Berkhamsted Girls School

Berkhamsted Girls suits a girl who is willing to have a go, who would rather try the lacrosse trial and the debating heat than pick only one. It is an independent school for girls aged 11 to 16 within the Berkhamsted Schools Group, taking day girls and boarders, with entry at 11+ into Year 7. It sits on Kings Campus, on Kings Road in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. Berkhamsted runs a diamond structure: girls and boys are taught in separate senior schools from 11 to 16 on the same town campus, sharing trips and events, then come together at 16 in the co-educational Berkhamsted Sixth.

The wider foundation goes back to 1541 and John Incent, Dean of St Paul's; the girls' school was founded in 1888 on Kings Road and joined the boys' school in the 1990s, and girls still learn on that original site. Each autumn the whole community gathers for a Founder's Day service, sung by the senior choir. Daily life runs through seven vertical houses, each with a head of house, tutors and a house captain, and a run of inter-house music, quizzes and debating. Clementine Hozier came to Berkhamsted in 1900 to finish her education here, years before she became Clementine Churchill.

The Good Schools Guide calls it 'a very slick operation' where girls 'are known individually', and parents describe a family feel and coaching from tutors. Lacrosse and netball are the strongest sports, cricket is growing, and music has lately picked up energy. The head talks about character alongside study. It suits a girl who wants to be known by name, and who likes the idea of single-sex lessons with a co-educational sixth form waiting at the end of them.