Withington Girls' School

What a day! ✨ We not only celebrated another year of outstanding A Level results and said goodbye to our incredible Class of 2026, we also bid a fond farewell to our Headmistress, Mrs Sarah Haslam.
🎉 Class of 2026 highlights:
🌟 An astonishing 78.6% of grades are A*-A
🌟 34.1% are the top A* grade.
🌟 61% of the Class of 2026 achieved at least three A*/A grades

🎓 All eight Oxbridge offer-holders secured their places. Others are starting courses ranging from marine biology to aeronautical engineering, and music to medicine at top universities. One will start a sought-after degree apprenticeship at EY.
Well done to you all - we are exceptionally proud and look forward to following all your future successes ✨✨
📲 Read more on our website.

And of course, we can't look back on the Class of 2026's journey without mentioning the return of the Dance Competition. Revived by the year group, it was an unforgettable success. 💃✨

From an energetic launch assembly that built excitement across the school to creative production, impressive costumes and crowd-pleasing routines, the competition brought our community together through friendship, teamwork, laughter and memories that will last a lifetime. 💙

Our Year 13 students played a huge role in making the event happen, both behind the scenes and on stage, with their own performance earning the Judges' Choice Award. 🩰🏆

The impact extended beyond the show itself, too. Following the event, students visited Downing House, one of the competition's charity partners, to share the fundraising total and perform for residents, bringing the celebrations to a fitting close. 🎶

From the first assembly to the final bow, it was a shining example of Withington Girls at their best. 🌟

Over the past two years, our Year 13 students have embraced every aspect of Sixth Form life, pursuing their interests, taking on leadership opportunities and making the most of all that WGS has to offer. ✨

These photos offer a snapshot of that journey, celebrating achievements big and small, memorable performances, meaningful friendships and the moments in between. 📸

The Class of 2026 leaves behind a legacy of enthusiasm, commitment and community spirit that will be remembered for years to come. 💙🌟

As we get ready to welcome our Year 13 students and their families back to school this week, we're also looking back on the achievements, opportunities and memories that shaped their Sixth Form journey.

Founders' Day was the perfect chance to celebrate all they've accomplished. With the theme Lighting the Way: Celebrating Opportunity, the event included the traditional presentation of books, an inspiring speech from Head Girl Tara, and fantastic performances from the choir and orchestra, giving our Upper Sixth students a memorable send-off.

The celebrations continued with a family reception afterwards, providing an opportunity for students, parents and staff to come together and mark this special milestone before the next chapter begins.

Today, we bid farewell to our Headmistress, Mrs Haslam, as she concludes her remarkable tenure of leadership at Withington Girls’ School.

Throughout her time as Headmistress, Mrs Haslam has remained steadfast in her commitment to academic excellence, outstanding pastoral care and creating opportunities for every pupil to thrive.

Under her guidance, Withington has achieved sustained academic success while strengthening its reputation as a community defined by kindness, inclusion, wellbeing and ambition. Her leadership has been characterised by integrity, compassion and a genuine commitment to people.

Mrs Haslam has championed innovation in teaching and learning, expanded partnership opportunities and ensured that pupils are supported not only in their achievements, but also in their personal growth. A passionate advocate for girls’ education, she has inspired generations of young women to be confident, ambitious and authentic, while fostering a culture in which pupils and staff alike are encouraged to flourish.

Her legacy will endure through the countless pupils, families and colleagues whose lives she has touched.

On behalf of the entire school community, we thank Mrs Haslam for her exceptional service and wish her every happiness in the years ahead. 💙

The end-of-year tradition of House Plays was nothing short of spectacular.👏

Inspired by Rudyard Kipling's If, the performances explored themes of perseverance, resilience and humility. There were touching nods to Mrs Haslam's final event, reflecting the very qualities that have defined her leadership.

A huge well done to our Year 12 prefects, who wrote the scripts and oversaw staging, lighting, sound, props and costume, and to our Year 7 pupils, who took to the Arts Centre stage with such courage and confidence.

Congratulations to Lejeune on being crowned this year's victors. ❤️

Our fantastic Giving Day on 18th June, held to celebrate 50 years of bursary funding at WGS, raised £82,798.48, thanks to our entire
Withington community.

Now we're continuing our 50 Voices for 50 Years celebration. As the academic year draws to a close and our Headmistress, Mrs Haslam, prepares to retire, we hear what this anniversary year has meant to her.

‘Bursary provision at Withington is something very close to my heart and, in my final year as Headmistress, I am delighted that this 50th anniversary has given us the opportunity to come together as a whole school community to ensure that girls can continue to experience all that Withington offers, regardless of their financial circumstances.’

Thank you to everyone who has supported bursaries during this special anniversary year. Together, we are helping to ensure that talented girls can thrive at Withington for generations to come.

Read more from our 50 Voices for 50 Years campaign: https://www.wgs.org/50-voices-for-50-years/

🎵🎶 Music Festival 2026 🎶🎵

Today’s Music Festival was a wonderful showcase of the talent, dedication and enthusiasm of our pupils. A huge well done to everyone who took part, with many performers competing in more than one class throughout the day.

From strings, woodwind, piano, harp, percussion, guitar and voice to so much more, music continues to be a central part of life at our school. It was a pleasure to see pupils sharing their skills, confidence and passion for performance.

Following the competitions, pupils chosen by the adjudicators were invited to perform in a special recital, giving the whole school the opportunity to enjoy and celebrate their talent. 🎼🎹🎻🥁🎸✨