La Sainte Union Catholic School
La Sainte Union Catholic School is a girls' Roman Catholic secondary school based in Highgate in North London. History. Formerly, a grant-maintained school, La Sainte Union Catholic School is now a voluntary-aided school which teaches girls aged 11–18. It is a Specialist Science College. It was awarded Beacon school status in 1999. The school is a part of the LaSWAP Sixth Form consortium, together with William Ellis School, Acland Burghley School and Parliament Hill School. As such, although the main student body is female, the school has a mixed sixth-form. The school  is named after the order of sisters that founded and continues to run the school, the Sisters of La Sainte Union des Sacrés-Coeurs (also known as the Holy Union Sisters). This teaching order was founded in 1826 by Father Jean-Baptiste Debrabant, a Belgian priest who felt that the future of the Catholic Church lay in the hands of the young women who would eventually bring up future generations of the faithful, declaring that "a Christian-based education offers sure hope for the future of religion and society". The school site is on Highgate Road/Croftdown Road, opposite Parliament  Hill Fields. It was originally a small private boarding school, becoming a [comprehensive school] in 1966, following its amalgamation with Our Lady of Sion Girls' Grammar School which closed its school in Eden Grove, Holloway and moved to the Highgate site. During the 1990s the school had grant-maintained status. It was one of the first schools in London to be named as a Beacon school in a government scheme designed to recognize outstanding achievement in inner-city schools. The school in 2004 been awarded specialist school (science ) status., and High Performing Specialist School status in 2008. The school was  recognised as a good school by Ofsted in 2010, and confirmed as such in a Section 8 inspection in 2019. LaSWAP Sixth Form. The LaSWAP Sixth Form is the sixth form consortium of four North London schools: Acland Burghley School, La Sainte Union Catholic School, Parliament Hill School and William Ellis School. It is one of the largest sixth form consortia in the Greater London area offering some 42 different AS and A2 courses, AGCEs, BTECs, NVQs and GCSE courses. The name was formed from the first three letters of La Sainte Union and the first letter of the other  three schools. Media. The school was mentioned in the Guardian, in October 2020 after 13 girls were hospitalised after sharing some sweets.