Chiswick School

Admissions

The school has a wide catchment, encompassing its native borough of Hounslow, but also areas including Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond, and Hammersmith and Fulham. Half of the school's students are of minority ethnic backgrounds, and 44% are from ‘disadvantaged’ backgrounds. 50% have English as their second language. The percentage of disadvantaged students receiving help from the pupil premium is also above average.

In 2023, the School changed its Year 7 admissions policy to admit 'up to 10 pupils who show musical aptitude and qualify for pupil premium funding', making it the only school in the UK with such an arrangement.

History

Chiswick County School for Girls opened in 1916 in Burlington Lane, and Chiswick County School for Boys opened in 1926 beside the girls' school. Rory K. Hands was appointed head of the boys school in 1963, and in 1966, he oversaw a merger of the two institutions, to form the co-educational Chiswick County Grammar School. Shortly thereafter, the Borough proposed that Hands' grammar school should be merged with two nearby secondary modern schools to form a comprehensive school, following Circular 10/65. This amalgamation created Chiswick Comprehensive School, which opened in 1968. The new school operated across two sites, with the lower school (for ages 11 to 14) occupying what had been the secondary modern school's buildings at Staveley Road, and the upper school operating on the old grammar school site at Burlington Lane.

In 1973, some of the buildings at Staveley Road had to be closed as they were made of brittle high alumina cement. The school was forced to operate with a "village of huts"; Hands maintained school morale with a production of The Gondoliers by Gilbert and Sullivan. He retired the headship in 1975 after suffering a series of heart attacks. Dame Helen Metcalf was the school's headteacher from 1988 to 2001, providing strong and emotionally intelligent leadership. Sometime after 1978 the school was renamed Chiswick Community School; the name reverted to Chiswick School when it became an academy on 1 March 2012. DO NOT ADD ANYTHING HERE WITHOUT CITING A RELIABLE SOURCE.

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Awards

• Chiswick Calendar Community Participation Award, Winner 2023 & 2024
• Secondary School of the Year, Pearson Teaching Awards, Bronze Winner 2025
• National Schools Theatre Award-Best Play 2024 ( Animal Farm)
• TES Excellence in Creative Arts 2023
• Great Big Dance off Regional winners (SW and London) 2025 DO NOT ADD ANYTHING HERE WITHOUT CITING A RELIABLE SOURCE --- see WP:CITE, refs should be formatted like the others in the article in ref tags and cite web templates, etc

DO NOT ADD SHORTLIST ITEMS HERE, ONLY ACTUAL AWARDS

Notable pupils

• John Stuart Archer – petroleum engineer, president of the Institution of Chemical Engineers
• Henry Badowski - musician
• Carlton Cole – footballer
• Phil Collins – lead singer of Genesis and solo artist
• Phoebe Fox – actor
• Kenneth Holmes - molecular biologist
• John Neville – actor please do not add anyone here without citing a reliable source (book, newspaper) that proves the person went to Chiswick School, thanks --
• Nana Ofori-Twumasi – footballer
• Natalie Sawyer – TV presenter
• Kyle Simmons – keyboard player for Bastille
• James Stevenson, guitarist
• Allegra Stratton – journalist, political aide
• Don Taylor – director and playwright
• Brian Tesler – chairman of London Weekend Television please do not add anyone here without citing a reliable source (book, newspaper) that proves the person went to Chiswick School, thanks --

References

References

1. Osborne, Bridget. (2019-12-02). "Chiswick School head: "Children need to know who's in charge" - Chiswick Calendar News".
2. Meinke, John. (23 April 2012). "Chiswick School Inspection report".
3. (26 October 2017). "Inspection report: Chiswick School, 3–4 October 2017".
4. "Chiswick School Music Aptitude Test".
5. Clegg, Gillian. (1995). "Chiswick Past". Historical Publications.
6. Olding, George. (23 April 2015). "Funeral of educational pioneer takes place today". Wandsworth Times.
7. Diane K. Bolton, Patricia E. C. Croot and M. A. Hicks, "[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol7/pp95-99 Chiswick: Education]", in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7, Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden, ed. T. F. T. Baker and C R Elrington (London, 1982), pp. 95-99. [[British History Online]], accessed 18 July 2021.
8. Williams, Paul. (23 April 2015). "Pioneering former Headmaster of Chiswick Community School has died aged 96". The Chiswick Herald.
9. (27 December 2003). "Dame Helen Metcalf". [[The Independent]].
10. Norris, Frank. (15 August 2012). "Academy conversion and predecessor school".
11. (15 January 2024). "Chiswick Calendar party 2024 – CRAP awards and comedy". The Chiswick Calendar.
12. (16 July 2025). "Finalists Announced". UK Social Mobility Awards.
13. "2025 Bronze Winners: Making a Difference – Secondary School of the Year, supported by Step Into Teaching". Pearson National Teaching Awards.
14. "National School Theatre Awards 2024 winners announced". West End Theatre.
15. (29 June 2023). "Chiswick School wins prestigious Tes Excellence in Creative Arts Award". The Chiswick Calendar.
16. "Results: Top K4/5".
17. [http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/mfwhoswho/individuals/A_mfwwi/john_stuart_archer.html Frost's Scottish Who's Who] {{webarchive. link. (2007-10-28 John Stuart Archer (accessed 7 March 2009))
18. Ogg, Alex. (2006). "No More Heroes: A Complete History of UK Punk from 1976 to 1980". Cherry Red Books.
19. "Carlton Cole tells of media ordeal after allegations were made against him". Chiswick W4.
20. (8 September 2015). "Posh restaurants, riverside pubs and Phil Collins: it's the best bits of Chiswick". Time Out.
21. "Phoebe Fox: TV's hot new star". [[The Times]].
22. "Curriculum Vitae, Kenneth C. Holmes".
23. (2011-11-28). "OBITUARY: John Neville". The Courier Mail.
24. "Seth Nana Twumasi". Seth Nana Twumasi (via LinkedIn).
25. (8 July 2009). "Natalie Sawyer - Biography and Images".
26. (24 February 2014). "Chiswick's Local Web site". Chiswick W4.
27. (20 February 2004). "Poppyfields Sound the Alarm". Rolling Stone.
28. (8 December 2021). "Former Chiswick School Pupil at Centre of Partygate Row". Chiswick W4.
29. (20 November 2003). "Television industry: Don Taylor". [[The Guardian]].
30. (21 June 2018). "Where they once were: Brian Tesler".