Our four Houses, Carrington, Ducat, Kensington and Paget, are a very important feature of School life, not least in the autumn term as our House Captains bring their teams together to create the exciting annual festival that is House Music and Drama. We are looking forward this year to productions themed around different decades of the twentieth century, with an underlying motif of breaking down barriers. Entirely the inspiration of our students, these pieces celebrate the many and varied talents of all members of our community – and, whether your daughter joined the School this year or simply hasn’t been involved before, we hope you will encourage her to take part.

We often remind the girls that they belong to many different communities within the School, and the connections between year groups that our House meetings and events create are a joy to see. Upper III pupils have been enjoying getting to know others in their House as part of Bonding Day today: the Abbey ice cream sundae experience (pictured) proved especially popular!