Our FHS community spent the afternoon getting into the festive spirit while generously supporting some great causes, including our longstanding charity partners, Swiss Cottage School and the Rainbow Centre, Sri Lanka.

Swiss Cottage School is an outstanding school in Camden for children aged 2-19, with complex learning difficulties, emotional, behavioural and communication difficulties. Donations from the Francis Holland Parents’ Association help support after-school clubs and school trips at Swiss Cottage, and FHS Sixth Formers volunteer at the homework club. The Rainbow Centre provides education, welfare and loving support to children living in extreme poverty in south-western Sri Lanka. Its aim is to equip the children with the skills they need to break free from poverty and, to date, has enabled over 500 children to go on to mainstream education. Recently, FHSPA has donated a much-needed minibus to the school and provided meals for all children. 

From a mouth-watering ‘build-your-own-waffle’ stand to an enchanting Christmas Photo Booth, the fair featured a spectacular selection of stalls run by students, staff, parents and local businesses. These included our Headmistress Mrs Woodcock’s renowned Bottle Tombola, a bespoke ‘Young Enterprise’ T-Shirt Company, an Eco Society Book Stall, and a plethora of stalls offering unique stocking fillers such as jewellery, candles, fragrances, Christmas cards, vintage clothing, accessories and skincare. This year, the creative spirit of our students truly shone through as they seized the opportunity to showcase their entrepreneurial talents by running their own stalls and games. An enormous thank you to all who joined us on Saturday, not least to our incredibly dedicated Parents’ Association who always pull out all the stops to make this the highlight of the Autumn Term.

Aaron Taylor, Chair of the Parents’ Association, described the atmosphere of the Fair: “Balloons hanging at the entrance gates, festive decorations throughout the school, the Christmas Café ready for action and the numerous stall holders excited for business – the 2023 Christmas Fair was here! As ever, the FHS Community did not let us down – once the doors opened, the Hall, Library, Café, Classrooms, Gym and corridors were packed with girls, parents and visitors, all enjoying everything that the Christmas Fair had to offer. There was a great buzz throughout, fabulous vendors, an amazing raffle and the wildly popular Tombola which could hardly cope with the crowds of girls searching for a bargain!” 

Merry Christmas all; here’s to the last week of term!