Founded in 1874 by suffragette Dorinda Neligan, Croydon High School has reached its 150th year.
Dorinda Neligan was a suffragette who served with the Red Cross in France during the Franco-German War and was headmistress for 27 years.
During this time, there were improvements in the education of science: 1885 marked the beginning of chemistry lessons; and, shortly after the end of Dorinda Neligan’s reign, a science demonstration room was built.
Girls' education was becoming more valued, with more opportunities in STEM being available for women.
To mark 150 years since the founding of the school, Croydon High invited three alumni from the classes of 1957, 1961 and 1963 to talk about their time at school and the benefits of girls’ education.
The school heard the alumni’s memories from their childhood and how much the school has changed since then and the value of girls’ education increasing along with the number of opportunities we now receive today.
Current student Prisha Patel believes girls’ education is important because “society was built through the years to devalue the talents and skills of women so much so that even in today’s world women are still underpaid for certain job sectors” and that girls’ education “not only builds confidence in expressing girls skills but also proves to society that women are just as talented as men and allows gender equality to be at its equilibrium.”
The school officially moved to the current site in 1966 and now, 150 years on, it stands as a mark of the efforts of few to create equality for many.
