Our history

In 1868, the Schools Inquiry Commission began to look at the state of girls’ education in Britain. When they found that only 12 endowed schools existed for girls, compared with 820 for boys, they encouraged an increased provision.

This led to the creation of the Hospital at Hoxton of the Foundation of Robert Aske. Establishing a girls’ school alongside our boys’ school in Hoxton, both were officially opened by HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught, the third son of Queen Victoria, on 5 June 1875.

By 1893, both schools felt their Hoxton location, having become rather down-at-heel, made the journey to school uncomfortable for students who lived outside the local area. Many of the buildings were also in dire need of repair.

Examination results had markedly improved, but the number of enrolled girls was falling. The school managers were repeatedly asked to move the girls’ school to a more conducive area. Finally, in 1898, a purchase was agreed on the Springfield Estate in Acton. Over the next three years, temporarily housed in an iron building, the girls watched their new school being built.

Our new school in Acton was officially opened on 1 July 1901 by Mrs W M Tudor, wife of the master of the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers. Designed for 300 students, it was soon outgrown. In 1910, a new extension almost doubled the capacity to 500 students.

In 1926, a piece of land was bought near North Ealing station, serving as the girls’ sports field. With a pavilion added in 1930, the field allowed the introduction of lacrosse and other sports. In 1932, the school opened an outdoor swimming pool on the main site (until then, girls had been taught to swim at the local Acton baths). Then, 1935 saw the introduction of the full school uniform.

In 1938, the incumbent Head spent months trying to make private arrangements with schools in the area. Yet in the end, we had to join the national school evacuation scheme.

On 3 September 1939, the girls’ school was evacuated, with 216 students and 11 staff taking the train to Dorset.

The expected blitz did not start until autumn 1940, so students began to drift back to their homes thinking Acton was safe, as well as feeling homesick and finding the arrangements unsatisfactory. After one term away, skeleton teaching arrangements restarted at Acton in January 1940. By July, only 96 pupils remained in Dorset.

The school officially returned and reopened in September 1940. Unfortunately, on the night of 12 October, a direct hit damaged the library and dining room. Nevertheless, teaching continued on the site throughout the remainder of the war.

The war-damaged library and dining room were eventually rebuilt in the early 1950s. Additions and alterations continued, increasing student numbers to 650 by 1948 and 720 by 1958. A new Lower School building was squeezed onto the site in 1961 following the demolition of the school caretaker’s lodge.

Yet the lack of space was proving difficult. Being surrounded by private homes meant there was no room to expand. The school did manage to purchase a few adjacent properties, including the neighbouring bowling club. But a more radical, long-lasting solution was needed, so the school looked to relocate for a second time.

By now, the boys’ school was at Elstree, the governors having bought Aldenham House from the BBC along with 61 acres of land. So in 1972, a girls’ school began to be built on an adjacent site. The new premises were opened by HRH Princess Margaret in October 1974. Despite the superb new facilities, the move had taken its toll. The death from cancer of the recently appointed Headmistress, expected to see the school safely through the transition, was a terrible blow to both students and staff.

The indoor swimming pool, a luxury after the outdoor, summer-only pool in Acton, opened in 1976 after a huge fundraising effort. The same year, the school became “regretfully but confidently” independent following the demise of the direct grant scheme. Until that point, a minimum of 25% of places had gone to non-fee-paying students.

The Sixth Form was strengthened by recruiting students for entry at that level and adding new subjects. Co-curricular activities rapidly increased, adding clubs, societies, overseas trips and exchanges. Sport, drama and music became a key focus too, with the first new building on the Elstree site being the Sime Music School, opened in 1979.

By 1991, our Sixth Form had doubled and with the introduction of Rainbow (Reception) in 1994, 11+ entries increased, meaning student numbers had risen from 750 to over 1,100.

There was a new emphasis on Maths and Science: while the 13 students studying Physics in 1974 had grown to around 60, with a record 26 students holding Oxbridge offers.

In 1990, our first website went live. New buildings were added for Design & Technology, Art and Music and double gymnasia. Redevelopment of the Junior School and the Modern Foreign Languages department were also carried out. Rainbows was introduced in 1994, with increased entries at 11+ and into the Sixth Form.

By 2005, with 1,140 students, we had become one of the largest independent girls’ schools in the country. That same year, the St Catherine Singers won BBC Radio 3 Youth Choir of the Year. 43 students now had offers from Oxbridge.

Our school houses were introduced in 2015, named after our first six headmistresses – Powell, Millar, Gilliland, Sprules, Harold and Gillett. This added many new inter-house competitions in sports, music and art.

Black trousers were introduced to the uniform in 2018. By 2019, the new STEM building was in place.

In 2019, the schools embarked on an exciting new strategy, with a commitment to closer collaboration between our two schools, bringing boys and girls together in A Level teaching sets, through the Habs Diploma and in a range of academic and co-curricular activities. Both schools continue to pride themselves on academic excellence to stretch curious minds, both inside and beyond the classroom.

Alongside this there has been a much stronger focus on preparing our students for the modern world, through broader engagement with the community in our Partnership Programme, the work of the Foundation, a sustained focus on EDI and environmental matters, educational innovation and education in its broadest sense, developing those skills and attributes which our students need to make a profound impact in the world.

We have also invested in our wonderful green campus, with new state-of-the-art teaching facilities, the significant enhancement of our outdoor spaces, such as The Boulevard and a new Boys’ Pre-Prep School.

In 2021 our community had to respond to the discovery that Robert Aske had invested a small part of his estate in the Royal African Company, which was involved in the vile trade in enslaved people. It has been difficult to come to terms with the fact that a man who did great good, and whose bequest continues to do great good, was also implicated in one of the great evils of history. This has been a painful process, but one which has brought the whole community together in a deep reflection on who we are, and which has been praised as an example of open and constructive engagement.

In 2023 Dr Hazel Bagworth-Mann arrived as our new Headmistress, just in time to see our new uniform in navy blue and red. Like her predecessors over the past 150 years, Dr Bagworth-Mann will leave her own imprint on Habs Girls and write another important page in our history book.

If you have any questions about our history not answered on this page, please get in touch with our School Archivist.