A community within a community
Woodford County High School was opened in September 1919 after its main building – the former Highams Manor – was decommissioned as a military hospital. It has been serving the local community, as one of the two grammar schools in Redbridge, ever since. The school has direct links with local businesses and charities and, judging by the warmth of the feedback received, Woodford students are popular visitors locally whether performing (choirs and instrumental groups), volunteering (as part of our Sixth Form voluntary service programme), or out on work experience. Our neighbours have plenty of opportunity to visit us, too: concerts and plays, Summer and Christmas Fairs, and access to a whole range of clubs and activities run privately on the site out of school hours.
We are fortunate to be supported by an active and enterprising Parents and Friends Association (PFA) who do much to enrich school life, bringing parents, students and teachers together socially and raising funds to provide facilities or opportunities that are beyond the reach of the school’s budget.
There’s a strong sense of community at Woodford. It’s evident in the easy relationships between students of different ages and between girls and staff. Those who’ve worked or studied here in the past maintain their connections: former colleagues will pop in to help out, and the Old Girls’ Association has a strong membership, with many members returning annually to Woodford to join in our birthday celebrations.
We’re committed to sustaining these existing partnerships and, as the opportunities arise, to building new ones. Sport and music lend themselves particularly to collaborations with other Redbridge schools, and at Sixth Form level we’ve been pleased to host information events for Redbridge students preparing university applications. As schools work ever more creatively, to do more for less, we’re keen to collaborate on projects which extend opportunities both for our own students and for those enrolled in nearby schools.
