St Helen's School London is a British independent private day school for girls aged three to eighteen in Northwood, North West London. It is associated with the

Merchant Taylors' Company ] The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 110 Livery company, livery companies of the City of London. The Company, originally known as the ''Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London'', was founded pri ...

and works in close collaboration with the local Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, Merchant Taylors' School in a range of areas.

History

St Helen's School was founded by May Rowland Brown in 1899. Having been trained as a teacher at Cambridge Training College for Women, she began to teach at

Northwood College Northwood College for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18. The school was founded in 1870 and is located in Northwood, London, England. History Northwood College for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3 ...

, which at the time, refused to take in any students that were connected with trade. Whilst still at Northwood College, a group of local businessmen persuaded her to start another school, and at the age of 25, she founded Northwood High School, later named St Helen's School.

Facilities

St Helen's school occupies a twenty-two acre greenfield site. The

Senior school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Junior School A Junior school is a type of school which provides primary education to children, often in the age range from 8 and 13, following attendance at Infant school which covers the age range 5–7. (As both Infant and Junior schools are giving Primary E ...

and Little Saints occupy separate buildings within the site with their own specialised facilities for their students. The swimming pool is an important facility as many people come for lessons and tutoring after school hours or in the holidays. A new Junior School building opened in September 2016. The Science Block, containing fourteen

laboratories A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

, supports all scientific disciplines. The June-Leader building consists of three Art rooms, three Design and Technology Labs as well as an equipped Drama Studio. The school has recently installed a Virtuoso Language Laboratory in addition to the old one. The Music Block, "Fitzwalter" or "Fitz", possesses sixteen practice rooms, where the school offers lessons for most

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

s. The Sutherland library, run by a chartered librarian, holds a vast number of books,

periodicals A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also examples ...

, newspapers and computing facilities. St Helen's School possesses grounds for many sporting activities. With seven

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

courts, two

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

pitches, dance Studio, swimming pool, gymnasium and fitness suite, the school has been able to offer an intensive

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

curriculum.

Sports Complex

In July 2004, phase I of the sports complex was completed and was opened by Steve Parry, Olympic Bronze Medalist. It consists of a 25m swimming pool and a "State of the Art" fitness suite. Phase II was finished in summer 2006. This includes the multi gym,

dance studio A dance studio is a space in which dancers learn or rehearse. The term is typically used to describe a space that has either been built or equipped for the purpose. Overview A dance studio normally includes a smooth floor covering or, if used fo ...

, treatment rooms and observation areas. In 2005, the new swimming pool was used by the female celebrity competitors from '' The Games'' television programme for training. In December 2006, the final phase II of the sports complex was also completed and was opened by Olympic Silver Medalist,

Roger Black Roger Anthony Black MBE (born 31 March 1966) is a retired English athlete who competed internationally for Great Britain and England. During his athletics career, he won individual silver medals in the 400 metres sprint at both the Olympic G ...

. A more recent development includes The Centre, which was opened in 2014 and provides space for Drama, Music and Gymnastics as well as a recording studio.

House system

The house system was established in 1927 with three houses named

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...

, Shackleton and Bruce. Two of the houses were named after

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

explorers – Captain

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

and Sir

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of A ...

, with Bruce named after the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n explorer Brig. Gen. Charles Bruce. A fourth house, Bonington, also named after a

n explorer, has since been added. Each year the House Cup is awarded to the house with the most points, which can be earned through commendations, Sports Day, House Arts and other achievements. In 1999, to mark the centenary, Junior School adopted a new house system consisting of 3 houses. The Houses, nominated by the Junior School students, were named after pioneering women in history. Later in 2012 the fourth house was added, named after the American female pilot Amelia Earhart.

Curriculum

Pupils in Middle School (Years 7–9) follow a broader version of the

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or other ...

. Upper School pupils (Years 10–11) take English Language and Literature, Mathematics, the Sciences, and at least one Modern Foreign Language and one Humanity course. Students take both

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private s ...

and

IGCSE The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based examination similar to GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising prior attainme ...

courses, with core subjects studied at IGCSE.

Sixth Form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A- ...

ers sit

A Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

. St Helen's has regularly performed well in

and

examination league tables. In 2009 candidates achieved a 100% pass rate, all A*-C grades. In 2010 they achieved a 99% pass rate with 96% receiving all A*-B grades. In 2015, the school achieved some of its best results to date with 53% of entries graded A* and 84% graded A*-A. The pass rate was 99%. St Helen's School has a very close relationship with Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, Merchant Taylors' School. The girls and boys work together in Drama, Music, the Cadet Corps, Community Support and work with young people with disabilities in the joint Phab initiative (Physically Handicapped and Able Bodied). There are joint careers conferences and a constant and free-ranging exchange of ideas and initiatives.

Notable former pupils

Arts and entertainment *

Patricia Hodge Patricia Ann Hodge, OBE (born 29 September 1946) is an English actor. She is known on-screen for playing Phyllida Erskine-Brown in ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' (1978–1992), Jemima Shore in '' Jemima Shore Investigates'' (1983), Penny in '' Mirand ...

, OBE, actress in BBC sitcom Miranda *

Penny Johnson Penelope Jane Johnson CBE (born 23 June 1956) has been Director of the Government Art Collection since 1997. She was educated at St. Helen's School, the University of East Anglia (BA, 1978) and the University of Manchester.‘JOHNSON, Penelope J ...

, Director of the

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in t ...

Joan Eardley Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley (18 May 192116 August 1963) was a British artist noted for her portraiture of street children in Glasgow and for her landscapes of the fishing village of Catterline and surroundings on the North-East coast of Scotlan ...

, painter * Helen Grace, actress *

Rachel Petladwala ''M.I. High'' is a British Action film, action television series produced by Kudos (production company), Kudos for CBBC and created by Keith Brumpton. The series focuses on a team of undercover teenage spies working for a fictional version of the ...

, actress * Dame Ingrid Roscoe, art historian Business *

Paula Nickolds Paula Margaret Nickolds (born February 1973) is a British businesswoman. From January 2017 until January 2020, she was the managing director of the John Lewis department store chain. Early life Nickolds was born in February 1973. Her father, Cli ...

, former Managing Director of

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

*Claudine Collins, CCO of MediaCom UK and BBC The Apprentice Interviewe

Sport * Jessica Gordon Brown, Commonwealth Silver Medalist for Olympic Weightlifting Journalism and media *

Penny Marshall Carole Penny MarshallBorn Carole Penny Marshall in 1943, as per ''My Mother Was Nuts, a Memoir'', p. 10; . Copyright 2012 (October 15, 1943 – December 17, 2018) was an American actress, director and producer. She is known for her role as ...

, journalist * Caroline Daniel, journalist *

Magenta Devine Magenta Devine (born Kim Taylor; 4 November 1957 – 6 March 2019) was a British television presenter, journalist and music promoter best known for presenting the travel programme ''Rough Guide'' and youth programme ''Reportage'' on BBC2 in the 1 ...

, journalist & TV presenter * Luisa Baldini, former BBC News correspondent Law * Barbara Calvert, barrister and first woman to become a Head of

Chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama *Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Holt ...

Barbara Mills Dame Barbara Jean Lyon Mills DBE, QC (''née'' Warnock; 10 August 1940 – 28 May 2011) was a British barrister. She held various senior public appointments including Director of Public Prosecutions, and was widely seen as a pioneer for women ...

, former

Director of Public Prosecutions The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is the office or official charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world. The title is used mainly in jurisdictions that are or have been members o ...

Military * Daphne Blundell, former Director of the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

References

External links

School Website
* ISI Inspectio
Reports

Profile
on the ISC website
Profile
on the

Good Schools Guide ''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and independent. Overview The guide is compiled by a team of editors which, according to the official website, "''comprises some 50 editors, writers, researchers and contri ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Helen's School Independent schools in the London Borough of Hillingdon Educational institutions established in 1899 Independent girls' schools in London International Baccalaureate schools in England Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association 1899 establishments in England