On Monday 29th June, the FHS community gathered in the majestic surrounds of Cadogan Hall for our End of Year Celebration & Prize-Giving: the jewel in the crown of our Summer Term calendar.
Guests were serenaded in by beautiful introductory music by our Music Scholars, Allegra, Capucine, Lucia and Helena, before our Chair of Governors, Patrick Sherrington, gave an excellent introductory speech. This was followed by an exquisite performance of Jenny Mahler’s ‘Come Alive’ by our Senior Chamber Choir.
Our Head, Alexandra Haydon, gave an inspirational speech outlining how FHS is a school where every girl belongs, believes in herself, and becomes the young woman she hopes to be – inspired to dream fiercely and to move confidently into the world with purpose. She thanked our governors for their wisdom and deep commitment to the school, our parents for their partnership, generosity, warmth and insights, and our staff for their hard work, care and infinite dedication, as well as praising every single one of our pupils for being young women who think independently, collaborate generously and approach the future with courage and imagination.
Mrs Haydon then introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Dame Dr Maggie Aderin DBE Hon FREng, a world-renowned astrophyscist, co-presenter of ‘The Sky At Night’, and somebody who truly personifies the power of dreaming fiercely and making a meaningful contribution to the world with courage, integrity, resilience and purpose. The inspiration to invite her came, as the best ideas so often do, from one of our pupils – Kayla in Year 11. It was Kayla who put pen to paper to send her the letter, and therefore Kayla took to the stage to introduce her.
With gentle humour, Dame Dr Maggie inspired our pupils, staff, parents and governors alike to reach for the stars, opening their eyes to the possibilities available to them in the world beyond school and encouraging them to push themselves outside their comfort zones, embrace challenge and realise the meaning and value of their unique contribution. We are immensely grateful to Dame Dr Maggie for making time in her busy schedule to inspire us all to dream fiercely and never give up.
The evening progressed with the ceremonial giving of prizes for achievement and effort including, for the first time this year, Heads of Year prizes for Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12, rewarding girls for their kindness, compassion, character and positive contribution to their year group.
The giving of prizes was interspersed with spectacular performances on the theme of ‘Reaching for the Stars’. These included a spectacular ballet medley; a reading by Theodora in Year 8, runner up for the Dame Rose Tremain Short Story Prize Story 2026, of her brilliant story, Something From Space Wants Us Dead; a mind-bending performance of Carl Sagan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ by our Lower Sixth drama students; an outstanding Sport Review of the Year by our Sport Scholars, celebrating this year’s impressive sporting successes and recognising the national and international achievements of many of our athletes; and a vibrant performance of Walter Hawkins’ ‘Going Up A Yonder’ by our Joint Chamber Choirs. As is tradition, the evening concluded with a joyful performance of ‘Jerusalem’ by our FHS orchestra and the entire congregation.
Another phenomenal End of Year Celebration & Prize-Giving – thank you so much to everybody who made it so special and congratulations to all our prize winners, as well as every one of our pupils, staff, parents and wider FHS community for their invaluable contribution this academic year.
