Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls
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Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls is an academically high-achieving British independent school in Elstree, near Borehamwood, in the county of Hertfordshire. It is often known as "Habs" or "Habs girls", to distinguish it from the neighbouring Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School. The school was founded in 1875 by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the ancient Livery Companies of the City of London, by means of the charitable foundation set up in 1690 in the will of Robert Aske, a 17th-century Master of the Company.
The girls' school moved from its original site in Hoxton, east London, to Acton in 1898, and thence, in 1974, to its present location in Elstree. The school is a selective academic day school with its main intakes at the ages of 4, 5, 7, 11 and 16. The current headmistress is Miss Biddie O'Connor. A coach network shared with the neighbouring boys' school transports pupils from a catchment area stretching from St John's Wood in London to Harpenden and Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire.
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[edit] Class names
The school has different names for its classes. In the junior school, year groups are formed as follows:
| Year | Class names |
|---|---|
| Rainbow | |
| Year 1 | Red, Green |
| Year 2 | Blue, Yellow |
| Year 3 | Alpha, A |
| Year 4 | Alpha, A |
| Year 5 | Alpha, A |
| Year 6 | Alpha A |
There are two classes in each year group (except Reception, which has one class), with approximately 25 pupils in each class.
The senior school year groups are classified as follows:
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| Year 7 | Lower Fourth |
| Year 8 | Upper Fourth |
| Year 9 | Lower Fifth |
| Year 10 | Middle Fifth |
| Year 11 | Upper Fifth |
| Year 12 | Lower Sixth |
| Year 13 | Upper Sixth |
There are usually 4 classes in each senior year group up to year 11, called A, Aesc (pronounced "ash"), Aleph and Alpha, after the first letter of the alphabet, the "Æ" grapheme, the first letter of the Arabic and Hebrew alphabets, and the first letter of the Greek alphabet. This year in Yr 7 there is a new class name, Ansuz the first letter in Rune alphabet. Occasionally, a fifth form is called Aske after Robert Aske, after whom the school is named and was founded by. The system is used to avoid speculation about one class being more academically capable than another, for instance, A being better than B, which is better than C. Each class has up to 28 pupils (usually about 25), two sixth form prefects, a Form Teacher and a Deputy Form Teacher. Lower and Upper Sixth form classes have about 14 pupils in each class.
[edit] Awards
Scholarships and governor's bursaries are awarded. Music scholarships pay for instrumental tuition. The Trotman scholarship is awarded in competition with other North London schools. The school has an excellence book which girls are asked to sign if they have excelled in a subject. These names are announced in assembly. The school also awards Cornflower Awards to some girls who display very good individual or group work. These are given on a more regular basis by the Section Heads.
[edit] Notable former pupils
- Laura Aikman, actress
- Linda Bennett OBE, fashion designer and entrepreneur
- Bidisha, arts critic, broadcaster and author
- Vanessa Feltz, TV personality
- Talulah Riley, actress
- Luciana Berger, Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree
- Scarlett Stitt, actress
- Caroline Ryder, writer
[edit] External links
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Coordinates: 51°39′15″N 000°18′39″W / 51.65417°N 0.31083°W
