Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School
Address
Donegal Street

London
,
N1 9QG

England
Coordinates51°31′59″N 0°06′45″W / 51.5330°N 0.1126°W / 51.5330; -0.1126
Information
TypeCommunity School
MottoLearn Without Limits
Established1925
Local authorityIslington
Department for Education URN100457 Tables
OfstedReports
HeadteacherSarah Beagley
GenderGirls
Age11 to 16
Enrolmentc. 900
Colour(s)Pink and Grey
Websitehttp://www.egaschool.co.uk/

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School (EGA), a medium-sized comprehensive secondary school for girls in Islington, London, England, is rated as 'Outstanding' by OFSTED in its most recent inspection report.[1] It is named in honour of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first woman to gain a medical qualification in the United Kingdom. EGA's buildings, which are located between King's Cross railway station and Angel Underground station, are named after great women in history, such as Emily Brontë.

History

The school is the result of a merger between Starcross School and Barnsbury Girls' School in 1984.[2] Starcross school was founded in 1928[3] and moved into the buildings made vacant by the 1965 closing of Risinghill School,[4] which had opened in 1960, although a school has existed on the site since 1885 (further extended in 1899 )(originally Rising Hill Street School).[5]

Barnsbury Girls' School was created in 1934 on the site of an all age Victorian school in Barnsbury Park.

The Piazza

The school was rebuilt as part of the final phase of BSF and the new building opened in November 2012. Demolition of the old buildings and landscaping of the site is now complete.

Islington Futures Federation of Community Schools

Islington Futures entered a federation of four community schools: EGA, Beacon High School, Copenhagen Primary School and Vittoria Primary School and was established in September 2018. In September 2023, Copenhagen and Vittoria primary schools were merged as part of the local authority's school re-organisation plan.

Jo Dibb was the first Executive Headteacher of the Islington Futures Federation. She was succeeded by Sarah Beagley. [6] The Federation was dissolved in December 2023. EGA, Vittoria and Beacon High became self-standing community schools with new articles of governance made by the local authority on 12th December 2023.

Relationship with Michelle Obama

In 2009, the school was visited by Michelle Obama, wife of then American president Barack Obama.[5] During her visit she gave a speech about achieving regardless of your background and spoke about how much she had in common with the girls at the school. The occasion was posted online as a TED talk.[7] She stayed in touch with the school following her 2009 visit[8] and on 25 May 2011, during a state visit of the US president, she took a group of 37 pupils at the school to Oxford University for a presentation.[9] In 2012, the First Lady invited a group of students from EGA to meet her in the White House.

The former First Lady visited the school again in December 2018 where she spoke to an audience of 300 students as part of her book tour.[10] Joined by a panel of former pupils and the school's Executive Headteacher Jo Dibb, she delivered an inspirational message of hope for the future[11] and the importance of education.

Her visits and her TED talk are described in her memoir Becoming (published November 2018[12]) and described in her own voice for the Radio 4 serialisation of the book.[13]

Notable former pupils

Notable former staff

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  2. ↑ "Draft Planning Guidance for Development Control Purposes" (PDF). London Borough of Islington. 8 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  3. ↑ "Starcross School, St Pancras". Corporate Details. The National Archives. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  4. ↑ "Papers of (William) Michael Duane (1915–1997)". Archive. Institute of Education University of London. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  5. 1 2 Cadwalladr, Carole (5 April 2009). "Of all the schools in London, Michelle Obama chose us. That makes us feel pretty special, I tell you". The Observer. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  6. ↑ "Message from the Headteacher, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School". Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Michelle Obama's plea for education". ted.com. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
  8. ↑ Walker, Amy (2 December 2018). "Michelle Obama to revisit Elizabeth Garrett Anderson school". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  9. ↑ "Michelle Obama and school pupils visit Oxford". Channel 4. 25 May 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  10. ↑ "Michelle Obama: 'I still have impostor syndrome'". BBC News. 4 December 2018.
  11. ↑ "'There's no room for mean girls': Michelle Obama's empowering message to young women as she returns to school in London". Evening Standard. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  12. ↑ Michelle Obama (2018). Becoming. Viking: London. ISBN 978-0-2413-3414-0.
  13. ↑ "Becoming – Episode 5, Michelle Obama reads from her memoir.". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  14. ↑ "Margaret Forster, author – obituary". The Telegraph. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
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