As we believe that our pupils should and can aspire without limits at Croydon High, what are your key aspirations in this new role and vision as IT Operations and Development Manager?

In this new role as IT Manager at Croydon High School, my aspirations align closely with the school’s philosophy of enabling pupils to aspire without limits. My focus is on creating a continuous, reliable, and engaging IT environment that empowers pupils and teachers alike to explore, collaborate, and thrive without barriers. Ultimately, my vision is to make technology a trusted partner in every aspect of life at the school, helping everybody feel confident and inspired in how they use IT to meet and exceed their ambitions.

Do you have any hidden talents or hobbies?

Yes, outside my professional life, I have several hobbies and interests that help keep me balanced and creative, such as photography. I enjoy capturing moments, whether it’s landscapes during my travels or the beauty of everyday life. It’s a hobby that lets me merge creativity with technical skill.

What advice would you give your 15-year-old self?

Don’t shy away from challenges or things you don’t yet understand. Every new skill and piece of knowledge will shape your future in ways you can’t imagine right now. You’re more capable than you think. Believe in yourself and your ability to make a difference.

Share a memorable time where you felt proud, empowered, aspirational or have shown kindness to others or kindness was shown to you.

A truly memorable and proud moment for me was during the transition of the file storage systems to the cloud using SharePoint and OneDrive at my previous workplace. This wasn’t just a technical challenge but also an opportunity to show leadership, support, and teamwork. It taught me that a little patience and empathy can go a long way in inspiring trust and confidence, and it reaffirmed my belief in the importance of putting people first in every professional endeavour.

Mr Alexander Tomczyk
IT Operations and Development Manager

We are Junior and Senior GDST Swimming Champions for the 4th consecutive year!

Well done to our fantastic swimmers, such brilliant team spirit and amazing performances from our Year 5 – Upper Sixth swimmers.

Under 14 Butterfly GDST Record – Poppy T

Under 11b Freestyle relay Record – Lana, Yasmin, Maya and Sophie.

Early Years and Year 6 had great fun celebrating the RSPB’s Big Birdwatch today. The girls got to spend time in nature with their buddies and all for a good cause. They took part in three activities: bird watching in the school grounds, finding hidden birds in our Forest School and then creating a beautiful bird picture back in the classroom. Through these activities the girls were able to learn more about our British wildlife and how they can support wildlife charities. The buddies really love to spend time together and it was wonderful to watch their relationships blossom even further.

Mrs Emily Wragg
Reception Class Teacher
Science Coordinator and Forest School Leader

On Wednesday we welcomed thirty exhibitors to showcase their industries and share their career journeys with pupils from Year 7 to Year 13. A range of different industries were featured, including marketing, government, finance, healthcare, engineering, education and the arts. We are immensely fortunate to have such a professionally diverse and successful group of alumnae, parents and friends, and we are very grateful to them all for taking time out of their busy schedules in order to share their personal expertise and professional insights.

One of our returning alumna was Hannah Marsden (Class of 2015), who was excited to talk with the girls about the construction industry and her role as a project manager. She was very impressed with her interactions and noted ‘the girls were all interested, engaged and asked really thoughtful questions.’ Hannah clearly had a positive impact, as Melody L in Year 8 commented, ‘it was all very inspiring – I was surprised by how much I enjoyed and was curious about civil engineering, as this was something I never thought I would be interested in, but now I am.’

We were also joined by alumna, Su-Lin Garbett-Shiels (Class of 1998), who shared her experiences as Head of Crisis Management Department at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Su-Lin and her team were inundated with pupils keen to learn more about their work, including Olivia H in Year 7 who reflected ‘I really liked the day, and the event has encouraged me to think about what job I want to do when I’m older and the conversation with the FCDO inspired me to look more deeply into jobs I wouldn’t expect I would want to do. It also made me think that I can help people by working in the industry.’

It was wonderful to see the girls interacting with all the different exhibitors throughout the day, discovering new industries. For our older pupils it was an opportunity to start networking, and consider their own future pathways, such as Lily-Belle T In Year 12: ‘I enjoyed seeing and talking to a lot of different speakers. It comforted me to know that there was more than one who had started off their career path in a very different field to the one they were currently in. It was exciting being able to speak to two women in the entertainment and media industry as this is the path that I would like to explore! It was a great event to connect with professionals who were willing to talk about their journeys and give advice that we will use in the next stages of our life.’

A huge thank you to all our exhibitors for creating such a fantastic day of discovery and inspiration!

We were lucky to be able to hear from five speakers at the Education in Action conference for English at The Emmanuel Centre in central London. We heard perceptive arguments about the portrayal and exploration of love over time, especially directed to our A Level English Literature set texts.

It was a privilege and joy to hear from the poet Owen Sheers, whose poetry collection Skirrid Hill is widely studied at A Level. His work was amazingly perceptive and insightful, and each of us found our own individual ways to relate. Our favourite poem was ‘Not yet my mother’, as it explored the experience of looking back in photos and seeing the change of people from the past to the present.

We also had a talk from Professor Emma Smith, a lecturer in English and Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford, on the presentation of love in Shakespeare, which was packed with amazingly-explored quotations and helped to bring in a new focus of the reception of love over time.

Although our final exams may seem far in the future, arguably one of the most valuable talks of the day was ‘Reading for meaning: an examiner’s perspective’ by Senior Examiner Julia Geddes. Thanks to the depth and variety of memorable advice on how to interact with our texts and questions as critically as possible, we will certainly continue to recall and employ what we learnt over the next two years!

Chloé W, Lily-Belle T, and Penelope P
Lower Sixth

To commemorate the 80th birthday of Croydon High alumna Jacqueline du Pré on 26 January 2025, a brand-new documentary, entitled ‘Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy’ is being released.

Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma introduces and narrates the film – which features many rare and never-before-seen rehearsal and performance footage as well as interviews with Daniel Barenboim, Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, Hugh Maguire, her nurse Ruth-Ann Cannings, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and many others – in a moving tribute to this remarkably talented musician.

‘Jacqueline du Pré: Genius and Tragedy’ will première on the PBS platforms in the United States on Friday, January 24th 2025 and we understand, is also coming soon to Europe, where it will be broadcast on SkyArts and ARTE.

Consider Yourself… invited to the Croydon High production of ‘Oliver!’

Book your tickets now!

This initiative will help more students, and more teachers feel creative at school, creating a stronger sense of community, agency, wellbeing, and a capacity to engage with the curriculum.

We hope a creative January inspires a creative February and beyond!

Visit our Junior School and take a look at our fantastic facilities, and learn about our school from teachers and pupils.

Our Junior School Open Morning will take place 9.15am – 11am and include a talk from the Junior Leadership Team and an opportunity to tour the site.

Book your place today