Sydenham & Dulwich Girls is a private day school for 4- to 18-year-old girls located in London, England. Sydenham & Dulwich Girls was founded by the Girls’ Public Day School Trust in 1887. Since then, the original school roll of 20 pupils has grown to 724 girls. The school is separated into the senior and junior schools, each with a separate site on Westwood Hill in Sydenham. The school changed its name from Sydenham High School to Sydenham & Dulwich Girls in 2026 to coincide with the opening of its new Sixth Form, The Foundry, built as an extension to the original 1889 stable block, and the innovation and maker spaces forming the new entrance building, Fairlight, named after one of the school's original buildings.
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History
The school was created by the Girls’ Public Day School Trust in 1887 with an initial school roll of twenty and Ms I Thomas as the founding head.
In 1901 the mathematics graduate Helen Sheldon became the school's second head teacher. She created the school's first orchestra. She introduced the idea of senior girls becoming prefects and she divided the school into houses. Sheldon's family had left her money and she used some of this to offer her school interest free loans. A minor addition was a school pavilion that was created from an old tram, but the major additions was to the school grounds. Using the money she lent to the school the campus was increased by the purchase of adjoining land. In 1910 Sheldon obtained permission for the school's buildings to be increased by the use of two former residential houses. Sheldon retired in 1917.
In April 1934, the school moved to Horner Grange, a former house built for diamond magnate William Knight in 1884, where he lived until his death in 1900. The premises subsequently became a hotel before the school bought the freehold. It was damaged by fire in 1997, but the building was restored.
The school's original Anglo Saxon motto, Nyle ye drede, means "fear nothing" and is adopted by the school as a whole.
Headmistresses
Miss Irene Thomas, 1887-1901
Miss Helen Sheldon, 1901-1917
Miss Sanders, 1917-1930
Miss Smith, 1931-1941
Miss Yardley, 1942-1966
Miss Hamilton, 1966-1987
Mrs Baker, 1988-1999
Dr Lodge, 1999-2002
Mrs Kathryn Pullen, 2002-2016
Mrs Katharine Woodcock, 2017-2022
Ms Antonia Geldeard, 2022–Present
Notable former pupils
G. E. M. Anscombe, philosopher
Kathleen Halpin (1903–1999), public servant and feminist
Elly Jackson, lead singer with pop group La Roux
Emily Joyce, actress
Gertrude Leverkus (1899–1976), architect
Margaret Lockwood (1916-1990), actress
Sophie McKenzie, author of books such as Blood Ties
Khadijah Mellah (b.2000) first competitive jockey to wear the hijab and winner of the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood
Sandy Powell, BAFTA-winning costume designer
Florence Rawlings, musician
Kathleen Shackleton (1884-1961), artist