“Where children flourish in confidence, creativity, and care.”
St Hilda’s is unique in character and appeal and a special place to educate your child. I am delighted to welcome you to our website, which offers a broad flavour of all that takes place in our busy and vibrant School.
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Wellbeing
The wellbeing of all children, staff and parents at St Hilda’s is our first priority. Everyone has responsibility for others’ wellbeing, and we endeavour to continue the “family feel” that has run through St Hilda’s for over 100 years.
Extra Curricular
St. Hilda’s offers a wide range of Extra-Curricular Activities which seek to cater for a range of interests and abilities. There is something on offer for everyone.
Safeguarding
At St. Hilda’s School, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is a responsibility we all share. We are dedicated to creating a safe, supportive environment where every child can thrive.
Outdoor Learning
At St. Hilda’s, Forest School is a child-centred learning programme that aims to promote holistic development, fostering resilient, confident, independent, and creative learners.
Celebrating girls' education
7:30 - 6
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#sthildasharpenden
The eve of a new term. Packed bags. Polished shoes. Holiday stories waiting to be shared.
We`re running into the Spring Term with anticipation and quiet excitement, and can`t wait to welcome the girls back to St Hilda`s tomorrow.
#sthildasharpenden #springterm #backtoschool #makingmemories #caringcuriousconfident #prepschoolmagic #girlseducation #independenteducation #harpenden #harpendenparents #hertfordshire
Form V have been reading Carol Ann Duffy’s `The Lost Happy Endings` and exploring the story through the eyes of Jub herself. In one lively lesson, the girls imagined what it would be like to be Jub and came up with thoughtful, curious and sometimes challenging questions they would love to ask her.
They then took turns in the Hot Seat, adopting Jub’s voice and responding to the class’s burning questions. The results were creative, confident and full of insight, showing just how deeply the girls are engaging with the text.
A wonderful example of how drama and literature can come together to spark imagination and deepen understanding.
#sthildasharpenden #formV #thelosthappyendings #carolannduffy #readingforpleasure #creativelearning #englishlesson #learningisfun #caringcuriousconfident #prepschool #girlseducation #harpenden #harpendenparents
From all of us at St Hilda’s, we wish our wonderful pupils, families, staff and wider school community a joyful Christmas. May your homes today be filled with warmth, togetherness and celebration, and may the magic of Christmas stay with you into the new year ahead.
#merrychristmas #christmasday #sthildasharpenden #seasonofjoy
Our busy and successful Winter term concluded, as always, with a beautiful service of carols, Christmas music and the timeless story of a baby born in lowly circumstances. The church was filled with music, meaning and Christmas spirit, with the youngest girls bringing the Nativity scene to life and our senior girls reading and singing with confidence — including three stunning soloists opening Once in Royal David City. It was a truly moving celebration of Christmas and a rousing conclusion to a very successful term.
#nativityservice #carolservice #sthildasharpenden #caringcuriousconfident #prepschool #girlseducation #independenteducation #harpenden #harpendenparents #hertfordshire
Our Christmas Holiday Club has been bursting with festive fun, Christmas crafts, and lots of laughter along the way.
✨ Day 1: Our festive fun began with an angel theme, with the girls making angel fairy bread, paper cup angels and sparkly tree decorations, alongside a candy cane Christmas card for their families. The day ended on a high note with a thrilling pantomime performance from Miss O`Hare`s Festive Fun Drama Workshop.
🎄 Day 2: A colourful and creative day celebrating Christmas trees. The girls decorated chocolate brownie trees, made candy cane and gingerbread tree decorations and created festive Christmas tree cards. Between activities, there has been plenty of play, colouring, outdoor games and a great start on the 1,000-piece Christmas jigsaw. When the rain arrived, the hall became a yoga studio — the children proved to be excellent little yogis!
☃️ Day 3: Despite a chilly start, spirits were high as the whole club enjoyed outdoor play together. Indoors, the girls decorated melting snowman biscuits, painted their own unique snowmen and snow ladies, and made snowman bookmarks for their festive reads.
🦌 Day 4: Our penultimate day was all about reindeer, the children getting crafty making fingerprint reindeer cards, tree decorations and reindeer biscuits. A club-wide game of Froggy Froggy was halted by the rain, and so we headed inside for some festive yoga. The day ended with a big achievement — the completion of the 1,000-piece Christmas jigsaw!
🎅🏻 Day 5: Our final day was a gentle and joyful wind-down after a busy week. Festive creativity continued as the girls made a final tree decoration, decorated biscuits using up our last sprinkles (no waste!) and created cheerful Father Christmas crafts. The afternoon brought a much-loved movie treat, with a screening of Frozen enjoyed alongside cosy movie snacks, before the day ended creating a Christmas sticker scene.
Throughout the week, our older girls have shown great care and kindness in looking after the younger children, and from breakfast through to tea time it has been a truly magical start to the holidays, full of creativity, friendship and Christmas cheer.
#sthildasharpenden #holidayclub
Every term tells its own story, and Autumn 2025 has been rich with learning, laughter, growth and celebration. Here are a few curriculum highlights from across the school:
❤️ Our Reception girls have had a fabulous first term, embracing full-time school life with enthusiasm and growing independence. They have worked hard on their reading, number skills and handwriting, and ended the term by forming the Nativity scene at the Christmas Service.
💙 Form I have made a super start to their KS1 learning. A wide variety of topics have been enjoyed, including fairy tales, families and homes, animals, castles and colour, alongside a visit to Hertfordshire Zoo and the girls` families visiting the FI classroom to look at the lovely displays and work.
🤍 The first term of learning in Form II has been full of imagination and discovery. From superheroes, sidekicks and adventurous vocabulary to Florence Nightingale, Victorian deportment lessons and afternoon tea, the girls have loved exploring storytelling and history in ways that are engaging, creative and collaborative.
❤️ In their first term of KS2, Form III have loved learning about different cultures and festivals, piecing together the story of Rama and Sita from various tellings of the tale, and performing their own version of the poem `Carnival` by Valerie Bloom.
💙 Form IV have thrived on creative and active learning, with their Egypt topic being a real highlight. The girls explored the continent of Africa and the specific geography of Egypt, before travelling back in time to discover life under Pharaoh Akhenaten, complete with a workshop in costume.
🤍 Ask any Form V girl for her highlight and the answer will be: Nursery buddies. This kindness and companionship has further woven throughout the term, from singing beautifully at the Harpenden Peace Service to making collaborative stop-motion animations.
❤️ Form VI have risen to the challenge of being top of the school, embracing their roles of responsibility with determination and leadership. They have undertaken senior school entrance exams with courage and confidence, whilst also enjoying a rich programme of sporting, musical and co-curricular activities.
