Francis Holland runs a wide range of academic and co-curricular trips, both in the UK and abroad. These are a key part of the enhancement of academic learning, as well as helping to develop confidence and the full range of skills needed for success in a world of rapid change. There are day trips to local lectures, museums and galleries, choir trips to a variety of European destinations, sports trips to South Africa, art trips to New York, geography trips to the Grand Canyon, religious studies trips to Poland and many more besides.

The core and elective components of the Upper School Enrichment Programme provide important opportunities for girls to choose electives from a range of disciplines and topics beyond the curriculum, as well as using the 7 Cs to think innovatively and solve contemporary problems such as climate change and sustainability. Girls are encouraged to approach themes such as the Good Society in an interdisciplinary way that moves from philosophical foundations through to social entrepreneurship to bring about positive change in the real world.

A number of girls from Years 10 – 12 are also invited to attend the intellectually challenging event, Big Ideas for Curious Minds.  This mind expanding event with polymathic academics from Oxford and Cambridge fosters deep thinking about big questions in areas such as epistemology, science, happiness, astrophysics and the body and include engagement with texts such as Plato’s Symposium.

Examples of recent enrichment events that girls have been encouraged to attend include:

• When We Dead Awaken: production, in Norwegian, of Ibsen’s haunting final play
• Francis Bacon: Man and Beast: exhibition at the Royal Academy
• Van Gogh. Self Portraits: selection of 16 self-portraits
• Postwar Modern – New Art in Britain 1945-1965 Exhibition
• Surrealism Beyond Borders: major exhibition of surrealist art by 20th century international artists
• The Procession: huge and spectacular installation – ‘a roaring carnival of humanity’
• The Future of Liberalism: in-person & online discussion at the LSE with Economist editor, Zanny Minton Beddoes
• The Worst Person in the World: new film about a young woman’s quest for love and meaning in contemporary Oslo
• The Wihan Quartet perform string quartets by Taneyev and Britten
• NT Connections: short plays written and performed by up-a-coming young talent
• Planetary Universe: Gresham College astronomy lecture on the frontiers of outer space by Prof. Katherine Blundell
• Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas: cellist Adrian Brendel and pianist Simon Callaghan mark the British Library’s Beethoven exhibition
• The Guilty Feminist Presents Camp As Springtime: star guests perform music and comedy in a LGBTQI+-themed evening
• Beethoven’s 9th Symphony performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra
• The Global Financial Crisis and Covid: What Next? Gresham College lecture by Professor Martin Daunton
• The Joy of Science: 8 lessons from the heart of science to help you get the most out of life by Quantum Physicist & TV presenter, Jim Al-Khalili 

If all of this were not enough, we also have our fabulous Sixth Form enrichment programme with a range of electives and an engaging lecture series, complemented by Miss Boon’s incredibly stimulating history lectures, the superb research involved in the EPQ and much more. In addition to these, the penultimate week of the Summer Term is our Expeditions Week, where girls take part in a series of successively more exciting and demanding expeditions and challenges around the UK. This week is designed to develop courage, character and resilience in our girls and is a key part of our coherent programme of challenge and leadership training that runs throughout their time at school. The expeditions range from hiking and survival skills in the Lake District to surfing and water sports in Cornwall.  A sense of adventure and risk taking is vitally important for academic achievement and the line between the academic and co-curricular is permeable.

‘Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life’. Confucius (BC551 – BC 479).

At Francis Holland School, careers education starts in Year 9, when the girls are required to make their first major decision, namely the choice of their GCSE option subjects. It accompanies the girls until their final year and in some instances beyond as some girls might come into school for further help and advice even after they have left, and we are very happy to help. Careers education is very much a whole school effort as not only the Head of Futures and Innovation, but also form tutors, subject teachers, the Head and many other people get involved in its delivery.

FHS is a strong believer in promoting STEAM to our pupils. We believe that the skills required to excel in STEAM are part and parcel of our creative curriculum, as well as possessing a rigour which is highly valued by both universities and employers. FHS also recognises that STEAM subjects, especially Physics, Computing and Engineering are areas where girls are underrepresented and we are addressing this imbalance by providing inspirational opportunities to our pupils.

We continually offer new opportunities which include a STEAM Club where girls can engage in electronic, engineering and computing projects. We have also broadened our already exciting programme of guest speakers and we provide challenging problems every week on the website to stretch and challenge our best and brightest. Our STEAM ‘Lunch ‘n Learn’ series sees guest speakers attend FHS to deliver engaging and informative lectures to both staff and students. Finally, we advertise external opportunities in STEAM that are available for the girls to apply to independently (with our support if required).