A breath of fresh air – London Park

This autumn sees the long-anticipated arrival of a new local senior school – and with it a visionary approach to education.

News of a new senior school opening this September is creating a buzz, as local families look to embrace a fresh approach to education. London Park School Clapham (LPS Clapham) is opening at the old Oliver House prep school site by Clapham Common, which has undergone extensive refurbishment. It will have a two-form entry from Year 7, with another entry in Year 9, ultimately resulting in a community of approximately 240 pupils.

The intention behind the school is to create a new kind of senior school which combines the scale and opportunities of a bigger school with the warmth, camaraderie, and bespoke attention of a smaller school, where exams are part of the journey, not just the destination. LPS Clapham will be for Years 7 to 11. Pupils can then transfer to the London Park School Sixth Form in Belgravia, which shares the same values as the new school and is under the leadership of the same principal to ensure a smooth transition. LPS Clapham will have its own staff, its own head, and its own individual clubs, events, and co-curricular programme. It will, however, be able to combine with pupils and staff on other LPS sites occasionally to participate in activities, such as competitive sport and overseas trips and tours – including marine conservation studies on a tall ship in the Med and geological studies in an alpine chalet.

Suzie Longstaff, previously Head of Putney High School GDST, has been appointed as the founding Principal of London Park Schools. Leading LPS Clapham as Head is Paul Vanni, who has 25 years’ experience working in independent schools in London, including time at St Paul’s Girls’ School as Director of School. Together with their staff, these experienced heads have an innovative vision to fill the gaping hole that currently exists in the local senior school offering. “We’re challenging outdated ideas to build a new and better way to inspire and engage young people through smaller and more personalised learning,” Longstaff explains. “At London Park Schools we believe in education that prepares children for a new world of work, and where exams are part of that journey – but not the destination. We’re creating smaller and supportive school environments in which every child is known, every child is heard and every child matters. We’re championing a more bespoke, caring, and personalised way of learning.”

With a bold mission to educate, inspire and empower a generation of inquisitive minds to think big and to embark on life after school as thoughtful, articulate, and kind global citizens, London Park Schools is the breath of fresh air many families and pupils have been waiting for.