Community

Croydon High School Outreach and Partnerships

At Croydon High School, our strong sense of community is frequently highlighted and celebrated. We take great pride in our connection to the broader local community, and we approach our responsibilities within it with utmost seriousness.

Our dedication extends to collaborating with local organisations and schools, offering our expertise and facilities when suitable, and spearheading various programs and initiatives to bolster community engagement.

We warmly welcome inquiries from organisations seeking to collaborate with us. If you have any ideas or proposals for potential partnerships, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re eager to explore opportunities for collaboration.

The Rowdown Foundation

We work with the Rowdown Foundation to help children fulfill their potential through the ‘Inspire to Aspire’ programme.

The Rowdown Foundation was established to provide extra impetus for pupils (in 4 different primary schools from the New Addington area) and help a few of the pupils to have a dream beyond their normal horizons and to fulfill their ambitions. Working in partnership with parents, the Foundation also seeks to support parental engagement in their child’s education and enhance the wellbeing of their children.

Croydon High School provides specialist tuition over a ten week period. The lessons are challenging and focus on stretching the pupils’ understanding of English, Mathematics and Verbal Reasoning.

By taking part in the programme, it is the aim that it will improve the children’s chance of passing 11+ level entrance exams to the required standard for places at grammar or independent schools with the necessary scholarships or bursaries.

As a school we also have a commitment to provide at least one Rowdown Foundation Bursary for entry to Croydon High in Year 7.

National Council for Young Women

National Council for Young Women: Annual Sixth Form Conference

The National Council of Women of Great Britain was founded in 1895, a response to the unsatisfactory working conditions experienced by women at the time. It quickly developed into a nationwide network of small groups and within a couple of years was affiliated with the International Council of Women.

Today the NCW aims to engage women of all ages in local, regional, and national affairs. It aims not only to hear the views of all women, but to have those views heard at the highest level of government. It is determined to make sure that discrimination is eradicated from all areas of society The National Council of Young Women provides a unique opportunity for young people of all genders, such as ourselves to learn about and discuss topical issues, relating to both women and the wider society, and to make a real contribution to improving and educating our society.

Croydon High School is the NCYW ‘s flagship school for the South England and for the last six years has organized and hosted a major conference which addresses a major topic of concern for young women. In 2018 the conference was based on gender non-conformity and the challenges faced by young people and their families dealing with this issue. The conference was, as always, led by our Sixth Form and supported by GIRES whose aim is to improve the environment in which gender non-conforming people live.

In 2019, the Conference focused on Humanising Homelessness and looked at the many and complicated factors surrounding this most topical of issues.

Sixth Formers in local schools are invited to join us for these Conferences which are always inspiring and thought provoking.

Links With the Community

Croydon High School regularly invites elderly members of local neighbourhood care groups to events at the school.

For example, in 2018 our dress rehearsal for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was attended by around 75 of these VIP guests. Subsequent productions, Hairspray (2019) and Guys and Dolls (2020) followed this example and we now have a large regular attendance from the local community at our dress rehearsals.

It is something that is hugely appreciated by the individuals and the organisations, as this feedback shows.

“The Residents and Volunteers of Abbeyfield Sanderstead Society would like to thank everyone at Croydon High School for inviting us to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat yesterday afternoon. We really enjoyed the show and were very impressed with the young people’s talent, skill and professionalism. The delicious cakes, tea and coffee in the interval was literally the icing on the cake! Everyone was in high spirits, with much happy chatter and laughter during the return journey home.”

Abbeyfield Sanderstead Society Neighbourhood Care

Partnership Activities

Other outreach and partnership activities

We endeavour to engage and support local schools buy offering sports facilities at reduced rates – or free of charge where possible- and involving them in events we are running. For example, Greenvale Primary School use our swimming pool on a regular basis and Selsdon Primary School have put on their year 6 production in our Senior Hall.

We run a Creative Writing event for Year 2 children every February, promoted heavily to the local state schools and a significant number from schools in a particularly financially disadvantaged locality. The feedback has been really positive including this from one parent:

“ Just wanted to thank the CHS team for a fabulous workshop. Freya is what you’d call a ‘reluctant’ writer, yet she came home very animated and excited. She’d had a wonderful afternoon and was asking if there would be another. Thank you so much for inviting her.”

Our sixth formers volunteer to help with reading at a local Primary, with Years 10 and 11 girls having previously set up a Book Club here for children at the same school.

We always include local schools in relevant events, inviting them to send delegates to debating and sixth form conferences, careers events and Oxbridge and UCAS preparation evenings.