Last year, we established an exciting new International Women’s Day tradition at FHS. Every member of the school gathers in the playground for a moment of reflection and the ceremonial passing of the baton from the outgoing Upper Sixth Ambassador Team to the new Lower Sixth team.

Our Head, Alexandra Haydon, addressed the FHS community, discussing how the IWD theme for this year, #AccelerateAction, emphasises the importance of taking decisive steps to achieve gender equality and breaking down the barriers and biases that women face, both in personal and professional spheres. Female leadership is something we could not feel more passionate about at FHS and our outgoing Upper Sixth Ambassador Team spoke beautifully about the women they view as role models – women we should know about and learn from. After hearing from the Upper Sixth, it was time for them to pass on the baton of leadership to their Lower Sixth contemporaries. Our new Joint Head Girls, Chloe and Regina, then gave a moving recital of Rupi Kaur’s ‘Legacy’ before Mrs Haydon closed the ceremony by encouraging every member of our school community to express their gratitude to an important woman in their life.

The outgoing team, led by our Head Girl, Eva, and Deputy Head Girl, Ophelia, have each made their unique mark on our FHS community and have been fantastic role models for younger pupils. We have no doubt the new team will be equally brilliant and we look forward to working closely with them over the coming year. Congratulations to both teams!