Develop yourself through your love of learning

QM’s extensive programme of trips and expeditions opens up opportunities for girls to learn new skills, experience different cultures, enhance their learning and cement lifelong friendships. Our QM School Trips Coordinator gathers suggestions from the QM Family before planning a schedule each year. Trips from study tours to Skiing, walking challenges to competition finals take place throughout the School year including some School holidays.

QM is part of the worldwide organisation of schools whose patron is Queen Margaret of Scotland. The member schools span five continents, yet share common goals and ideals. The overall aim is to promote cultural programmes with as many of the member schools as possible.

We hope to re-establish cultural exchanges with QM’s sister schools, as well as future tours and trips. This gives students the opportunity to make lifelong friends, learn about other's cultures, and develop new skills which better prepare them to take their place and succeed in an ever-changing world.

All students in Year IV are eligible to undertake the Duke of Edinburgh’s Bronze Award, which takes a minimum of six months to complete.

From September to June, girls attend a weekly expedition training session lasting 45 minutes. This will be followed by a practice and qualifying overnight camping expedition. Girls will also be required to regularly participate in a sport, actively learn a skill, and undertake voluntary work during their free time.

All students in LVI are eligible to undertake the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award, which takes a minimum of 18 months to complete.

This is a major challenge which will only be fulfilled with a great deal of perseverance and commitment. Participants will be required to attend a weekly expedition training session lasting 30 minutes throughout the year. These sessions culminate in a two-day practice camping expedition and a four-day qualifying walking expedition in the Easter Term.

Girls will also be required to regularly participate in a sport, actively learn a skill, and undertake voluntary work during their free time. In addition, all participants will select and take part in a residential activity for a minimum of five days.

Backstage Arts refers to our behind-the-scenes activities in theatre, dance, music, and other performance arts. These arts play a crucial role in enhancing creativity and expression; for our club, this involves the lighting, audio, and stage management of stage productions at QM.

The club provides an outlet for our pupils to showcase their talents and express their ideas, which can be both therapeutic and empowering. Additionally, participating in Backstage Arts helps develop a range of skills including teamwork, communication, time management, and problem-solving.

The process of putting together a performance requires coordination and collaboration between pupils, teaching staff and technicians, which fosters a real sense of community and helps strengthen social bonds within the school.

This enrichment activity gives girls the opportunity to improve their meal planning and cooking skills. It is the perfect opportunity for them to become more confident in understanding recipes, time management, menu planning, food presentation, and food safety and hygiene, and it encourages independence so they can prepare their own healthy meals.

You don't just take a photograph, you MAKE it. Come to Photography Club to build your skills for making great images.

From technical details to creative thinking, we will explore all the opportunities you have to use your camera - and your phone!

Photography is one of the four A Level Art subjects you can study at Queen Margaret's, so this club offers students a chance to build skills and enjoy the subject and consider if it is a good one for you at A Level.

Open to all year groups, Painting Club encourages students to work on their own personally motivated pieces. With the guidance of painting expert Mrs Colman, students are given the opportunity to hone skills and techniques in a range of paint media, from watercolour and acrylic to oil paint.

Fun warm-up activities get the creative juices flowing before embarking on more developed works. No prior experience or perceived skill needed - this is a chance to explore the wonderful medium of paint!

Whether you are already a green-fingered goddess or just curious about growing your own plants, get involved with Gardening Club for the chance to sow, tend and harvest your very own fruit and vegetables!

We are big into nature, and have great plans for our little garden and wildlife area, so come along and see what you can grow.

LVI students studying A Level Art subjects are encouraged to take part in Life Drawing, providing them with the skill to observe and record the human body as a three-dimensional form.

This is a fundamental experience in every young artist's training, and it is a wonderful opportunity to explore this skill at Queen Margaret's alongside A Level projects. For those considering any creative pathway in the future, the Life Drawing is a highly encouraged and favoured component of the portfolio.

An advocacy club for students and staff, where we promote inclusion and diversity.

We follow a two-week rotation: on Week Q we have a formal discussion topic and discuss its relevance to us within QM and the wider community. On week M we offer an informal meeting, a safe space for students to come and talk and share experiences and thought processes.

The overall aim of the club is to promote a more inclusive community at Queen Margarets.

Are you competitive, interested in enterprise and keen to further improve your skills in teamwork, communication, negotiation and financial management? If so, then the Queen Margaret's Prince’s Trust Challenge (QMPT) is for you.

Available to all girls in LVI, the challenge is to raise at least £2000 over a ten-week project. The process is competitive, with girls applying for posts and then selections made for various roles within the team. This business model provides an ideal vehicle to ‘learn by doing’.

The QMPT group meets each week during the autumn and spring terms, and much activity occurs outside of the meeting period as the team strives to do as well as it possibly can.

The Queen’s Society is made up of the School’s Academic Scholars. The group meets four times each term for a variety of different activities. Sometimes members will give a presentation to the rest of the Society on a subject which interests them; sometimes they discuss an issue or an idea which has recently been in the news; sometimes they simply play a mind-stretching game.

Members of the Queen’s Society also take a lead in the fortnightly Scholars’ Talks. For these, girls research a topic of their choice, and deliver an online presentation for the rest of the School community to watch. There is then an opportunity for questions and answers, and for wider debate and discussion. The talks are recorded, and saved on the VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) so that they can be watched again. Talks this year have included an investigation of the role of women in the French resistance, a presentation on the Greek poet Sappho, and a discussion of What is Music? Although they are called Scholars’ Talks, these talks are very much for the whole School, and you do not have to be a Scholar to give one.

The Queen’s Society also hosts guest speakers as part of an ongoing program of lectures. Once again, everyone is welcome to attend, and it is always a pleasure to see girls attending for the sheer love of learning.

As part of the Environmental Council, students from all year groups meet every month to identify ways in which we can live a greener life here at QM.

Last year's Clothes Swap events were a huge success and helped highlight the impact of fast fashion. Elsewhere, every student is now encouraged to carry a reusable water bottle to cut down our plastic waste on campus.

Plans for this year include applying to become an Eco School, which aims to improve our awareness of waste within school and damage to marine life.

National Council of Young Women is the junior section of the National Council of Women GB - an organisation that highlights women's issues, researches how to improve them, and lobbies government to implement positive change.

Conferences and seminars are attended with the opportunity to speak on issues that focus on young women. Connect - Challenge- Change.

Held weekly with the Chaplain, leading up to a service of Baptism and Confirmation within a celebration of Holy Communion.

When the Candidates were baptised, vows were made on their behalf the the parents and godparents. At their confirmation, these vows are taken again by the girls themselves.

The International Council is made up of student representatives from each year group and from different countries, the International Prefect, a Deputy Head Girl and members of staff. The main purpose is to unite all international and British girls at QM. The Council aids integration and promotes cultural diversity and the interests and welfare of both international and British girls.

Through multicultural events and specific academic and enrichment projects, the International Council encourages cross-cultural awareness and interaction. It also provides a means of consulting and engaging with girls and advocates for their interests and needs.

Led by the Charity Prefect, the council organises charity fundraising events and activities across the School.

Led by the Head Girl, the Council meets every half term to discuss academic, pastoral and enrichment issues and put together ideas for the future of the School.