Princess Helena College is a co-educational day and boarding school for students aged 11 – 18. Founded in 1820 in London, the school was named after Queen Victoria’s third daughter Princess Helena.
We pride ourselves on caring for the individual, nurturing their abilities, and ultimately allowing them to depart with an excellent all-around education and set of experiences and achievements, be that academic or extra-curricular with some wonderful memories of their time here ready to take on the next stage of their lives.
We believe there are three strands to an excellent education, the academic, pastoral, and co-curricular experience. Here at PHC, we are rightly proud of our academic success, exam results have been excellent but it is more than just grades that prove our success. Our excellent overall value-added also reflects what PHC is all about, looking after and nurturing the individual so that they can succeed to the very best of their ability, allowing them to discover their true potential.
Students succeed the most when they are happy, the pastoral system at PHC enables students to be happy. The size of our school and the ethos enables us to care, mentor, and value every student. We experience a warm and purposeful atmosphere staff know students very well and students know and support each other.
For some students, success comes from being able to undertake co-curricular activities. We have a strong program here that allows students opportunities to be involved in sport, drama, music, outdoor adventure, debating, wellness, and academic extension classes.
As part of the United Learning Group, we have access to resources to develop our overall educational facilities. We have already seen investment in the building of new washroom facilities, upgrades to the boarding house, and an extensive overhaul of our IT provision allowing better connectivity and more up-to-date equipment within the teaching rooms.
We hope you will get a greater feel for PHC by coming to visit us shortly and I promise a very warm welcome when you do visit. Deciding your child’s education is a very important decision and we hope we may be part of this.
Princess Helena College is characterized by mutual respect between the students and staff: everyone is expected to accept responsibility for their actions and to behave with care and consideration towards others. Our excellent pastoral care is a key part of what makes Princess Helena College such a special place for students.
The formal pastoral structure is provided by the Assistant Head (Pastoral), Heads of Key Stage, Form Teachers, Academic Mentors, the School Nurse, and Boarding House Staff.
Every student is appointed a mentor from our team of staff, who works with them on a one-to-one basis to guide them academically and personally. Mentors help to develop independence, resilience, and perseverance and challenge students to push themselves outside of their comfort zones to make and seize opportunities.
We believe in the importance of spiritual and moral education. Whilst we are a Church of England school, we welcome students of all religions and support their wishes to observe festivals, diets, and traditions.
