- Highams Park began life as Sidney Burnell School in 1940, named after the director of education for Waltham Forest in 1920. Today one of the four houses is named Burnell.
- The school’s motto is “Success through our endeavours” and year 11s rise to the challenge by consistently outdoing their expected levels of attainment at GCSE level.
- A logbook written by the first head teacher, Mr H James Ryder, was discovered in 2014 and offered a glimpse into the school’s past, with entries including an account of a bombing raid on December 16, 1940: “Classes were within their rooms and one class on the stage at a music lesson. No warning had been received, and in accordance with instructions, teachers directed children to lie flat under desks. No child was hurt.”
- Among its impressive former students are the professional footballers Jermaine Pennant and Jamie O’Hara, and Brit award-nominated singer Olivia Dean.
- The school, which has operated as a single academy trust since 2011, is undergoing a transformation with the addition of new modular buildings to improve the learning environment for about 1,500 students.
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