Private Schools Highgate

You’ll find St. Mary’s on the beautiful tree-lined Fitzjohn’s Avenue, linking Hampstead with Swiss Cottage. Our courtyard serves as the main entrance to our school. Don’t let the grand yet unassuming Victorian building pass you by; you’ll discover five floors of inspiring and spacious learning spaces inside, two halls, a Chapel, a virtual reality room, and five playgrounds!

Our breathtaking entrance hall upholds many of the original features of this nineteenth-century home. Every day you will see our stunningly preserved floor mosaic, grade-listed oak panelling, and our majestic blue staircase. We hope our entrance hall mirrors the warm and welcoming experience of our school.

Once a nineteenth-century billiard and games room, our modern library is now home to over 1,000 books. All children have the opportunity to visit during the week and take home a variety of new and classic books. You can also choose a book and enjoy reading in one of our cosy reading chairs. It’s a place where imagination and creativity can run wild!

The spiritual and physical heart of St. Mary’s, our Chapel has been in situ since 1939. It’s a beautiful and tranquil place, open to all members of the school community. It is used daily, from Mass to assemblies, choir rehearsals to concerts. We have a part-time Chaplain to lead our services and times of reflection, and who offers pastoral support to those in need. All are welcome to visit our lovely Chapel.

Underneath our Chapel is the Chapel Hall, one of our two school halls. Today it is predominantly used for gymnastics and other sports, when weather prevents us from being outside. The Chapel Hall is also home to our Year 6 production each summer, and a variety of internal and parent events. These include our annual Inter-house competitions, the PTA Quiz, Christmas Fair, Art Fair and Charity Breakfasts, to name a few.

Opening over a decade ago, the Mary Ward Hall is our latest extension. It is fitted with a moveable wall, enabling multiple events to take place at once. On a day-to-day basis it is home to our Music & Drama department, but is also used for our weekly assemblies and many of the over 40 clubs taking place at St. Mary’s each week. The MWH has a stage, smaller than that in our Chapel Hall, for our annual Nativities and Prize Giving ceremonies.

St. Mary’s is lucky to have impressive outdoor spaces for a school in central London. There is much to explore. We have a fishpond, pirate ship climbing frame, a rooftop playground, a bike garden, a climbing wall, a peace garden, and a Secret Garden for EYFS pupils. We aim to be outside as much as possible during the day, and strongly advocate the benefits of fresh air and play for our girls’ physical and mental wellbeing.

Our blue playground serves as an all-weather, full-size Netball court. It is used for a variety of sports, both within the curriculum and as part of our extensive extra-curricular club programme. Girls in Upper School will also often play fixtures against other schools on our blue playground; parents are welcome to come and watch. We certainly have much to celebrate, with national finalists in Netball, Football and Gymnastics this year alone.

Throughout our spacious five floors you will find many inspiring classrooms. All have been refurbished in recent years, blending perfectly our traditional education with modern, pro-technology learning. Girls will spend most mornings with their class teacher in their own classroom, for form time and key subject learning. Lessons for the remainder of the day are dedicated to specialist teaching at sites throughout the school, including Science, Music, Art, PE and French.

At the top of St. Mary’s, you will find our unique, pioneering Global Learning Centre. We consider ourselves champions for girls’ education and STEAM subjects. Within our GLC you will find our Science room, an Engineering & Robotics Lab (complete with Lego robots and 3D printers), a video green screen, our green room, and the highlight of any school tour, our ‘Launch Pad’ virtual reality room. We have headsets for all children to explore the world around them. Older pupils will be given a laptop or iPad during their learning in the GLC, to become proficient in a range of technologies and become leaders of tomorrow.