1200 pupils overall, aged from 4 to 18. The Sixth Form represents nearly 30% of the Senior School, and there are normally around 280 girls in the Junior Department, which has a separate headmistress, Mrs Faith Potter, succeeding the previous headmistress Mrs Margaret Renshaw. As the largest of the 29 schools of the Girls' Day School Trust, Nottingham Girls' High School is part of an organisation which, since its foundation in 1872, has promoted the education of girls.

Student executive

The Sixth Form elects a group of 16 girls, including Head Girl and two Deputy Head Girls, who organise social events, often in conjunction with Nottingham High School.

Notable former pupils

• Gina Birch, bass player with The Raincoats
• Helen Cresswell, children's author
• Helen Karagounis, née Thieme, Olympic athlete
• Sudha Kheterpal, percussionist
• Julie Myerson, author, and writer in the Financial Times
• Stella Rimington, former Director-General of MI5
• Indhu Rubasingham, theatre director

References

1. Meller, Helen Elizabeth (1971). Nottingham in the eighteen eighties: a study in social change. University of Nottingham. p. 43.
2. Carter, James (2002). Talking Books: Children's Authors Talk About the Craft, Creativity and Process of Writing, Volume 2. Routledge. pp. 114–29. ISBN 9780203025178.
3. ""Notable GDST Alumnae", Annual Review 2011 - More than an education" (PDF). Girls' Day School Trust (courtesty of Times Educational Supplement).

External links

• School Website
• Profile on the ISC website
• Profile on the GDST website
• Profile at MyDaughter

• Girls' schools in Nottinghamshire
• Educational institutions established in 1875
• Schools of the Girls' Day School Trust
• Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association
• Independent schools in Nottingham
• 1875 establishments in England
• People educated at Nottingham Girls' High School