On Thursday, January 30th, our Classics and Latin A Level pupils set off on an adventure to London, ready to dive headfirst into the world of the ancient Greeks and Romans! First stop: the British Museum, where we marvelled at some incredible artefacts. One of the highlights? A stunning vase depicting Hercules wrestling the mighty Cretan Bull—because nothing says “heroic” like wrangling an angry, oversized cow!

After soaking up all that history, we made our way to the Duke of York’s Theatre for a performance of Elektra. And wow—what a show! The story follows Elektra and Orestes, two siblings, out for revenge against their mother after she murders their father, Agamemnon (classic Greek family drama, right?). This version had a fresh, modern twist that made the tragedy feel even more intense—and yes, there were moments when we were completely on the edge of our seats!

From ancient artefacts to gripping theatre, the day was packed with excitement, and we left feeling inspired (and maybe just a little bit dramatic ourselves). Who knew the ancient world could feel so alive?

Hadassah C-S
Year 10

A group of our best chemists arose incredibly early last Saturday to trek across London and out the other side, as we headed to Cambridge for our opportunity to put skills to the test in this year’s Chemistry Race competition. Hosted at the University of Cambridge’s Chemistry Department, the competition is in its 6th year and provides an incredibly challenging afternoon of teasing problems for students to grapple with. Teaching students to work as a team and think carefully about answers to each problem, they receive diminishing points for each attempt at a question and must run up to collect and tackle a series of increasingly challenging problems. This year’s problems included excerpts of Czech poetry, organic chemistry puzzles, word games and some tough calculations working out how to supply Germany with hydrogen.

We finished a respectable 38th place out of 60 schools – particularly notable, as the majority of our team are Year 12 pupils, so haven’t covered much of the foundation content needed as yet!

We did enjoy a spot of sightseeing around Cambridge also, passing Downing College and browsing around the city centre. The girls were chuffed with finding a bubble tea café! A super adventure!

Harriet Howgego
Head of Chemistry

7th at T3 National Hockey Finals…such a brilliant achievement for our superstar U16 team!

Congratulations to our Year 4-6 Swimming Team who won Best Girls School at Friday’s Croydon Schools Premlinary Gala

What do mermaids, a dystopian world and Ibiza have in common? 

These are themes in books which can transport you from an imaginary Caribbean island to the party capital of Europe!   

Croydon High School Community Book Group are parents, ex-parents of pupils, ex-teachers etc. who meet each term to choose and discuss books. A book is suggested by a member of the group. It is read by everyone until the next meeting when there is a lively discussion.        

We have read a wide range of books. Julia by Sandra Newman is a retelling of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four from the perspective of Julia Worthing. It is an interesting, sometimes difficult and unnerving read from a feminist narrative – her feelings, childhood experiences, relationships, survival in a world of constant surveillance, the Thought Police and Big Brother. 

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey is set on an imaginary Caribbean island. Near the island of Black Conch, a fisherman sings to himself and his songs attract Aycayia, a beautiful young woman cursed to be a mermaid. Aycayia life changes when American tourists visit the island….

The latest book we read was The Life Impossible by Matt Haig. Retired Maths Teacher Grace is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend. She is curious to find out more and travels to Ibiza, where she has an adventure which changes her life.    

If you love books, reading new novels and enjoy discussing them in a friendly group, please contact me for more details by emailing a.rolle@cry.gdst.net.

Angela Rolle
Learning Resource & Innovation Hub Manager

Croydon High School
150 Poetry Competition

This year is a very special one in Croydon High’s history as we celebrate the school’s 150th anniversary. We would like you to help us put that into words. We are looking for budding poets and creative writers in the Junior and Senior School to tell us what they feel is special about Croydon High – past, present or future.

You may be inspired to write about our history and what it means to us today.

You may wish to celebrate our commitment to creating opportunities for young women over the last 150 years.

You may want to focus on what it means to be part of our community or on what you believe the future holds for Croydon High. You may think about our values; Aspirational. Empowering, Proud and Kind or our school motto; May her character and talents inspire others.

Your poem could become part of the history of the school. Imagine, when future generations mark significant anniversaries, it will be re-read in order to get a feeling of what Croydon High represented in 2025. If you would like to research any aspect of the history of the school, you might want to explore our digital archives, here on the website. Express your thoughts in poetry and let’s celebrate Croydon High!

Closing date: 24/02/2025

Senior School submission via Google Classroom: 5kzirf4
Junior School submission: Please write your poem on paper and hand in to Mrs Monaghan.