Head of Geography

La Retraite is a high achieving 11-19 Catholic comprehensive school with 1010 students on roll in a great location close to Balham High Road, Abbeville Road, Clapham and Clapham High Street that promotes Faith, Values & Excellence.  We have two tube stations (Balham & Clapham South) and a mainline station (Balham) within a 10 minute walk of the school.  There are also a number of bus routes connecting us to other parts of South London and further afield.

At La Retraite, all students achieve to the highest possible standards, they have the opportunity to contribute to their community, they develop confidence, they make friends and they enjoy their learning.  We also have a superb record of exam success, with results well above national averages and all students making outstanding progress.

The school achieved its third consecutive ‘Outstanding’ rating by Ofsted in December 2023.  Ofsted observed that our school’s steadfast commitment to fostering each pupil’s full potential is clearly reflected in our high expectations, personalised support for individual aspirations and talents, and our dedicated focus on achieving excellent outcomes in public examinations.  Pupils feel ‘happy and safe’ and parents/carers favour our school’s warmth, ensuring our students become ‘confident young women’.

We were the National Winner of the Pupil Premium Award in 2016.

The school’s academic success is achieved through the energy, commitment and dedication of our fantastic staff and by carefully matching the curriculum to ability in English, MFL, Maths & Science, and our exceptionally high pass rates in these core subjects demonstrates the success of this strategy.  Small class sizes in Creative Arts subjects and in Music allow teachers to give students a very personalised experience and an opportunity to really master practical skills.

We have a well-established 6th Form with about 240 students on roll and admit boys into Year 12.  We have a strong academic and vocational offer and are one of 50 schools and colleges around England that have been selected to pilot the Government’s new T Levels from September 2020.

There is a strong network of support staff here including a number of Learning Mentors, a full-time School Counsellor and Pastoral Support Managers; they along with the rest of the pastoral team, which includes Form Tutors and Year Learning Co-ordinators, know the students individually and they work together to ensure that the personal and academic needs of every student in their care are met.  Teachers are supported by dedicated, professional Admin, Premises, Technical and IT teams and the school has a well-maintained infrastructure in place.

For all staff, we offer a comprehensive induction programme and CPD opportunities, access to a private healthcare scheme, an employee assistance programme, regular onsite massage, promotion opportunities, a fantastic catering service, a clean, bright premises with lovely grounds and, overall, a happy, helpful professional team of staff for you to work with.