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'St Albans High School' is a private (independent) Church of England girls' day school for girls aged 4 to 18, located in the city of St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Contents

History

House system

Hours of operation

Links

History

It was founded in 1889. It is a good ''academic'' school for girls but is particularly strong in music, sports and drama. For many years the school has joined forces with the nearby St Albans School (the boys' school) to put on an annual joint choral concert in St Albans Abbey in the Spring.
The High School is in the city centre of St Albans and as a result has limited space. Nevertheless, it has an indoor swimming pool, tennis courts and music block. Only five minutes away are the school's playing fields which include six tennis courts, two lacrosse pitches and athletics field areas. The School has an excellent music department lead by the director of music Nigel Springthorpe. The art department has also recently flourished under the guidance of Mr McGuinness, with many of the girls receiving full marks in exams and coursework. Each year they put on a highly varied and expressive exhibition of their work.
The headmistress is Ms Jacqualyn Pain who has recently been appointed from The Henrietta Barnett School.
The school has strong links with St Albans Abbey to which the girls walk once a term for a Eucharist service. There is also a candle-lit Service of Lessons and Carols at Christmas and a Founders' Day service in May.
The year 11 girls of 2006 gained the highest GCSEs in England.

House system

At St Albans High School there are 4 houses:

★ Julian - red. Named after Lady Juliana Berners, a 15th century prioress of Sopwell Nunnery, famous for her learning

★ Paris - blue. Named after Matthew Paris, a monk of St Albans Abbey in the 13th century and well known for his Chronicle of local events

★ Mandeville - green. Named after Sir John Mandeville, associated with a book of travels in the 14th century

★ Verulam - yellow. Named after Sir Francis Bacon, first Earl of Verulam, philosopher and writer

Hours of operation

The day starts at 8.30am and children come from a wide catchment area by a school coach service run by Provence Private Hire. There is a 20 minute break at 10.20am and lessons finish for lunch at 1.00pm. Pupils can have school dinners or bring a packed lunch. Lessons resume at 2.00pm and finish at 3.50pm. Pupils can travel home by coach at this time or they can take the late coach service, which leaves at 5.00pm to enable pupils to participate in some of the many extra-curricular activities. On a Friday the lunch hour is slightly longer and the day finishes at 3.30pm and there are no late coaches.
However, the junior house runs from 8.30am to 3.20pm. There is a 25 minute break at 10.10am. Lunch starts at 12.35pm for 7-11 year olds and ends at 1.35pm. They are allowed to bring a packed lunch or have the school's food. For 4-7 year olds lunch is at 12.00 and ends at 1.00 pm. They are not allowed to bring packed lunches.

Links

St Albans High School's website