Newcastle High School for Girls (NHSG) has been given a resounding seal of approval from the Good Schools Guide following a rigorous review conducted by the independent guide which supports parents in choosing the best education for their children.
The all-girls school that prides itself on unleashing the potential of girls to learn without limits received high praise all round, with its Senior School summarised by the Good Schools Guide (GSG) as offering ‘High quality teaching and learning, a broad modern curriculum and every kind of opportunity and challenge. Superb facilities, strong pastoral care and a very obvious commitment to inclusivity tailored to girls’ needs and interests. It’s a pretty compelling package’.
The review also highlighted NHSG’s ‘unique ethos of ambition and attainment in both academics and co-curricular in order to empower girls to be trailblazers and world-shapers’.
NHSG Head, Michael Tippett, said: “It’s extremely pleasing to receive this external validation for NHSG. It encapsulates our school’s aims as well as the real-life experience for all our pupils, whether they are in Nursery or Sixth Form. At NHSG we not only educate our pupils, we empowerthem. We support, nurture and challenge every girl to be herself, to achieve her potential and to approach life with real enjoyment and enthusiasm.”
NHSG’s Junior School, which accepts pupils from age 3 – 11, also enjoyed an excellent GSG review summarising it as having ‘Great facilities in a lovely leafy environment, impressive co-curricular options that keep everyone busy and challenged, all wrapped up in a rock solid ethos about enabling girls to become confident young women in a modern world. Strong curriculum and highly qualified specialist staff ensure exceptional preparation for senior school’.
Known for being fearsomely frank, the GSG reviews of NHSG were written following a rigorous process and visit made by one of the GSG’s expert consultants which included an extensive tour of the school during the working day. In addition, Michael Tippett and Amanda Hardie (Head of NHSG Junior School) were interviewed as well as other staff, pupils and parents, in order for the GSG to create a wellinformed, impartial and candid evaluation of the School.
The resulting reviews of NHSG are testament to the leadership of Mr Tippett, who was appointed as Head in 2018, and Amanda Hardie who took up the role of Head of Junior School in 2020. Since then, NHSG has seen a significant uplift in its examination results, winning it the coveted Sunday Times NE Independent Secondary School 2020 award.
Alongside excellent teaching and learning, NHSG takes pastoral care, personal development and its co-curricular programme equally seriously. It benefits too from being one of the 25 schools of the Girls’ Day School Trust with its exceptional ‘Girls First’ ethos.
The importance of equipping girls with the broader life skills and values that combine to make happy, healthy and fulfilling lives is a binding principle that runs throughout the School and the GDST and impacts long into later life.
NHSG alumna, television GP Dr Ellie Cannon, who has been named GDST Alumna of the Year said of her time at NHSG: “At school it was never just about the grades. It was a profound learning experience and one that I cherish to this day.”