A very warm welcome to The Folkestone School for Girls

We are committed to excelling in all that we do and expect our girls to share and exhibit those same high standards for themselves. We aim for and achieve outstanding academic results but are equally concerned to foster creativity, to encourage courtesy and sensitivity towards others and to develop self-discipline, self-motivation and self-confidence. This stems from our belief that qualifications are what our girls get; they do not define who they are and will play only a part in shaping who they become.

Our academic curriculum, therefore, is only a part of what we do. We also encourage all our girls to explore other interests and to take part in the wider life of the school through our many co-curricular opportunities – be that debating society, music, dance, drama, sports, Young Enterprise, Duke of Edinburgh award, Combined Cadet Force (CCF)…..the list goes on.

We believe this is in an incredibly important part of education. Being part of a club, a team, a cast or orchestra requires teamwork and commitment. It develops self-confidence and, simply, can allow us all to grow and flourish in other arenas. This belief in the power of co-curricular activities drives our thinking. Girls therefore do not complete an excessive amount of qualifications. Typically, students sit 10 x GCSE and a further 3 A-levels. This allows time to focus efforts on achieving the very highest grades within these but also time to participate in other activities and interests – both at school and at home. Additionally, and importantly, there is also time to spend with friends and family. We feel a sensible balance - with girls able to excel and explore in the classroom but also on the stage, the sports field, the concert hall......Time, too, to just be a child/teenager.

So, over and above a traditional, rigorous, academic curriculum all girls will take part in a personal challenge. It could be rock climbing on our climbing wall, mountain biking on our bike trail or taking part in the big school production. We call it the FSGBacc and it is at the very heart of what we do because our job is not to prepare our girls for exams; it is to prepare them for life.

Mark Lester
Principal