Croydon High School Welcomes New Head

The Trustees of the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) have announced the appointment of Ms Annabel Davies as Head of Croydon High School, with effect from September 2022.  

Annabel is currently Principal Deputy Head (Curricular) at Harrow International School, Hong Kong, and has held leadership positions in international and UK-based schools throughout her career. 

At Harrow International School, Annabel led the strategic development of the curriculum and learning from Early Years through to Year 13. She oversaw numerous successful projects including the design and delivery of a flagship STEAM centre as well as fostering the school’s reputation for academic excellence and pastoral care. 

During her time as Assistant Principal at Surbiton High School, Annabel became a strong advocate of the benefits of an all-girls’ education. Her commitment to combining an academic focus with the essential skills that make girls ‘real world ready’, is one the reasons why the GDST Trustees felt that Annabel would be a perfect fit for Croydon High School. 

Annabel believes that “a strong character, the ability to be creative, resourceful and resilient, and to display strong emotional intelligence are essential traits that need to be developed during a girl’s educational journey.”

Emma Pattison took over the headship at Croydon High in 2016. Having established the mantra, Every Girl, Every Day, she propelled the school through a period of unprecedented growth in pupil numbers and several significant development projects which speak to this core purpose. These include embedding an innovative digital curriculum throughout the school, the reimagining of a new Junior School Hall, The Holt, with a new Enterprise Technology Suite, also in the Junior School and a new careers programme in the Senior School known as Futures and Progression.  

Congratulating Annabel on her appointment, Emma Pattison said, “My conversations with Annabel, combined with her impressive experience and her clear educational ethos which sits so well with the Croydon High philosophy, has made me entirely confident that I will leave the school in very safe hands. I am extremely proud to have been a part of Croydon High’s story and I firmly believe that the next chapter will be a very exciting one.”

Annabel Davies said “I am absolutely delighted to be taking up the Headship at Croydon High; it is a fantastic school and is at such an exciting stage in its development. I have already been so impressed with all aspects of the school and with those I have met so far, and I look forward to meeting the whole community and to building on the excellent work that is already being carried out by Emma Pattison and the staff.

See Croydon High School’s online listing here.