Burgess Hill Girls
Burgess Hill School for Girls is an independent school located in the West Sussex town of Burgess Hill. It is an independent girls' day and boarding school with 679 girls aged between 2 and 18. The school also has a small number of boys attending the nursery.
Burgess Hill School is situated on Keymer Road in Burgess Hill. It has extensive grounds and listed Regency style buildings. The boarding houses lie along Silverdale Road, which borders the North side of the grounds. The school is minutes away from Burgess Hill railway station and shopping centre.
The majority of the girls are day pupils or casual boarders. The boarding facilities cater for a large number of students, many of whom are from overseas. The school's headmistress is Mrs Ann Aughwane BSc (Hons), PGCE.
History
The school celebrated its centenary in 2006. It was founded in 1906 by Miss Beatrice Goode. Miss Beatrice Goode, along with her sisters Ada and Patricia, aimed to give girls an education equal to that of boys. The school was originally a PNEU school, a system of schooling set up by Charlotte Mason. The school motto is "I am, I can, I ought, I will", which translates in Latin to 'Sum, Possum, Debeo, Efficiam'.
Originally situated at the site of the current Lloyds Bank on Church Road, the school moved to its current location in 1928 when it was seen that expansion was necessary.
When the school began there was no need for a uniform, but girls were required to wear a school hat and badge. In September 1914 the first uniform was introduced, and although it has been through various changes the principle colours remain the same- navy blue, sky blue and white.
Facilities
The Burgess Hill School has a nursery, junior school, senior school and sixth form centre. The school has recently built a new sixth form centre, astroturf, extra tennis/netball/badminton courts, and maintenance buildings. A new, larger environmentally friendly gymnasium is due to be built, as is a new set of buildings for the nursery and pre-prep. Other existing facilities include a dining room, sports pavillion, computer rooms, Learning Resources Centre, subject libraries, music block, drama studio, lecture room and a stage in Croft Hall. All teaching rooms are equipped with SmartBoard technology.
General information
The school consistently features at the top of the league tables, with the best GCSE results in the South of England and also the best A-Level results. The school is the only Premier League school in Sussex. Despite this, the school is relatively unselective, with higher value-added scores than many other more well known independent schools.
The school has links with Worth School, a Benedictine boys' independent day and boarding school, performing plays, concerts and socials with the boys.