EDUCATION
Brighton & Hove High School – The Kindergarten The Old Vicarage
Brighton & Hove High School , Junior House The Old Vicarage
A history of success at Brighton & Hove High School
This year , Brighton & Hove High School is celebrating its 140th birthday . Situated in both Brighton ’ s Montpelier Road and Radinden Manor Road in Hove , the school was established in 1876 by the Girls ’ Public Day School Trust ( GDST ) – a pioneering organisation in the provision of education for girls . Today , the GDST is one of the largest charities in the UK , leading a network of independent girls ’ schools , with 24 schools and two academies throughout England and Wales . Founded in 1872 , it educates 20,000 students and has an alumnae network of over 65,000 women .
The Brighton & Hove High School archives cast light on a fascinating period of women ’ s history . The first teachers at the school were university educated , although prevented from obtaining a degree from the institutions they had attended . The first head , Miss Creak , had been at a boys ’ preparatory school in Hove where her father was headmaster . She entered Newnham College , Cambridge , at the age of 16 , and by 21 she was back in Brighton inspiring many of her new pupils at Brighton High School ( BHS ) to apply to university .
The initial intake of 17 pupils at BHS included the future novelist and poet , Amy Levy , dubbed ‘ the Jewish Jane Austen ’; she had already published a volume of poetry when she became the first Jewish student at Newnham College . Oscar Wilde described her as “ a girl of genius ”, and her novel Reuben Sachs ( seen as a counterpoint to George Eliot ’ s , Daniel Deronda ), “ a classic ”.
Amy ’ s friends , the Black sisters , daughters of Brighton ’ s town clerk and coroner , were also among the first pupils . Clementina , the eldest of eight children , became a teacher of mathematics and was active in the Women ’ s Trade Union League . She was an early advocate of equal pay and helped organise the match girls ’ strike at Bryant and May . She also published
seven novels . Her sister , Constance , received a government scholarship to attend Newnham College and went on to marry the publisher , David Garnett . She was the first to translate the Russian greats , introducing Chekhov , Dostoevsky , Tolstoy and Turgenev for an English readership . In total she translated more than 60 texts , many of which are still in print .
By 1880 , the school had expanded to over 100 pupils and moved to its current home in Thomas Kemp ’ s former residence , The Temple . The Martindale sisters , Hilda and Louisa , attended BHS at this time . Their mother , also Louisa , was a member of the Women ’ s Liberal Federation and the National Union of Women ’ s Suffrage . Unsurprisingly , the girls would go on to have public careers , Hilda earning an OBE for her work as HM Inspector of Factories , Southern Division , and Louisa being accepted to study medicine at Royal Holloway at the age of 17 . Louisa had her own practice in Brighton , where she was the first ever female GP , and went on to set up the New Sussex Hospital for Women in Windlesham Road , courting controversy by writing about and treating conditions associated with prostitution . She pioneered the early treatment of breast and cervical cancers and wrote several books on women ’ s health , receiving a CBE in 1931 .
As is evident , throughout its 140-year history , girls from the school have gone on to do so many varied and groundbreaking things . The 140th birthday celebrations will culminate on 6th July with a Race for Life event and picnic on Hove Lawns , where the whole school community will be taking part .
Head teacher , Jennifer Smith , says : “ We are very proud of Brighton and Hove High ’ s heritage and its contribution to women ’ s education over the years ; but we are an outward-looking school , and proud to be part of the city of Brighton and Hove , so we are celebrating our birthday by trying to raise as much money as we can for Cancer Research UK , and at the same time having some fun with girls , staff and parents , past and present .”
Brighton & Hove High School Montpelier Rd Brighton BN1 3AT
01273 280280 www . bhhs . gdst . net
@ BHHSGDST / BrightonHoveHighSchool
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