Southborough High School

Southborough Boys' School was built during the period 1960–1962, at the Ace of Spades (junction) on the A3, principally on the site of the former Ace of Spades Roadhouse, remnants of which can still be seen in the architecture of the buildings to the immediate north of the service station located next to the school. The Roadhouse and Swimming Pool complex were destroyed by fire in the early 1950s.

Originally categorised as a 'Secondary Modern' when it opened in 1962, Southborough converted to Academy status in March 2012.

Southborough's GCSE results (5ACEM) have been well above the national average for boys for many years. The school's GCSE English Baccalaureate figure is currently double the national average for boys. The school's KS2 – KS4 Value Added figure (2015) is 1005.7

The school was originally opened in 1962 as Southborough Boys' School, being a replacement for Tolworth Boys' School previously sharing the nearby premises occupied by Tolworth Girls' School. The first Headmaster was Mr. H. P. Giddy (a former Royal Marine). Southborough is noticed throughout communities in Kingston upon Thames such as Chessington, Surbiton, Tolworth and New Malden. Some of the students travel from far distances such as Battersea & Richmond by train, however the school does provide a minibus service which goes from Barnes to the school. The school uniform is a black blazer, black trousers, white shirt, school shoes and the school colours. The current tie is navy blue with a Silver Griffin in the middle (to symbolise the appropriate tie length). The original uniform colours were black and gold. The tie being black with diagonal gold stripes consisting of a wide gold 'band' flanked by two fine gold lines. The Griffin emblem originally included a shield bearing a letter 'S'. The name 'Southborough' was believed to originate from the school's location in the south of the Royal Borough of Kingston. However, the only other occurrence of the name in that location during the 1960s was a public house (now a derelict builders' merchants) on the corner of Hook Road and the main A3 which was later renamed "The Cap in Hand" (a circular reference to the school perhaps?) but which at the time the school was built, was named "The Southborough Arms", to the amusement of the older pupils at the school.

The school is situated on a main road, Hook Road, Surbiton and off of the A3 at the Hook, London Junction. The closest railway stations are Chessington North, Tolworth and Surbiton where frequent and quick trains run from Clapham Junction, Vauxhall, Wimbledon, Hinchley Wood, Hampton Court, Guildford, Raynes Park and much more. As well as a vast covering by trains many local buses run (which are free with an Oyster Card) these are;

• 71 – Chessington to Kingston via Surbiton.
• 465 – Dorking to Kingston via Leatherhead, Malden Rushett, Chessington & Surbiton.
• 467 – Epsom to Hook via Ewell & Chessington's Copt Gilders.
• 671 – Tiffin School to Chessington South & Chessington's Copt Gilders.
• K1 – New Malden to Kingston via Malden Manor & Tolworth.
• K4 – Mansfield Park, Chessington to Kingston Hospital via Surbiton, Kingston & Norbiton.

The school is sited on the edge of the A3 in one building, four storeys tall. Many fully equipped areas of the school are the Music Suite, two Gymnasium and two changing Rooms with showers. The school owns a large field close to the school (entrance along Brook Rd), holding rugby, cricket, football pitches, with a long jump/triple jump pit and has cricket nets and an astro turf within the school's main grounds. It has a main hall where whole school gatherings and performances take place. The school's drama department possess a fully equipped room with stage lighting, has three IT suites and two apple mac suites, alongside a library housing over 10000 books.

Southborough has typical boyish rivals in many of the all-boys schools (Coombe Boys' School, Richard Challoner School, Tiffin School and closest Chessington Community College (C.C.C) etc.) They often do well while participating in sporting events across the borough against these particular schools. They play in a rugby tournament against most of the schools above, hosted by Harlequins R.C.

The school has attributed to many university applications, with many applications getting their choices at their preferred Universities. They occasionally have applicants going to Oxford University and Cambridge University.

• Southborough High School Website
• Kingston Council Website