Sydenham High School, GDST, is an independent day school for girls aged 4-18 years. The school was founded in 1887, becoming one of the last schools to be opened by the Girls’ Public Day School Trust. Set in the leafy suburbs of South East London, we pride ourselves on enriching young minds in a way that will endure a lifetime.

The school’s original Anglo Saxon motto, ‘Nyle ye drede’, means ‘fear nothing’ and underpins all that we do. Sydenham High is selective and diverse, welcoming girls with wide-ranging talents and backgrounds into a close community that is large enough to offer choice and flexibility but compact enough to ensure that no girl is overlooked.

At Sydenham High academic excellence goes hand in hand with pastoral excellence. Creating an aspirational environment for our pupils is one of our foremost aims and the provision of a first-class education is paramount. As a high achieving school, we strive to ensure that every girl reaches, or exceeds, her potential by offering exceptional learning opportunities which harness individual strengths.

Self-belief and happiness, alongside a ‘can do’ approach to every aspect of school life, enable our girls to thrive and succeed and they leave us equipped with the skills and confidence to prosper in their future lives. We believe our pupils deserve the highest standards of classroom practice, as well as exciting, challenging and enriching co-curricular opportunities, in an inspirational environment where they can be themselves and learn to be independent, resilient and confident.

Girls at Sydenham High are ambitious and open minded, with the inner strength and self belief necessary to outstrip all expectations. They are also well rounded, intellectually curious, down to earth and happy.

Above all, our school is simply bursting with warmth, creativity, talent and excellence in all that we do. We very much look forward to welcoming you in person at one of our open events.

— Ms Antonia Geldeard
    Head