Cloisters Winter 2017 issue 20

WINTER 2017 ISSUE 20

Catherine Powell

Joins us for the Junior Medley Lecture

MERRY

Christmas

Meet the team Front Cover Image

We were delighted to welcome back Catherine Powell (Young DH 1986) on Monday 4 December 2017 for the Junior Medley Lecture in the Performing Arts Centre. Catherine has spent over a decade in a variety of senior leadership roles throughout the world for Disney, including in Australia and Europe. Catherine gave a captivating talk to our Lower School girls, parents and alumnae, on her very personal experience of the magic of Disney and her journey to the fairy-tale castle in Paris. Our sincere thanks to Catherine for bringing a sprinkle of Disney magic to Downe House.

A full story of Catherine’s talk will be featured in the Lent Term edition of Cloisters.

Meet the team in the Foundation Office

Sallie Taylor Director of External Relations The newest member of the team, Sallie Taylor, joined the Foundation Office in October as Director of External Relations. This new role encompasses Communications and Marketing as well as Admissions, and will see Sallie working with pupils, alumnae, staff and parents across the whole School community.

Sallie and her family have moved back to the UK, after 12 very happy years living in Holland, where she worked at The British School in The Netherlands. Despite being new to the role, Sallie already has an affinity with Downe House as two of her nieces were at the School in the late 80’s and early 90’s – Liney Cumberlege (Abbott DH 1990) and Lizzie Berens (Abbott DH 1996).

As Sallie says: “These are exciting times at Downe House – with the Centre for Learning growing daily, the introduction of a new Digital Learning strategy and big plans for our School website and digital media channels, I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in!

Mrs Michelle Scott Assistant Headmistress (Foundation)

Mrs Alexandra Barlow DH LINKS, Reunions, Alumnae database

Magazine team: Editor-in-chief Content Designer

Michelle Scott Alexandra Barlow Satvinder Orton

Update your details online

Lady Louise Peto DHSA, Events, Reunions

Mrs Alison Ilott Events & Fundraising

Have you recently moved, changed your email address or phone number?

You can simply update your details online: http://www.downehouse.net/foundation/ update_details_form.asp Email us at:

foundation@downehouse.net

CONTENTS

25 YEAR REUNION 4

MEDLEY LECTURE 19

10 YEAR REUNION 6

DH LINKS 20

ALUMNAE NETBALL 11

WEDDINGS 24

INSPIRATIONAL ALUMNAE 14

CHRISTMAS AT DOWNE HOUSE 30

Lower School captivated by the magic of Disney thanks to alumna Catherine Powell

Reunion-

25 YEAR REUNION - CLASS OF 1992 The Lansdowne Club, London Wednesday 11 October 2017 4

25 YEAR REUNION - CLASS OF 1992 The Lansdowne Club, London Wednesday 11 October 2017

Year - Class of 1992 5

Reunion-

10 YEAR REUNION - CLASS OF 2007 The Atlas, London, Thursday 2 November 2017 6

10 YEAR REUNION - CLASS OF 2007 The Atlas, London, Thursday 2 November 2017

Year - Class of 2007 7

Aisholt

Bollywood Ball

Raises over ÂŁ13,000 for charity

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On Saturday 11 November 2017, Aisholt House hosted a charity ball for their House charity, Reality Gives, which aims to provide young people from underprivileged communities in India with high quality education and experiences to help them maximize their potential. The evening was a huge success and raised a stupendous £13,000 thanks to the hard work of the staff and girls and outstanding generosity of the parents who attended. A group of Aisholt girls, led by their Housemistress, Mrs Boswell, have been planning the event for weeks, attending to every aspect of the event from planning the menu to organising the raffle and auction prizes.

“The Ball started with a drinks reception and the Main Dining Room had been transformed with fairy lights and Bollywoodinspired decorations. Everyone was wearing very glamorous outfits and many had dressed up in Indianinspired dress! Black Iris Images, a photography company, set up a lighting studio so that guests could have their pictures taken by a professional photographer. Once everyone was seated for dinner, there were a few introductory speeches and then a fabulous assortment of Indian starters including samosas and koftas was brought out. For the main, tandoori

chicken was served with pilau rice and a delicious sauce. After the main course was served, a representative from Reality Gives gave a speech and showed us some heart-warming videos illustrating the Charity’s work in the slums where they support local schools and work to empower young people. We were very interested to learn that Reality Gives has also chosen to make all their projects sustainable – for instance, they recruit teachers from their local community instead of using volunteers from abroad.

The charity ball was a huge success raising approximately £13,000!

Aisholt Housemistress, Mrs Jessica Boswell comments:

After the speech, a very tasty mango sorbet was served for dessert and then the Raffle winners were announced. Girls had been selling tickets earlier in the evening and so it was a much-anticipated moment. I myself won two raffle prizes! After the raffle, it was time for the BIG prizes to be fought over in the auction. Aisholt’s very generous parents had donated some amazing gifts such as a one week stay in a luxury villa in the Cayman Islands, a week’s holiday in Chateau Les Arcis, a Christian Louboutin clutch bag, a marketing internship for a yacht company and many other spectacular prizes.

Written by: Mathilda Singer (Upper Fourth)

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“We would like to thank all of the parents who attended the Bollywood Ball, and an even larger “Thankyou!” to everyone who donated to such an amazing cause.

I hope everyone realises what a positive impact their donations will have on this community in India that Aisholt has been supporting for such a long time now.”

A Triumph

for Ariel Mo

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Congratulations to Upper Fifth pupil, Ariel Mo whose artwork, ‘Miranda’ was awarded second place in the competition organised by the Ardington School of Crafts near Oxford. The theme of the competition was ‘Positivity’ and Ariel chose to paint her friend, Miranda in acrylic on watercolour paper. Ariel said, “I chose Miranda to pose for this painting because she is very energetic and her positive personality always cheers me up. I have included many warm and bright colours to represent Miranda’s positivity and used some energetic brush strokes, especially in the background.”

In total, four Downe House girls were in the list of 20 finalists selected by the Competition judges and our congratulations go to Ariel, Amelia, Isabelle and Michelle for their fantastic efforts and achievement.

2 1 Ariel Mo (Upper Fifth) 2 Michelle Sung (Upper Fifth) 3 Amelia Smith (Lower Sixth) 4 Isabelle Smith (DH 2017)

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4

Alumnae v 1st Team Netball Tournament Saturday 16 September at Downe House We were thrilled to welcome back the following girls to Downe House for an afternoon of fun, fast paced and excellent quality netball on the courts at Downe House earlier this term.

Alita Stephenson (Bovill DH 2006) Poppy Hoskins (DH 2006) Chia Brewin (DH 2009) Jen Mae Low (DH 2009) Caroline Gastaldi (DH 2009) Downe House alumnae pictured with Miss Vickery and Mrs Riddle

Cordy Goes from Coast to Coast Our congratulations go to Mrs Tara Reeve (Willis Housemistress) and her daughter Cordy Reeve (Lower Fourth) who cycled from coast to coast across the United Kingdom this summer. Cordy covered over 148 miles in total, an amazing feat of endurance at just 12 years old!

Their cycle journey took them from Workington to Sunderland over the course of four days.

Cordy (left) pictured with her family on the beach in Sunderland

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Celebrating 20 years of Headship for Emma McKendrick With two decades at the helm, Mrs McKendrick has provided the unstinting leadership and insight required to keep Downe House at the very top of its field in girls’ boarding.

Governors, long serving staff and former staff members joined together on Thursday 28 September to celebrate this very special occasion.

The Chairman of Governors, Mr Matthew Kirk, presented Mrs McKendrick with a wonderful oil painting by alumna Harriet Pattinson (DH 2009).

Mrs Paula Machin (Head of Swimming & PE Teacher) 30 years Mrs Lydia Rayne (Director of Sport ) 20 years Mrs Michelle Scott (Assistant Headmistress, Foundation) 20 years Mr Mark Hill (Academic Deputy) 20 years

Four current members of staff celebrated their long service to Downe House earlier this term:

Informal Reunions

#DHOGS

We love it when Downe House girls get together for informal reunions. Share your photos with us via foundation@downehouse.net Thank you to our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram friends! #DHOGS

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Helena Bourdillon (DH 1992)

“Now that is something worth diving for�

We all have our own motivations for pushing our personal limits, diving into inner space. For Helena Bourdillon, the motivation is life itself.

Like the rest of us, Helena enjoys the challenges of depth diving. Facing fears, battling the internal, these are all incentives to freedive. For Helena the reasons run much deeper, to cope with 17 years of depression.

Helena first noticed depression creeping into her life around 11 or 12 when she started boarding school.

Estranged from her family, who are all very close, she was limited to writing letters for the entire first year of school. Night after night, she cried herself to sleep until she realised that the blinds had been closed and just were not lifting. The proverbial black dog had come to live, uninvited, with Helena. She spent the next years of her life in and out of bouts of depression. The episodes lasting progressively longer and coming more frequently. The darkness was so persistent that it eventually

culminated in a near suicidal attempt.

She had come undone, standing on the edge.

The experience thankfully served as a wakeup call forcing Helena to peek her head just far enough outside of her shell to get help. She leaned on her family, friends and professionals to help bring her back from the edge.

Her community lovingly embraced her and the healing process began.

When talking to Helena about all of this she gushed about her family support and the love she got from her family and the love they all still have for each other. In no way does she minimize the impact they have had on her, even when it comes to recovery. The take home message, we cannot do it alone.

For four years now, Helena has been freediving. First introduced to the silent world (which was medicine for her noisy head) in Thailand she decided the sport could use her undivided attention. She now spends

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much of her time in Egypt, coached

by Gus Kreivenas. In just four years, Helena has already reached 71m of depth. Not only this but she has found a coping mechanism for her disease. A coping mechanism and a platform. Her primary motivations are to utilise the sport and the personality she cultivates to raise awareness of mental health issues. To make it ok to talk about it, aloud, and help others shed the shame of their darkness in search of light. Her quest to one day become the deepest freediver in the UK will only be usurped by her quest to slowly learn to trust herself again. Plunging down to depth and returning successfully, cultivates in trust in oneself. Trust in oneself means she will also learn to trust others. Something depression made impossible.

For someone who has tasted triumph as a wedding/evening dress designer, running her own business, a survivor and now an international freediver, Helena is no stranger to motivation,

As a child I dreamed of going to the Olympics and doing Springboard Diving for Team GB.

even if it does not come easily.

Spending so much time with herself inwardly has now encouraged her to look outward, encouraging other sufferers to come forward, talk about it and ask for help. Her future plans include talking in public for the first time about her freediving path and all of the roadblocks along the way.

One day at a time, she will spread the message of hope to others, chipping away at their black clouds and maybe even save a life. Now that is something worth diving for.

Written by: Ashley Futral Chapman 3 Time World Record Holder 14 Time National Record Holder Our thanks go to Ashley Futral Chapman for allowing us to include this article.

We are incredibly proud to announce that Helena Bourdillon (DH 1992) was placed 5th in the AIDA Individual Freediving Depth World Championships 2017 which took place in Roatan from 22 August to 3 September.

Helena comments: “As a child I dreamed of going to the Olympics and doing Springboard Diving for Team GB. Now I’m a smidge more grown up and I’ve just competed in my second AIDA Individual Freediving World Championships as a member of Team GB. The night before a competition dive I am pretty much terrified.

I have to go through the terror barrier which involves wanting to be sick, tears, wondering why on earth I’m putting myself through this and general all out panic, before I can reach any sort of calm.

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Once I’ve reached this numb place, I still have flashes of panic but I am able to calm myself down so I can actually prepare for my dive.

Despite all of this, I keep coming back and competing again and again in the hope that it will become easier but also because I completely love what I do!”

We talk to Elinor Pitt (DH 2005) about her new startup business ‘Stitched’ which she established after a career in engineering and interior design.

3D customisation is the future of shopping. We have a vision that goods are designed globally and created locally.

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What career did you envisage for yourself when you were in the Sixth Form at Downe House?

I studied Design & Technology, Physics, Maths and Economics at AS/A-Level and always wanted to do something that married the creative industry with maths/ physics but there wasn’t really a degree for that. At the time, Electronic Engineering (which ended up being my degree) seemed like a good option as it was a mix between Physics and Maths with a practical application and a nod to the digital age, which I have always been fascinated by.

When did you start the business?

I started to develop Stitched.co.uk in September 2016. It was a crossroads for me in terms of next steps in my career. I was either going to continue to progress in the interior design company I was working at (I had been there and worked my way up over 5 years) or this was a moment for me to forge a new path and merge the tech world with the design world.

In the end it was very easy for me to make the final leap.

What is your previous background?

My background was originally in the traditionally male dominated environment of electronic engineering and I then worked in the reverse demographic of the very female-led interior design

many disciplines.

world and it was quite natural to decide to connect these two paths that formed part of my journey.

I studied Electronic Engineering at Bristol University and then went on to work in technology at Investment Banks, Lehman Brothers and Nomura. I learnt a lot over these years but for me I was still craving something creative so I decided to retrain as an Interior Designer. I feel very fortunate to have trained in 2 very different disciplines as without this I think setting up an Augmented Reality Home Décor tech Startup might not have happened.

Describe a typical day for you?

We are a small team (including a friend from Downe House, Cordelia Walsh (DH 2004), who studied at Bristol with me) and a typical day for us is currently in the London Business School Incubator in Baker Street. As we are such a new company our days are never the same - we run around London meeting exciting minds across

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What has been the biggest challenge with your business?

It is ALL really challenging which is what makes it so exciting - it depends on the type things we are working on. Probably some of the technological pieces that we do are hard to understand - we are combining 3D customisation, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality technologies.

Where do you hope to be in five years’ time?

At the moment home decor products are often designed, mass produced, photographed and then stored in warehouses but this is incredibly wasteful from an environmental perspective. This is why 3D customisation is the future of shopping, things are customised unique to each customer before anything is actually made. We believe it’s time for a new generation of sustainable, well made products. We have a vision where things are designed globally and made locally.

Website: www.stitched.co.uk General inquiries: info@stitched.co.uk Instagram: www.instagram.com/ madebystitched

Alumnae Success Stories

TECHWOMEN50 Awards We were delighted to learn that Alexandra Wyatt (DH 2009) has been shortlisted for the TechWomen50 Awards.

Upon leaving Downe House, Alexandra has achieved both a BSc Politics and Chinese at SOAS, University of London and an MSc in Economics and Strategy for Business from Imperial College London.

Chia makes the FinTech Powerlist 2017 Catriona ‘Chia’ Brewin (DH 2009) has been placed on the Women in FinTech Powerlist 2017. Every year Innovate Finance opens the Women in FinTech Powerlist to celebrate the women shaping the FinTech sector.

The community is asked to nominate friends, colleagues, clients, partners and even highlight their own achievements in order to shine a light on the progress being made – and the tasks yet to be tackled.

Chia comments: “I am honoured to be recognised by Innovate Finance - UK Fintech’s global representing body, alongside these revolutionary women. There are HUGE opportunities for women in FinTech.”

SENIOR

MEDLEY LECTURE An Evening with

Dominic Sandbrook

The Great British Dream Factory Join us for an amusing and provocative lecture that explores Britain’s extraordinary contributions to popular culture in the last halfcentury.

Dominic is a British historian, author, columnist and TV presenter and is best known for his books on Britain since the 1950s.

Thursday 1 March 7.30pm in the Performing Arts Centre Enquiries: foundation@downehouse.net 18

MEDLEY LECTURE with Simon Weston CBE The single aim of every Medley Lecture is to inspire the audience and in telling his life story, Simon Weston CBE was inspirational, thought provoking and full of pragmatic but uplifting advice for everyone in the audience of over 500 girls, parents, alumnae, staff and guests. As one of Britain’s most prominent war veterans, author and patron of several charities, former Welsh Guard, Simon told how his life had changed forever on 8 June 1982 during the Falklands War when the British landing ship, the RFA Sir Galahad, was bombed by Argentine Skyhawk fighters.

He became the most severely injured casualty to survive the war with 46 percent burns and spent the best part of five years in hospital and as of 2017, he has undertaken 96 major surgical procedures.

and he was particularly encouraging to all the young people in the room that they must believe in themselves and always believe that, in his words, “no-one is better than you, they may just be better at some things than you”.

Simon Weston is a true example of a hero – a man who has overcome the most painful of experiences and gone on to raise millions of pounds to help those less fortunate than himself and to show by example that anyone can achieve anything with enough determination and self-belief. One of our alumnae who attended the Medley Lecture said, “I thought the lecture by Simon Weston was incredibly inspiring and an extremely poignant message for the children of today.”

With incredible honesty and a talent for understatement, Simon spoke of the challenges of his long and courageous recovery and how his instinct for survival and determination to make a success of his life carried him through. His message for everyone was that no matter what happens to you, it is what you do next that matters and that asking for help is always the sensible thing to do.

A retiring collection raised £583 for The Falklands Veterans Foundation (FVF) of which Simon is Patron and which provides assistance for Falklands Veterans and their families. Our thanks go to Simon for sharing his life story with us.

Written by: Mrs Hazel Ormrod (Foundation & Marketing Assistant)

The theme of ‘Walking Tall’ shone through his lecture

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GirlsTake the Lead Finance Cluster Group

Inspirational alumnae at One Canada Square On Wednesday 22 November the second finance DH LINKS networking event took place in Canary Wharf. Very kindly hosted by BNY Mellon at their offices at One Canada Square. We were thrilled to welcome 30 alumnae and current parents to the event, all of whom work in the financial services sector. Three members of our alumnae gave inspirational talks on their career paths since leaving Downe House. Our thanks go to Camilla Hughes (Brooks DH 1987 & current parent), Keryn Brock (Johnson DH 2002) and Jemima Atkins (DH 2012).

A number of Sixth Form girls joined us at this event, giving them a wonderful insight into the world of finance. Many of them have gained excellent contacts and hope to apply for graduate and internship programmes in the next year or so.

Our sincere thanks go to Mr Michael Cole-Fontayn for his ongoing support of DH LINKS and to Mike Woods (Associate at BNY Mellon) for opening the event and for hosting us so generously.

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I very much enjoyed the event and I was honoured to be invited to speak Jemima Atkins (DH 2012)

Camila Hughes, Keryn Brock and Jemima Atkins

An unforgettable

experience at WRG

DH LINKS was delighted to be invited to the London offices of WRG, a live communications agency that shapes memorable experiences for some of the world’s most ambitious people and organisations. Their slogan, ‘Create Unforgettable’ could well be applied to the evening as the twenty five Sixth Form girls were totally engaged and fascinated by what they learned about the processes that WRG use to create and deliver unforgettable content and experiences at live events and exhibitions as well as producing video and digital content and engaging employees.

The evening opened with an overview from Andrew Gilkerson, the Client & Procurement Director who welcomed the girls and outlined the agency’s activities. The girls heard from a number of WRG employees about the logistics of making an event happen, from managing the content, building the stage and creating 3D environments to engage audiences. On the digital side, Client Director, Kath Goodson talked through how WRG engage audiences digitally and how to ‘Create Unforgettable’ messages. It was a really fantastic evening and an opportunity for the girls to gain an insight into the world of ‘live communications’. Our sincere thanks to Mr David Sharrock (current parent), COO of WRG, for hosting us so well and for making this event happen.

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From the Archives

Leiths LEITHS THEN AND NOW

The Leiths course began at Downe House just over 20 years ago and has continued to develop as a hugely beneficially area of enrichment for many girls.

Mrs Kate Petter joined Downe House in September 1992 as a part-time teacher of Cookery & Needlework.

When the Design Technology Department was created; Food, Textiles, Resistant Materials and Graphics were incorporated into a single over-arching department and Mrs Petter was appointed member of staff in charge of Food and promptly designed the new Food room. Mrs Petter instigated and set up the Leiths Cookery Course for interested Sixth Formers. From day one this proved to be an extremely popular course.

In March 2007 Mary Berry visited Downe House and joined one of the Upper Sixth Leiths lessons where girls prepared a selection of Mary Berry cakes and biscuits.

She chatted to the girls who had just completed their five term Leiths course.

Pictured in the photograph with Mary Berry are (left to right) Alix Culbertson (DH 2007), Amber GrahamWatson (DH 2007), Samantha Chiene (DH 2007), Georgina Page (DH 2007) & Genevieve Gotla (DH 2007).

Currently the Leiths course is offered to Lower Sixth girls and is completed over five terms. The course is designed to teach all skills needed to be confident, capable and efficient cooks. The qualification can be used to obtain jobs, or to allow girls to take a more

2007

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thrrough the Years 2008

advanced cookery certificate when leaving school.

Girls with the basic certificate can join ‘Leiths List’, which is their own employment agency for students seeking work. Girls have a triple practical lesson each week and they are expected to produce written time plans before each session. There are written tests, as well as continuous assessment of all practical work.

Memories from Downe House alumnae and former staff

2009

I’d always had a real interest in food, but I was really keen to develop my cooking skills further and gain experience. Leith’s was great because it covered all the fundamental cooking skills and gave me a real confidence and enthusiasm for cooking. It also gave me a good repertoire of go-to dishes which really came in handy at University. I worked during the university holidays as a private cook, producing meal plans and cooking for large families and helping out at private events.

Kitty Gilbert (DH 2010)

2015

Downe House started to run a Leiths Basic Certificate in Food and Wine around 20 years ago.

I was running the Food Technology Courses at the time and I was looking for a nationally recognised practical cookery course that we could offer in the Sixth Form. The course proved very popular and was fully subscribed from the first term.

I am always delighted to hear news of alumnae who have used their Leiths qualification to get work in gap years and during university holidays. Others have made their careers in the food and hospitality industry all over the world.

2017

I think that most of the Leiths students at Downe House would agree that the course was hard work, but great fun. It has equipped them with skills for life, whatever their ultimate career path.

Kate Petter (former staff)

It has equipped them with skills for life, whatever their ultimate career path.

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Share your happy news with us. E: foundation@downehouse.net Thank you to our Facebook friends!

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DHSA News New Branding

Reunion at Davy’s Wine Bar, Holborn

EH WN OUS

ON

DHSA

IO

AT I

SE N

In October 2017, a Reunion Drinks Party was held for year groups 1995 to 2006. The evening was great fun and a wonderful opportunity for Old Seniors to meet up with their contemporaries and to forge new connections with the DHSA and the School.

E

D

O We are delighted and proud to launch our new logo. Having worked closely with the Marketing and Communications RS I ’ A SS O C team, the new logo reflects and complements the look and feel of Downe House’s new brand identity. We would like to thank Michelle Scott and Kate Raines for their creative guidance and Sue Lister and Satvinder Orton for their outstanding design.

Recent Grant Awards Araminta Naylor (DH 2012) Masters in Social and Cultural Psychology

DHSA Grant Criteria and Conditions Every girl who leaves Downe House and is a member of the DHSA is entitled to receive one grant award in a lifetime; these will be awarded as long as they adhere to the following criteria: • Investment must be in an individual - not a business, charity or private enterprise • Can be re-training and further education • Cannot be a project purely for pleasure • Minimum grant will be £250 • Amount awarded will be judged on an individual basis The conditions of a grant are: • An acknowledgment of receipt of cheque and a report must be sent within 3 weeks of completion • Submissions will be discussed at the next DHSA meeting following receipt of application • All applications are decided on a case by case basis and given towards an individual’s professional/education development • Masters degrees expectation not more than £500

Registrars’ Lunch Party On Saturday 3 March 2018, we are hosting a lunch at Downe House for all DHSA Registrars. We wish to show our gratitude for their continued support and their hardwork during the publication process of the DHSA Magazine. We will be taking the opportunity to discuss how the DHSA can move forward and improve, especially with communication to its Registrars and members. If any DHSA Registrar has not received an invitation, please email dhsa@downehouse.net

Notice of Annual General Meeting 2018 The AGM for the DHSA will be held on Tuesday 6 February 2018 at 30 Stevenage Road, London SW6 6ET at 8.00pm by kind permission of Mrs Catherine Palmer (Jackson DH 1974). Any member wishing to attend should notify the DHSA Administrator by 1 February 2018 by email dhsa@downehouse.net

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Opening Michaelmas Term 2018 The Centre for Learning What’s inside: ► ► ► ► ► ► ►

250 seat state-of-the-art auditorium Café School shop Contemporary library Social learning areas Art, design and photography gallery spaces Collaborative study zones

Key facts: ► 2528 cubic metres of material was removed from the building site ► 98 piles were driven of an average depth of 17 metres ► 52,500 cubic metres of steel will form the structure of the building weighing 182 tonnes ► 1106 cubic metres of concrete will be poured ► 6120 metres of IT cable will be laid

Total build cost: £6.5 million Just under £4.5 million has been raised through generous donations from our parent community, alumnae, staff and friends of Downe House. The remaining build costs have been met by School funds granted by the Downe House Governors.

Obituaries

Dawn Smith (née Willis) DH 1946 21 November 1928 – 28 October 2017 Dawn was the daughter of Jasper Sherlock Willis, Olive Willis’ first cousin. She was sent to Downe House during the war and was very clever, often being top of the class, particularly in French. After leaving School, she worked for MI5 until she married Philip Geoffrey Smith in June 1950 and, as the custom was then, became a dedicated wife and mother of four children. Her daughters Carol (DH 1969) and Katie (DH 1971) are also Old Seniors. Dawn and Philip lived for nearly 30 years in the Dordogne in France until Philip’s death in 2013.

Dawn is survived by her four children, eight grandchildren and greatgrandson.

Written by: Mrs Carol Emanuel (née Smith) DH 1969

DEATH NOTIFICATIONS Mrs Joan Payne (née Hobhouse)

DH 1940

Mrs Verella Gibb (née Vaughan-Payne)

DH 1953

Mrs Elizabeth Somervail (née Godlee)

DH 1946

Mrs Dawn Smith (née Willis)

DH 1946

Mrs Leah Cohen (née Lachs)

DH 1953

Mrs Jane Cornelius (née Baker)

DH 1957

Mrs Jean Ashcroft (née Mellalieu)

DH 1939

Miss Elizabeth Fulton

DH 1944

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Calling the Class of 2013 It’s your 5 Year Reunion in London in 2018

Look out for a save the date email early in the New Year.

We look forward to seeing you all.

Gift Fair 2017 Raising funds for Save the Children UK The annual Gift Fair which took place on Friday 20 October, was a huge success and it was wonderful to see the Performing Arts Centre buzzing with parents, staff and friends of the Downe House community. We were treated to a variety of stalls, which offered everything from cheese to toys, designer jewellery, pyjamas, pottery, cashmere ponchos, hats, fudge & candles.

Together we raised over ÂŁ5,000 for Save the Children.

We are already looking forward to the Gift Fair in October 2018.

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Christmas Santa

Christmas

at Downe House

Baubles Santa Friendship

Noel 30

Red Nose

Tree Reindeer Secret Star

Carol

Santa Run Singing Christmas

Snow Lunch

Wreath Snowman Christmas

trips

Festive

Cheer 31

Pies

Jingle Bell Mince

Market

Decorations Christmas

Dates for the Diary 2018 THURSDAY 1 MARCH – MEDLEY LECTURE, DOMINIC STANDBROOK WEDNESDAY 21 FEBRUARY – DH LINKS PROPERTY EVENT, LONDON

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SATURDAY 3 MARCH – DHSA REGISTRARS’ LUNCH, DOWNE HOUSE

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WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH – DH LINKS FOOD, DRINK & EVENT MANAGEMENT EVENT, LONDON

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WEDNESDAY 2 MAY – DH LINKS EDUCATION EVENT, LONDON SATURDAY 30 JUNE & SUNDAY 1 JULY – FOUNDER’S WEEKEND .

E: foundation@downehouse.net T: 01635 204719 www.downehouse.net/foundation

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www.downehouse.net/foundation

Celebrating 110 years

Cold Ash, Thatcham, Berkshire RG18 9JJ T: 01635 204719 E: foundation@downehouse.net www.downehouse.net