St Hilda’s School, Harpenden

St Hilda’s School was founded in 1891 and has been on the current site for over a hundred years. It is an integral part of the Harpenden community and is widely respected for its high standards and nurturing atmosphere. It is nestled in a beautiful locally listed residential area, 0.8 miles from Harpenden train station and a short walk into the ‘village’. Harpenden is characterised by Church Green, Leyton Green and the High Street Greens, which give the town its provincial feel. Just to the south of the town centre is Harpenden Common, stretching from the shops in the town centre for more than a mile to the south, encompassing a total of 238 acres. Harpenden is well noted for its fast train service to St. Pancras International, and for the motorist, junction 9 of the M1 motorway is just 3 miles distant.

Recent developments to St Hilda’s have included the integration of outdoor learning into the curriculum, an extended sports programme as well as a strong focus on wellbeing. The building has been substantially extended over the years with new teaching areas together with existing classrooms being enhanced and adapted, including a new STEM Lab, Art Room and a Performing Arts Studio. The School was most recently inspected by ISI in February 2024 and passed in all areas, with glowing comments from the inspectors. The pandemic has not diminished the School’s ability to adapt and thrive in different circumstances, during which it has gone from strength to strength.

St Hilda’s has approximately 140 girls aged 2½ – 11 years, with boys who are siblings also in the Nursery, and each class (one class per year group) has a maximum class size of 22. From St Hilda’s, girls move on to the major independent schools in the area, including Haberdashers, St Albans High School, Berkhamsted and Abbot’s Hill. Scholarships are achieved each year across all disciplines.