Wallington Highschool for Girls celebrates its 136th year of existence this year, withstanding almost one and a half centuries and leaving behind the legacy of thousands of students. The school is on Woodcote Green, where it has stood for almost 60 years. The school is true to the architecture of the era, the structure was built with bricks and lined with windows on every side, it stands as a legacy of the brutalism period that emerged in all post war architecture, “The new school is a miracle of modern architecture” said student Catherine MacNaughton in the ‘WallPaper’ from 1965 as she recounts her feelings and excitements about the move. 

The school had a trend of moving in and out of new buildings once the student body began to increase and overfill the capacity, the very first of this was in the old “National School” on West Street in Carshalton, the schoolroom itself was above a church and there was only one room and a cloakroom to accommodate the girls. One of the first students, Ms. Brighting, writes that “Nobody can possibly realize what it meant to teach two classes of varying ages, in one room which was used for absolutely everything.” While over the years the school began to slowly accommodate more rooms in the building, it was never enough for its sixty pupils and so by 1895, a move was made.  

The school relocated and assumed the property of two houses to use as a hostel to provide boarding for students. Of course, the twentieth century arose with a lot of severe customs with a rigorous schedule: Wake up, eat breakfast while only conversing in French, school started promptly at 9 o’clock with scriptures from the local clergyman and then onto lessons, post-lessons the girls would head back to their hostels and settle for dinner which was usually some form of ham or any other bland substitute and then promptly to bed at 7.30pm where they were allowed a biscuit as a pre-bed snack. The morose nature of being a student in the 1900s only heightened in 1914. 

With the Great War in full spring, spirts were low for most of the British population, including the school. There were food and coal shortages, Zeppelin raids during school hours and a lack of general resources. However, the school stood true to its core values. “Curiosity, Courage and Compassion.” The girls began raising money from competitions, selling their crafts, and having small musical performances to send to the war effort. By 1914, the school taught Physics and Latin allowing the girls to qualify for Civil service jobs, and in 1917, a small Sixth form composed of only around twenty girls was formed. 

In 1918, extra buildings were provided to the school to contain the school's expanding population and by 1920, the school recorded 300 pupils in attendance. So, in 1925, the school made a move to the premises on Stanley Park Road, the school was far more expansive than the last buildings and the girls were offered far more opportunities with prefects being appointed and a surge in extra curriculars. By 1931, the school had adopted a new badge from the crest of House Seymour, one of the original founders of the arms of Surrey, and a new motto, “Heirs of the past; Makers of the future.” 

1939 saw the onslaught of war over the school, however the new headmistress, Miss Bull was intent on having school continue as normal through the war and it was a striking change. The students would carry gas masks and coats, each form was assigned its own trench and while the building remained undamaged, the girls’ timetables were a hectic mess. By the end of the war, the school's population had seen a burst with nearly 650 pupils registered, and with the Education Act being proposed, the school became free to enter save for the entrance exam. The school yet again had to expand its size until a move was made, the last move for the time being, to Woodcote Green. 

As 135 years ends, we come to the present with a new outlook, as students review their own thoughts on the school. “I love the community aspect of the school,” says Arabi Sivasangar a year 12 student, whose been attending. Wallington Girls for 5 years, echoing the thoughts of Catherine MacNaughton “I wish there was more canteen space,” was her main complaint about the school. Arabi’s woe stands true across many of the student body, the school has only grown bigger, you can only look to the future to see how the school will change in the next 136 years.