On the evening of Tuesday 20th September, we once again held our annual Prize-Giving Ceremony at the beautiful Cadogan Hall.

The event was, as ever, an inspirational celebration of our girls’ many achievements. Headmistress Lucy Elphinstone began the evening by praising our pupils, our parents, and our teachers, before discussing our ‘Year Of Creativity’ which is running this academic year. Mrs Elphinstone described how proud the school is of all our students, especially during a time when several of them have had to overcome considerable adversity. The Headmistress then introduced our wonderful guest speaker, Professor Bill Lucas.

Bill is Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester. An acknowledged thought-leader in education, Bill has been a school leader and the founder of two national educational charities. With Guy Claxton he created the Expansive Education Network for schools wishing to expand the goals of education to include much that is central to his book Educating Ruby.

During Prize-Giving, he spoke of the importance of giving our young people a well-rounded education – one that does not just create single-minded academic achievers (though academic effort and success is, of course, important) but which also teaches students to be resilient, curious, confident members of society. Bill praised Francis Holland School, Sloane Square, for being just the sort of school which encourages and supports these attributes, whilst also achieving terrific academic results (as evidenced by this year’s GCSE results – our best ever). He also expressed admiration for our ‘Year of Creativity’, commenting on the importance of thinking creatively, making connections and seizing opportunities to employers today. His support for a growth mindset and optimistic outlook accorded perfectly with our own emphasis on positivity and perseverance.

All these attributes and more are demonstrated by the girls who received their prizes during the course of the evening. We were as delighted as ever to celebrate each and every girl’s achievement, be it a prize for progress in Year 7 or for achieving the highest A level results in the school. Each year group was, as always, wonderfully represented, with nearly every member of the 2015/16 Upper Sixth class returning to Sloane Square to receive their Leaver’s Prize and celebrate with us at a special drinks reception after the ceremony.

Alongside the prizes and speeches we also enjoyed outstanding performances from one of our string chamber groups, our senior choir and of course our ballet students, who performed a clever and amusing ‘Brexit’-inspired piece.

Overall, it was a fabulous evening celebrating the achievements of our pupils and perfectly demonstrating the warmth of our ethos at Francis Holland School, Sloane Square.

Click through the photos below!