South Hampstead Essay Project

This year we initiated a new project enabling Sixth Formers to develop their skills in preparation for studies beyond South Hampstead.

When girls start in the Sixth Form, amid coursework, clubs and personal statements, they are encouraged to find the space to nurture interests of their own and extend their thinking beyond the curriculum.

At the start of the year, all students are taught a range of study skills such as planning, self-reliance and writing for different audiences. Many girls then embark on the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), taking on ambitious self-driven research alongside their A Level subjects. For others, we provide a different option: to turn their ideas into a shorter, more focused essay for the new South Hampstead Essay project.

In its first year, the girls rose to the challenge, exploring Artificial Intelligence, antimatter and the poems of Thomas Hardy. The students benefited enormously from the experience, coping with workload troubles, changes of heart and the spectre of the global pandemic – all of which they took in their stride. Their final essays covered topics as varied as the ethics of designer dog breeding and an analysis of how socio-economic factors affect the development of children with Cerebral Palsy.

Read a selection of their works here, within the inaugural edition of the South Hampstead Essay Project journal. Congratulations to all our contributing students on their bold and arresting essays.