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Our View
We were floored by the pace, variety of life and buzzing sense of activity at this aspirational and inspirational all-girls day school in leafy Edgbaston, just to the south of central Birmingham. Girls zip in all directions across the compact campus, out along the 10-minute walk to the sports fields and, once their time to leave has come, off to an impressive range of universities.
Where?
Edgbaston High School (EHS) is located among pristine residential streets in the suburbs of Edgbaston. The school campus is long, thin and full, meaning the space is used very efficiently. EHS is easily accessible along main roads from the M5, and public transport options are outstanding, with good rail and bus links (there are specific school buses and minibuses too).
EHS is easily accessible along main roads from the M5, and public transport options are outstanding, with good rail and bus links. There is also a big school bus from Sutton Coldfield and four minibus routes across the city. A joint school bus with boys’ only West House Prep is great for siblings.
Head
Clare Macro has been head of school since 2020, having arrived from Tudor Hall. We think she’s great – down to earth, thoughtful and excellent company.
Admissions
At least half of all new girls that arrive into Year 7 each year are external, the rest come up from the junior school – which really helps to fuel the diverse, energetic and enthusiastic feeling that permeated the school throughout our visit. There’s increasing interest from overseas families, particularly from Hong Kong and the UAE, which will add to the school’s already wonderfully diverse community.
There’s an entrance exam for prospective pupils applying from outside; and a six-GCSE requirement for entry into the sixth form.
Academics and destinations
With a curriculum designed to support and develop talent, and a focus on fostering a genuine joy in learning, EHS does a great job balancing the academic necessities with the individual passions and needs of the students. Everywhere here feels busy and productive, from the classrooms and the dance studios to the sixth form centre. Everyone we spoke to, including our brilliant guides, talked about the enormous variety of options pupils had.
We were particularly impressed by the arts and design provision, which is clearly super-popular and housed in a designated three-storey block, with facilities for ceramics, fine art and graphics (all kitted out with Macs). Our guides both mentioned Tulasi Parmar – an old girl who is now an award-winning fashion designer in London.
There are regular ‘off timetable’ days based around either STEM, creative subjects or languages, with a good variety of external speakers invited in to present, lead workshops and give masterclasses. Last July it was themed around the Commonwealth Games and featured two Olympians, Kelly Sotherton and Tom Parsons.
There is a wonderful sense of collaboration and investment across the school – the place is pretty full well before school starts, with pupils attending breakfast club from 7.30am and staying as long as they can into the evening (a member of the Senior Leadership Team told us that the girls would ‘arrive at 7am if they could, because they love school so much’ (this was backed up by what we saw during our visit). Language staff also head over to the junior school to teach – a real treat for the younger children.
Sixth formers have 28 subjects to choose from at A-level and enjoy an almost student union-like environment in their sixth form centre, with greenery dotted around to calm the mind. There’s also a new café that serves food all day.
Destinations are notably diverse in both location and subject – something that Mrs Macro is very proud of; the sixth form has a dedicated university preparation week as well, which looks fantastic. There is plenty of Russell Group representation, with pupils studying everything from law to fashion.
Co-curricular
There’s a vast array of options here, which goes hand in hand with the boundless enthusiasm of the girls. Whether you want to try your hand at knitting, ballroom dancing or Mandarin, spend your lunch period at a textile workshop or train for a LAMDA exam, we got the feeling that a huge number of pupils can still be found at school long after lessons finish. One of our lovely guides recently helped to set up the now very popular Dungeons & Dragons club.
A couple of highlights from our chat with Paul Smith, the EHS head of co-curricular, were his focus on life-saving (there is an Royal Life Saving Society Rookie Lifeguard Award available for Years 6 to 7), and Model UN, which started in 2020. He has also recently launched the EHS Challenge Badge for Key Stage 3, a six-part challenge to gain an award by completing activities in areas such as mindfulness, helping in society and being creative. Initially a scheme to try to keep the pupils active over lockdown, it has evolved into a DofE-style award.
The school also takes part in the West Midlands Young Active Citizen Award – a social programme in collaboration with Lord-Lieutenant of Birmingham.
School community
We were struck by the ‘Archive Wall’ located in the corridor above the main entrance – a cool collage of photos of various school activities (sports, drama and much more) across the different eras, with the most recent school photo in the middle. You can feel the community here – our guides had both come up through the junior school and could attest to the strength of the pastoral care and the time spent nurturing each student.
And finally....
We were really impressed by EHS – the campus is (quite literally, in some of the tighter corridors) a hive of activity and variety is truly at the heart of the school, whether in university destinations, extracurricular passion or subject options.