# St Helen and St Katharine

St. Helen and St. Katharine is a private girls' day school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

## History

St. Helen's School, Abingdon was founded in 1903 by the Community of St Mary the Virgin to provide a Christian education for girls. In 1938, St Helen's merged with Wantage-based St. Katharine's School, which had been founded in 1894. The merged schools became St. Helen & St. Katharine, in Abingdon.

## The present school

St. Helen and St. Katharine is an independent day school for girls and young women located on the outskirts of Abingdon. 720 pupils, aged 9 to 18, study on a campus of Edwardian and modern buildings, set in 22 acres.
Bursaries of up to 100% of the fees are available to pupils from Year 7 and are based on means-tested assessments of financial circumstances.
St Helen and St Katharine enjoys close links with Abingdon School to add an element of co-education, with some joint sixth form teaching and classes as well as collaboration in other areas, including music, drama, debating and many social events, as well as a joint school bus service.
Together with Abingdon School, the school has an exchange program with the Ratsgymnasium Bielefeld in the German city of Bielefeld.

## Buildings

The original school building dates from 1906, enhanced by extensive building programmes in the late 20th and early 21st century. Developments include a Performing Arts Centre; a library facility which includes ICT Suites, a lecture theatre and a careers library which opened in 2010; and a Science Centre (2014) with 12 laboratories and a three-storey glass atrium event space. A sports centre with rowing suite, indoor cycle studio and fitness gym was added in 2016.
In 2023, the school opened a new Sixth Form Centre, the Benedict Building, featuring 9 classrooms, a Higher Education Library, independent and group study spaces, a lecture hall and café.

## Curriculum

The curriculum includes Art and design, Biology, Ceramics, Chemistry, Classics, Computer science, Design Technology, Drama and theatre, Economics, English Language and Literature, Food and nutrition, French, Geography, German, Politics, Greek, History, Latin, Mandarin, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Music, Personal Development, Physical Education, Physics, Psychology, Religion, Philosophy and Ethics (RPE), and Spanish.
The school has its own Chapel, founded in 1922, in which a weekly Eucharist is offered to all staff and pupils.

## Sport

Major sports include lacrosse, netball, athletics, tennis, football and cricket, as well as basketball, cross country, hockey, trampolining, badminton, rugby, gymnastics, swimming, fencing and dance.

## St Kate's Day celebrations

The school celebrates St. Katharine's Day, which it describes as ’St. Kate's Day’, in November each year. A morning Eucharist is followed by events to raise money for the school's chosen charities. A highlight is the traditional lacrosse fixture between St. Helen's Senior lacrosse team and the boys of Abingdon School's Rugby First XV.

## Alumnae

* Mary Allen, former Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House
* Hatti Archer (née Hatti Dean), athlete
* Veronica Ashworth, RAF officer and nurse
* Samantha Cameron, businesswoman and wife of former British Prime Minister David Cameron
* Justice Johannah Cutts, Justice of the High Court
* Jennie Formby, senior official in the Unite trade union and General Secretary of the Labour Party
* Elspeth Hanson, violinist with "Bond"
* Jessica Harrison, Olympic triathlete (2008 and 2012)
* Phyllis Hartnoll, poet, author and editor
* Claire Lawrence, former British Ambassador to Lithuania
* Anne Mueller, civil servant and academic
* Lindsey Russell, TV and radio presenter
* Emily Sheffield, former editor of the Evening Standard
* Alice Thomson, Leader Writer, The Times
* Jane Tranter, TV producer and former Head, BBC Worldwide Productions