Issue 8 | Winter 2018
Outstanding contribution to drama An interview with Patricia Hodge OBE (Class of 1964), BAFTA nominated and winner of the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘Money’
Alumnae in performance and production A glimpse at the careers and achievements of our alumnae working in performance and production
Bringing imagination to life Feature profile from Maria Djurkovic (Class of 1978) an Oscar and BAFTA nominated production designer
Transforming lives through the arts An interview with Josephine Buchan BEM (Class of 1973), a successful producer and director passionate about supporting young disadvantaged people through the arts
a note from... Welcome to the Winter 2018 edition of Profile, which throws a spotlight on the extraordinarily successful careers in production and performance of so many of our Alumnae. I suspect the hearts of some parents turn a somersault when they hear their daughters express a desire to pursue a life in these notoriously competitive and challenging professions but, as the wonderful contributions to this edition show, success is achievable where talent is matched by dedication and ambition, and a willingness to be flexible and to work hard. I am impressed, too, by the range of careers which St Helen’s students have carved out for themselves in this sector and have found the articles fascinating and inspiring to read. Drama and Music, technical support and creative artwork are all part of the curriculum and co-curricular provision at St Helen’s and enjoy tremendous support from pupils, students, staff and parents. The opening of the new School of Music in November has made a significant difference to all who enjoy performance through music, and I am looking forward to the truly stunning Seldon Recital Hall becoming the focus of many performance opportunities. We are awaiting planning permission to build a new classroom and D&T block which will enable us to create a second Drama studio in the June Leader building. This, combined with The Centre and the RBH, means that we will have a range of adaptable and bespoke arenas in which the girls can experiment and develop their creativity and technical skills. It is essential to the future of many industries that schools such as ours continue to place creativity at the heart of what we provide. You will be aware, I am sure, of the ways in which financial constraints and funding structures are squeezing creative subjects out of the education enjoyed by the majority of children in the UK. This is happening at the same time that research shows that the one area of employment which will not only survive the growth of AI but which will also complement it, is that which can be described as the Creative Arts. Personal and presentation skills, emotional intelligence and resilience are also vital to a successful career. That is why we continue to support and promote the arts and performance throughout the School. I hope that you will feel inspired and excited by what you read in the following pages and that you will want to come to one of our many school concerts or drama productions. With best wishes Dr Mary Short, Headmistress
dates for the diary Please contact the Development Office or visit www.sthelens.london/Events for more information.
Class of 2018 Certificate Collection Friday 4th January 2019, 2.00pm-4.00pm, Reception Area, St Helen’s School
Alumnae Ambassadors' Dinner: A Celebration of 120 Years Invite only – Tuesday 8th January 2019, 7.00pm-9.00pm Dining Room, St Helen’s School Alumnae Ambassadors are invited to this year’s annual dinner, at which alumnae who offer outstanding support to our School and its community are recognised and thanked for their contribution.
Futures Networking Breakfast Wednesday 23rd January 2019, 8.30am-10.30am, RBH, St Helen’s School Parents and alumnae are invited to join our Year 12 students to provide them with an opportunity to practise their all-important networking skills.
Futures Evening: Careers in Healthcare and Science Tuesday 29th January 2019, 6.45pm-8.45pm, St Helen’s School Parents and alumnae working in Healthcare and Science are invited to meet our students in Years 10-13 interested in a career in this field.
City Networking Event Thursday 14th March 2019, 6.30pm-8.30pm, Ernst & Young LLP, 1 More London Riverside, London SE1 2AF Alumnae, parents and friends of St Helen’s working in the City are invited for an evening of networking and catching up with old friends.
Old Girls’ Day 2019: A Celebration of 120 Years Saturday 11th May 2019, 11.30am-5.30pm, St Helen’s School Dr Mary Short, Headmistress, would like to invite all alumnae to join us as we celebrate 120 years of the School.
Afternoon Tea Tuesday 11th June 2019, 3.00pm-5.00pm, Prep School Hall, St Helen’s School Alumnae from the Class of 1972 and before are invited to join us for tours of the School and Afternoon Tea with old friends.
Fun Day Sunday 23rd June 2019, 11.00am-4.00pm, St Helen’s School
University Spot Lunch for Year 12 Monday 24th June 2019, St Helen’s School Alumnae currently at University are invited to join our Year 12 students for lunch.
Outstanding contribution to drama 4 Feature interview with Patricia Hodge OBE (Class of 1964), BAFTA nominated and winner of the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘Money’
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Alumnae in performance
Bringing imagination to life 8 Feature profile from Maria Djurkovic (Class of 1978) an Oscar and BAFTA nominated production designer
10 Alumnae writing and producing their own material
12 Alumnae in production and film PR Transforming lives through the arts 14 An interview with Josephine Buchan BEM (Class of 1973), a producer and director passionate about supporting young disadvantaged people through the arts
16 From our Drama Department 18
News
cover photo Cover image of Patricia Hodge OBE (Class of 1964) taken by photographer Alisa Connan. Since her West End debut in 1972, Patricia has gone on to receive two Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress; win the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘Money’; receive a Best Actress BAFTA Award nomination and an ACE nomination in the USA for her role in the TV film ‘Hotel du Lac’ (1986); and has had numerous roles in television, film and theatre. More recently, Patricia has starred in the BBC comedy ‘Miranda’, ‘Downtown Abbey’ and as Jeremy Thorpe’s mother in ‘A Very English Scandal’. Turn to page 4 to read more.
Feature interview
Outstanding contribution to drama Patricia Hodge (Class of 1964) made her West End debut in 1972 and went on to receive two Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical as well as winning the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ‘Money’. She has had numerous roles in television, film and theatre during her incredible career as an actress, including the TV film ‘Hotel du Lac’ (1986), for which she received a Best Actress BAFTA Award nomination and an ACE nomination in the USA. More recently Patricia has starred in the BBC comedy ‘Miranda’, ‘Downtown Abbey’ and as Jeremy Thorpe’s mother in ‘A Very English Scandal’. Patricia also holds three honorary doctorates and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for Services to Drama.
Q. How would you describe your career to date and what are you up to now? The business has become so ephemeral that it can only be called a career if you are able to continue working for as long as you wish to, and that has been my good fortune. Presently I am recording a radio comedy, I have a film about to open called ‘Surviving Christmas with the Relatives’ and I will be doing theatre next year. Q. How did you get your first big break as an actress? My career really began when I was given the lead ingénue role in a West End musical directed by Bob Fosse, only two years after leaving drama school. Later, less auspiciously but probably even more significantly, I did a play at the Bush Theatre written by Tina Brown (who went
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on to become Editor of The New Yorker). This play happened to be seen by John Mortimer, who was looking for someone to play a young barrister in a new TV series to be called ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’. It ran for ten years! Q. When did you realise that you wanted to make a career out of acting? When I was taken to a West End theatre for the first time to see a musical called ‘Where the Rainbow Ends’. I knew then that the only place I wanted to be was up on that stage. Q. Who would you say has inspired you most in life? Oh, many people along the way, and for different reasons. I am also eternally grateful for the chances I was given at school. Q. What is your standout acting moment? That would probably be for someone else to answer. As an outstanding memory in theatre I would probably say a musical about the Mitford Sisters that I did many years ago because it was a uniquely happy and bonding experience. We are all still a sisterhood. In film, it would be making Harold Pinter’s ‘Betrayal’. On television, ‘The Life and Loves of a She Devil’ was groundbreaking.
Q. What was the most difficult role you have played?
Q. What don’t you like about the industry?
Being Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Falklands Play’ was a tall order. You will be criticised if you imitate and criticised if you don’t. I think I got away with it. More recently the play ‘Copenhagen’ was very challenging.
It can be cruel. These days actors are often chosen more for their media profile than because they are right for the part. It’s artistically corruptive.
Q. What would be your dream role to play?
No. There have always been far more roles for men than for women. It gets much worse as you get older. In a recent report; the average age of the women cast opposite Tom Cruise is 16 years younger than him and for Johnny Depp it is 14 years younger.
There is no point in having a dream role as you may never be asked to play it and you may not be the best judge of your own abilities. Q. Do you still have to audition for parts?
Q. Do you feel that you have equal opportunities to men in the industry?
No. Only occasionally a screen test is needed if it’s for America.
Q. What attributes do you think you need to have to be successful as an actress?
Q. How did you feel when you realised you were being made an OBE in the 2017 New Year Honours list? What was the experience like?
Q. What are your future aspirations?
I put the letter in a drawer and told no-one. I suppose I was a bit embarrassed. I had come to terms with it by the time I got to the Palace and was so lucky that the Queen was giving the Awards that day, so it was memorable – especially for my family. Q. What qualities do you think you have that make you different from other actors? We are all individuals, and each bring unique characteristics to the table. Again, it would be better for someone else to observe. Q. What setbacks did you have along the way and how did it affect your career pursuits? It’s a rollercoaster life. The career path is more often determined by others, as your profile rises and falls. So, you have to keep faith and have contrasting pursuits and interests to retain your sanity.
That it must take precedence over everything else in your life, and to keep a sense of reality. Just to keep going. Q. How did your time at St Helen’s impact your career path? St Helen’s always had such a great view on the breadth of education, so school drama was given a far more important role than I’d experienced at my previous school. At St Helen’s our creativity was fully embraced and seen as a positive contribution to school life. Patricia Hodge OBE Class of 1964 Actress Teacher Training, Maria Grey College, Twickenham (Brunel University London) Acting, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). On graduation Patricia was awarded the Eveline Evans Award for Best Actress
Q. Do you have any career regrets? There is no point in having regrets. I have turned some things down that have been very successful, but I know why I said no at the time and I haven’t felt regret.
Interview Questions from Year 13 drama students: Maia Roston, Kirsty Bloom, Anika Sapra, Ria Singh and Maaha Panjwani
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Alumnae in performance Philippa Urquhart
Sarah Finch
Class of 1959
Class of 1973
Drama and Piano, Royal Academy of Music LRAM & RAM Diploma
Diploma in Theatre Manchester Poly School of Theatre
Freelance Actress I left St Helen’s in 1959 and went to the Royal Academy of Music for three years, taking a combined Acting and Teaching course. Three years later I went straight into Repertory Theatre. I spent several years in Rep, when Rep Theatre was still very much alive, and I realise now how fortunate I was to have this opportunity. Nowadays young actors are simply not able to gain this sort of experience or play so many parts. My first professional job was as the back legs of a horse in a pantomime called ‘Pineapple’. Several years later, working in Scotland, I played principal boy in four traditional pantos, this time showing my own legs, a definite improvement on ‘Pineapple’! I went on to join the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963, playing Miranda in ‘The Tempest’ amongst other parts, and the following year toured Eastern Europe, Russia and the USA with ‘King Lear’ and ‘The Comedy of Errors’. Later on, I joined Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s company in Scarborough, followed by numerous seasons in regional theatre throughout the country. In more recent years I toured with a Birmingham Rep production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ to Toronto, Canada. I was a member of The National Theatre for ‘The Forest’ (Ostrovsky), later appearing in two West End productions at The Haymarket Theatre. During the last 18 months, I have co-written and created, with my colleague Deborah Clair, ‘A Necessary Woman’, a play about suffragette Emily Wilding Davison which was recently published by Methuen. We have so far performed it in Parliament, at the Edinburgh and Bloomsbury Festivals, and in Emily’s home town of Morpeth. We’ve also taken our play to several schools and to the Royal Holloway, University of London. Aside from my theatre work I have appeared in films and television productions, including ‘Tenko’ in the 1980s and ‘Children of Men’, in which I played Michael Caine’s wife. All this while bringing up two wonderful children as a single parent.
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What I would say is that the acting profession is by no means a secure one, but I couldn’t imagine doing anything else and I have no intention of retiring!
Freelance Actor and Director; Teacher, Theatre Academy London and Havana National Drama School My passion for acting and theatre was nurtured at St Helen’s, for which I am very grateful! As a very young boarder, not fully aware of the rules of theatre, I once waved to my parents from behind a rock onstage – I can’t imagine why I thought only they would see! After school I was fortunate to get straight into drama school – in those days I even had a grant! Before leaving Drama School I had already landed work as a founder member of the Yorkbased Riding Lights Theatre Company. I only meant to stay six months but ended up staying two years. This was a wonderful apprenticeship, playing every kind of part imaginable, rehearsing innovative new work, whilst travelling up and down the country in an old van. I loved it! My last show with Riding Lights was a review for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Colour Radio. We received two awards, a Fringe First and a poster prize. We sold out with queues around the block! Moving to London, with an agent, I played a series of wonderful roles including ‘The Little Prince’, Eleonora in Strindberg’s ‘Easter’, and started working for both TV and film. This included the series ‘Campion’, ‘Pickwick Papers’; a little trip to LA and a job for Disney; a year with the Royal Shakespeare Company and work at Shakespeare’s Globe. While playing Jane Austen for both TV and in a dance/theatre piece, a one-woman Jane Austen show emerged: ‘Yours Ever, Jane: Pride, Prejudice, Manners and Marriage’. I then became a founder member of another company, The Lions Part. As well as creating traditional seasonal festivals (Twelfth Night and October Plenty – www.thelionspart.co.uk), one of the things I am proudest of is ‘Lilies on the Land’; a devised, verbatim piece of theatre from letters and interviews with WW2 land girls. It was so successful it toured five times, was published by Nick Hern and had a West End run! It is now frequently performed in amateur theatres. I fell into directing accidently. While in Cuba with an International Performing Arts group working on a musical, I was lent to the National Drama School where I was adopted as their Shakespeare teacher. So, I now get to go out to Cuba every two years to teach and direct a Shakespeare play. I also work on an international collaborative project between Morocco and England, Shore to Shore, where we create work together with Sufi musicians and a lot more!! As if that isn’t enough I have just started work on a show about the life of Etty Hillesum, based on her diaries. I have to say, my life is full, busy and fulfilling; and I will always be grateful for the good start St Helen’s gave me!
Caroline Ford Class of 2005 MA History of Art, St Andrews University Actress, Next seen in – TV Show – Carnival Row playing Sophie Longerbane (Amazon Prime 2019) When I was younger I dreamt of being an actress. I have always loved performing even though, and probably because, I was incredibly shy. A lot of actors were shy growing up, often feeling on the outside of things, not quite fully fitting in. I think that this quiet quality gives you the chance to watch the world and learn about the people around you, which is such a gift for an actress. This career is hugely rewarding; I have worked all over the world, from Morocco to Australia to Prague. Meeting fascinating and varying people, I’m constantly making new friends and I get to live off my passion. I feel grateful every day for my career choice, but it is a hard life and it has taken a long time to get to the place I am now, in both my career and in myself. I’ve often struggled through my career with confidence. I was a quiet girl with no acting training trying to fit into an industry full of big personalities shouting louder than me. At first, I listened to those voices and tried to mould myself into who I thought I should be to fit in. I went to LA and was told things by my management like ‘wear more make-up and tighter tops’. It’s hard to drown those negative voices out and to trust your own. A big change came for me when I was told that my problem was that I wasn’t ‘sexy enough’ when I walked into a room. I think it triggered a St Helen’s girl reflex to say, “that is not what I want to care about, I have so much more to offer”. As a result, I left that management and I decided to always walk into a room as myself.
Sarah Finch in the 1980s production of ‘Stardust’
My confidence has slowly grown and, since letting go of these voices I have often surprised myself by being offered roles I never thought I would – those I thought were too powerful for me to play, or too emotional, or too quirky. That sense of achievement you feel when you realise you are capable of more than you thought is unbeatable. My last two roles have been real examples of this. I shot a lead in a film with Monica Bellucci last year in which I played a hardened soldier. I cried after my audition as I thought I had done so badly, but then I got the part. Earlier this year
Caroline Ford in Netflix ‘Free Rein’
Caroline Ford playing Nimue in ‘Once Upon a Time’
I landed my favourite and most challenging role to date in a new show called ‘Carnival Row’. I play a highly intelligent, manipulative, powerful parliamentary leader. I had worked with the show’s writer years earlier on a cancelled project that was supposed to be my ‘big break’ but was never aired. Out of that heart-breaking experience came something far better. I always feel very free when I perform. I love getting lost in my imagination and fully exploring the psyche of another human being. I am so lucky to do what I love as a career. It’s an exciting and challenging time to be a woman in this industry with the #MeToo movement and, thankfully, a new emphasis on equality. Now it is more important than ever to trust your own voice and not be afraid to challenge yourself.
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Feature profile
Bringing imagination to life Oscar and BAFTA nominated alumna, Maria Djurkovic (Class of 1978), talks about her career as a Film Production Designer. My name is Maria Djurkovic and I am a Film Production Designer. This means that I am responsible for all the sets and locations that you see when you watch a film. I design the sets, I choose locations with the Director, I create the physical worlds for a film from the conceptual to the very practical, every single detail that you might see in any given space is ultimately my responsibility. I have a big team to help me achieve this pretty massive task. Art Directors, Set Decorators, Buyers, Graphic Designers, Construction Crews, Prop Crews, Vehicle Co-ordinators and Animal Wranglers to mention a few. With the help of the team that I put together for each project it is my responsibility to ensure that everything comes in on budget. When I look back at my past, it now seems obvious that I would end up doing what I do now. As a child I made period clothes and room sets for my Barbie dolls. In Junior School at St Helen’s I did line drawings of historical characters as colouring-ins for other girls in my class. In Senior School, I always got involved in House drama and art competitions and when I was in the Sixth Form, I won the cup for acting on a set that I designed. It was awarded to me by Patricia Hodge, who I believe is also featuring in this edition! Thank you, Patricia, you gave me a lot of confidence!
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Maria Djurkovic was nominated for a BAFTA and an Academy Award for her work on ‘The Imitation Game’, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley. Her other work includes ‘Mamma Mia’, ‘Billy Elliot’ and the widely acclaimed adaption of John le Carré’s ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’, which also gained her a BAFTA nomination in 2012. More recently, Maria’s set creations can be seen in ‘The Snowman’, ‘Red Sparrow’ and ‘The Little Drummer Girl’. Maria is one of the most talented production designers in the industry today and has been described as a ‘formidable talent whose iconic designs have influenced designers across all disciplines’.
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I went on to read Fine Art at Worcester College, Oxford, but spent my entire time designing plays, College productions and productions for the Edinburgh Fringe. The Oxford Playhouse was my playground. I then went on to do a post-graduate course in Theatre Design. After realising that I needed to earn some money, I got a job at the BBC when they still had an in-house design department. I learnt a huge amount at the BBC, but I didn’t enjoy being in such a large institution and I left after three years to try to make my way in the freelance industry. One job led to another and I have been designing films since 1994. I was always quite selective about the jobs I accepted and now I am in a very happy place where I only do work that feels right for me; that means a great script, a director whose work I admire and a budget big enough for me to be able to flex my muscles a little. When this alchemy works, I am really happy. I need to be inspired and motivated by the subject matter of each film on which I work. And I love the fact that, from one job to the next, I have no idea what new world I will have to be discovering and then creating, or where in the world it may be taking me. I always do a huge amount of research, so I am constantly discovering something new. Although I travel a great deal, which is taxing on home life, it does mean that life is never monotonous or boring.
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Every designer is different, as is every director. Wes Anderson will be looking for a very different designer to Ken Loach. My visual style is quite bold, and my theatrical roots are always quite close to the surface, so I appeal to a specific type of director. I have been asked to talk about my Oscar nomination for ‘The Imitation Game’, and what that was like. It was quite extraordinary. I was working in Boston in February, in the coldest recorded East Coast winter, when I received the nomination. Several weeks later I found myself by the pool of a hotel in LA for the nominee’s lunch. They take a group photo and the woman behind me, who put her hands on my shoulders, was Oprah! I returned to LA for the ceremony a couple of weeks later and I was the one getting my make-up and hair done and being picked up in a silly enormous limo. The red carpet was surreal, as was the ceremony and the parties afterwards. You are in the auditorium with just about every major film star and director you have ever seen. A week later I was on a plane again flying from Boston to London, this time for the BAFTAs. This may all sound quite glamorous but believe me there are penalties to pay. There is very little work-life balance. I have zero job security and it is the nature of the industry that the minute a film is financed I will be employed. I could be offered a film next week, anywhere in the world and I would have to be prepared to pack my suitcase, for up to 10 months, to take up the project. I am an unashamed monomaniac and
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I knew very early on that I wanted this career and that I didn’t want kids. My first husband left me because of this and I am very lucky to have found someone much more understanding and tolerant of my crazy life style. If any of you ever think of doing this job then please ask yourselves, are you a stress addict? Are you an alpha female? If the answers are yes, then it’s an incredible job! To be a Production Designer you need passion and persistence, as well as the obvious drawing/design skills. And you need to be prepared to put in crazy hours. I have just returned from a Levi’s commercial in Cape Town and I worked 17 days straight, 14 hours a day. You need to be comfortable taking on huge responsibility and leading a very large team. There are, however, many other jobs in the Art Department that might also be worth considering and that are still very creative. My Set Decorator of 20 films has successfully managed her career alongside bringing up three boys and she doesn’t do the jobs with me that are outside Europe, where she can’t manage the odd weekend at home. As women today, you have a huge advantage over my generation. When I started there were only a handful of women doing this job, now Art Direction courses are probably 90% female, a massive change in a short space of time. Maria Djurkovic Class of 1978 Freelance, Production Designer Fine Art, University of Oxford
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Alumnae writing and producing their own material Carys Watford (professional name) née Carys Williams Class of 2006 English Literature, King’s College London Filmmaker (Writer/Director/Producer) I am a Writer/Director/Producer passionate about making female-led comedic films packed with personality and heart. My short films have competed at Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying festivals worldwide. My latest short film, ‘Space Girls’, has screened at 30 festivals and just won the Grand Prize Children’s Live Action Short Film Award at the Oscarqualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival. This year I was also accepted onto BAFTA Crew’s Film & TV Programme – a mentorship and professional development initiative. I am currently writing and developing my debut feature film, ‘Fly In The Ointment’. Filmmaking is a precarious career and requires an abnormal amount of self-belief and ambition to keep striving for your goals. I graduated from King’s College London after studying English Literature back in 2011, and it is only in the past year that things have started to take off for me. And there’s still a long way to go! I think that you have to love what you do and, personally, I really couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. Developing the germ of an idea through the writing, pre-production, principal photography, post-production stages and finally months (sometimes years!) of sitting in a dark cinema surrounded by people you’ve never met before laughing or Carys Watford filming ‘Theatreland’
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emotionally engaging with what you’ve created – nothing beats that feeling for me! So many female stories and female perspectives have been left untold – which is frustrating and sad but also gives you the opportunity to explore characters and tell stories that have never been told before. Film is such an integral medium to entertain people, but also to change society and open people up to new ways of thinking through connecting emotionally with the stories on screen. St Helen’s was, I think, the perfect school for me. I started in Little Saints when I was five and progressed through Junior School to Senior School, leaving at 18 having never been educated anywhere else. So it is safe to say that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without all the teachers, opportunities and guidance which St Helen’s provided. I was not only encouraged to succeed academically but my creative pursuits were also fully supported throughout my time in school. The film industry is renowned for being a male-dominated world (though the recent #MeToo and TimesUp movements are hopefully changing the course of that direction). But that strangely never put me off – if anything I think it might have emboldened me to strive to succeed even more. That determination and dedication to dream big and work hard, to have an opinion and to be confident in expressing it, was certainly instilled in me from Little Saints to graduation 13 years later. If I could give advice to my 18 year old self? Be bold and believe in what you do. Filmmaking is a career that constantly challenges you. You have to create your own opportunities. Don’t let other people affect the stories that you tell, own your decisions and never give up.
Daniella Isaacs Class of 2008 Drama, University of Bristol Acting, Oxford School of Drama Actor and Writer I’m an actor and writer, although I still feel like I’m a student as I am learning every single day. After leaving St Helen’s I went to Bristol University to study Drama. Whilst there, I acted with the National Youth Theatre in various plays around London and, after graduating, I went to Oxford School of Drama where I studied acting for a year. I left, ready to tread the National Theatre boards, ready to have a guest appearance in a period drama, ready to get into an indie British film... swiftly to realise that the phone wasn’t ringing! For the first time, I didn’t have structure in my life and it was scary and mentally taxing. St Helen’s girls weren’t taught to wait around, we were taught to take initiative and propel ourselves forward. So that’s exactly what I did. I got a few friends together: an actor, a writer and a director. And together, the three of us started making work. At that time, I had a wonderful great aunt called Nancy who was 102 years old and had never settled down with anyone. When she was in her early twenties (like me) she fell in love with a guy who wasn’t Jewish. She was from a traditional Jewish family, so when he proposed, she was forced to say no due to fear about how her family would react. That story unlocked a great sadness in me and I wanted to make a show about it because it felt important and, unfortunately, timeless. So, we made the play ‘Mush and Me’ which posed the question: ‘Are interfaith relationships limiting or liberating?’ It was about a Muslim guy and a Jewish girl (played by me) trying to have a
Daniella Isaacs, ‘Hear me Raw’
Here are some of the things I’ve learnt over the past decade and I genuinely hope that I have another long list to give you in the decade that follows:
relationship in multicultural, modern-day London. The show enjoyed four sell-out runs: The Bush Theatre, Adelaide Fringe, JW3 and Underbelly, Edinburgh. It won the Ideas Tap Underbelly Award and The Holden Street Theatres Award. Those accolades are impressive, but please note, I had no idea how to make a play. All I had was drive, commitment and people whom I trusted on board. I really thought that was all I needed to do: make a successful piece of work and then the phone would ring and off I would go to Hollywood! Of course, this didn’t happen. And another few years passed while I tried to work out how to create structure out of a very confusing ‘artsy’ way of life. Yet again, I found it really difficult. So much so that I started to cling on to control in other parts of my life – mainly my weight. I started to develop an eating disorder which was something I had never envisaged. I write this, not as a sob story but to show that close to a decade after leaving school, obstacles and challenges are thrown at you and, just like a student, you must work out how best to deal with them and learn from them, so that they propel you forward. And that’s exactly what I did. I had started writing for a Wellness brand (to disguise my eating disorder) and whilst there, I recognised the untapped dramatic world of the Wellness industry. I was surrounded by people, including myself, who conveyed positivity and health but on the inside were spiralling into a deep abyss of sadness and anxiety. I had to write a
show about it. I named the show ‘Hear Me Raw’. It’s a solo show which tracks my journey through the very confusing world of Wellness. It poses the question ‘Is our obsession with wellness making us sick?’ The show enjoyed four sell-out runs: Soho Theatre, Arcola Theatre, Hackney Showroom and Underbelly, Edinburgh. It was nominated for The Mental Health Fringe Award and is now in development with Sky TV. It was featured in Vogue, Sky News, Channel 4 News, London Live, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 4 and VICE. I repeat again: I had no idea what I was doing. All I knew was that I had to make it and wouldn’t stop until I was happy. The show kept me busy until February 2018. Since then, I had the dream opportunity of playing Monica Lewinsky(!) in a play at The Bunker Theatre in London Bridge, and I am now working on three television projects alongside starting to plot a plan for a new play. And guess what? I’ve stopped caring about the phone ringing. Because what I’m realising is that satisfaction doesn’t come from other people offering up the goods. Satisfaction comes from making something from scratch. Satisfaction comes from creating work that starts as a hazy blur, which wakes you up in the middle of the night. Satisfaction comes from developing that messy brain dump until it starts to resonate with others. Satisfaction comes from letting the project grow into something tangible. Until you’re eventually at a place where you can share it with others.
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If someone tells you that you can’t do more than one job, challenge them. I guarantee it comes from a place of fear. I wrote, produced and acted in both of my shows and currently I am working for Facebook whilst writing new projects and auditioning. You can do more than one thing at a time. I promise!
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Whenever you feel hopeless, look out! Go to the cinema. Go to the theatre. Read a book. Go to an art gallery. It has the power to change your neural pathways – it’s magic.
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Share your feelings with your friends. If you choose a career in the arts, likelihood is you won’t feel confident or positive in your chosen path all the time. That’s okay; it’s normal and it means when things are going well you will feel on top of the world. So, build a support network for yourself so that you can reach out, complain or just hug your friends when you need them.
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It is not a sprint. I was in such a rush to get out into the ‘entertainment’ world. I now realise that sprinting to get there was not helpful. It takes time and that makes you a better, more passionate and wiser artist. Try and find the joy in the journey.
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Be genuinely kind to yourself. If you know you’re working your hardest then you are a star. So, treat yourself like a star.
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Last one…. NO-ONE knows what they are doing. So, if you have clear goals, trusted peers and a strong work ethic you are on track.
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Alumnae in production and film PR Katharine Hulmes (née Arthy) Class of 1997 Geography, Bristol University Producer, Antiques Roadshow, BBC If you fancy a career that takes you all over the world, from five-star resorts in the Maldives, the Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, to a tiny remote 100m-wide island in the Kimberley, Australia, then maybe a career in TV is for you. There is no doubt it can be a hugely exciting and adventurous career, but it’s very competitive, you have to fight for every job and put your all into it. However, if you are passionate about what you do, it’s easy enough to achieve. Recently though, having a family has put on hold foreign film trips and I’m currently a Producer on ‘The Antiques Roadshow’. Katharine Hulmes filming in Rangali, the Maldives
Along with scriptwriting and editing, the crux of my job is directing presenters on location in the UK or abroad. The shoots are often audacious in terms of their ambition (jumping out of helicopters,
Clare Miller Class of 1998 BA Hons Hispanic Studies, Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London Senior Producer, Shiver, ITV/Warner Brothers International Television Productions It all started with a theme tune. I was standing up in the lighting grid watching Michael Aspel present ‘This is Your Life’ and I just knew Television Production was the career me. I’ve worked on game, quiz, and chat shows; hidden camera and comedy shows. For the last two years I have worked at Shiver, the Factual Entertainment arm of ITV. I exclusively produce the live versions on ‘The Martin Lewis Money Show’ and the evolution of the format is something of which I am incredibly proud.
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As its Senior Producer my role is to determine a visual concept from the
swimming with manta rays or dolphins) but as the producer/director on location, you’re the boss, you’ve got to get that footage in the can, or you haven’t got a film. So you need a creative, cool, calm head. I was drawn to TV for its excitement. Earlier on in my career, I looked after Madonna, Elton John and Rod Stewart for a night when they were performing on ‘Children in Need’. I’ve partied with Nick Hewer in a nightclub in Kazakhstan (once we’d finished filming our leg of ‘Around the World in 80 Days’,) openly filmed smugglers operating in daylight in Oman with Simon Reeve, for his series ‘Indian Ocean’, and filmed with Monty Don in a township in South Africa. I have worked as BBC staff for over 15 years now, making TV in Natural History, Current Affairs, travelogue and documentaries, as well as for BBC brands like ‘Coast’ and ‘Countryfile’. However, the industry is predominantly freelance, so it takes a bit of planning to keep your career and home/family life ticking over. But it’s worth it, I never have a dull day and I work with some incredibly inspiring minds; the sense of teamwork and camaraderie is often hard to beat.
ground up, then work directly with Mr Lewis to write a programme which communicates his message but entertains our viewers. Creative and script meetings are lively. Our set and design team breathe life into my sketches, and the editorial team find the perfect contributors. It takes a total of 50 people to make one hour of television. One minute I can be talking about props, then jump into a meeting about the position of satellites to make sure our download gets priority over ‘Love Island’. We’re a mobile technical village and I need to make sure all the crews, technical and production are ready for when that clock ticks down the final seconds to live broadcast. It’s an adrenalin rush! When not at ITV, I have the privilege of working with Warner Brothers International Television Productions as a consultant producer. Earlier in the year I hosted a creative exchange in Stockholm for the television format of ‘First Dates’. The reality is, selling and distributing the formats is vital to finance programme makers like me. ‘First Dates’ is made in
21 territories world-wide and the format is a global phenomenon. In Spain it is transmitted 6 days a week! It’s a tough but rewarding industry and the freelance life is not easy. It has made me an unflappable person, the ‘go to girl’ for live shows. However, the all-round education that came from St Helen’s must be credited as well, along with my love of drama and production. I took a degree in Spanish and did my year abroad at a rolling news channel in Madrid. Everything I did was working towards my goal of making television. Research, creative thinking and confidence in my ideas all stem from the classroom and are still skills I apply today. Clare Miller filming The Martin Lewis Money Show
Susan Coombs (née Bruce) Sallyann Keizer receiving the BAFTA for Pre-School Live Action, 2017
Sallyann Keizer Class of 1988 Part 1: Economics; Part 2: Social & Political Science, Clare College, Cambridge University; Postgrad Diploma, Broadcast Journalism, Cardiff University Managing Director, Executive Producer, Sixth Sense Media Ltd; Happynesshub My mother always thought I’d be a teacher. So did Miss Leader, my wise and learned Head, who until the day she died continued to encourage me to follow my dreams and utilise my talents as best I could. So, all these years later, I find myself working in Children’s TV and digital content… I guess, as life would have it, a career with many parallels to teaching. I set up Sixth Sense Media in 2000 to inspire young people and my wonderfully talented team and I deliver content to broadcasters globally – currently BBC Children’s being one of our main collaborators. Our series are entertaining – that’s key to making number one, high rating shows or apps – which, in our industry, ostensibly is the definition of ‘success’. At Sixth Sense, however, our mission has always been to, in addition, empower children, get them thinking and curiously questioning, and ultimately to create social impact with our work. A close colleague once said to me, ‘TV is a lifestyle, not a job’ – and all these years later I think he’s right. Running a company and heading up a portfolio of projects is without doubt all-consuming and has its ongoing stresses. However, as I remind myself daily, we are lucky to do what we do… we meet the most wonderful people from all walks of life, who welcome us into their lives to share their stories. I am fortunate enough to travel, and enjoy speaking around the world about diversity and inclusion in Children’s content; and I hope, always, we make a positive impact on the lives of the next generation. In 2015, I founded the non-profit www.happynesshub.com, an online platform to empower others to live happier and emotionally healthier lives. It was time to pick up on my passions and I’d been interested in mental health from a young age. So now, excitingly, my latest project is merging my two worlds, Sixth Sense and the Happynesshub, through a new global series and associated app empowering 7 to 11 year olds to live emotionally resilient lives…with some talking dogs thrown into the mix. So mum and dad, Miss Leader, St Helen’s, Martyn Hurd (a Governor at school who gave me my first work experience at ITN many moons ago) – thank you for always encouraging me to follow my dreams. I remain eternally grateful for the education I received, which reminded me regularly that life is not just about academic results but so much more – from helping others, to being kind, to remembering how lucky we all are – the list goes on.
Class of 2007 BA (Hons) Geography, University of Plymouth; MSc Globalisation, University College London (UCL) Senior Publicist, PREMIER PR LTD You may think that working for the UK’s leading agency for film PR is worlds away from an undergraduate degree in Geography and a masters in Globalisation, but it’s actually not. At university we studied people and place, the growth of globalisation; we researched how political rhetoric is transferred into popular culture and how this has changed through time. As a film publicist I engage with globalisation daily, working on international publicity campaigns for a wide range of films for multiple international sales agencies and global distributors. The job of a publicist is wide-reaching. Generally it involves, among many other things, communicating with companies who distribute films to cinemas; analysing and researching themes to pitch ideas to members of the press around the world for interviews and features; and juggling multiple projects on the go. My year is split between two teams: International & Awards. As a member of the International team I am lucky enough to travel to the film festivals hosted in Berlin, Cannes, Venice and Toronto each year. On most titles we do what we call ‘full logistics’ which means we oversee every aspect of the project. This includes managing the overall budget, securing hotels, booking flights and transfers, securing interview spaces, groomers for talent, collating interview requests, scheduling broadcast and print press days, liaising with talent teams and, when on the ground, ensuring the film delegation are happy and know what they are doing when and where. As a member of the awards team we implement campaigns for the world’s best films competing for the BAFTAs and Oscars. I came out of university not knowing what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to work with people but couldn’t work out how to do this. Luckily, I had a friend who needed an intern at a PR agency and there I started. I joined Premier in 2012 as a freelancer working on the BFI London Film Festival account and I have stayed at the company ever since. I won’t sugar-coat the fact that the hours can be challenging. This isn’t the usual 9 to 5 job, and you spend a lot of time away from home, but no day is the same because each film is different and that is what keeps it interesting.
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Feature interview
Transforming lives through the arts Josephine Buchan (Class of 1973) is a successful producer and director who is passionate about supporting young disadvantaged people through the Arts. Josephine started her career as a television presenter and actress, presenting the 1980s well known BBC1 children’s programme ‘Take Two’. This started a long-running relationship with television where she worked on programmes such as ‘Pebble Mill at One’, ‘Contacts’, ‘The Full Treatment’ and ‘Wish You Were Here’. As her career progressed, Josephine transitioned into producing and started her own
Q. How would you describe your career to date and what are you up to now? My career has been somewhat varied since leaving university. I began by teaching English as a foreign language, followed by a stint as a secretary in advertising, and then took a job in a film company in Soho called Cannon Films, where I worked in the press and PR department. I was given the task of looking after an American actor, Elliott Gould, during his promotional interviews for a new movie. While accompanying him to the BBC I got talking to a producer who asked if I’d ever thought of being a television presenter. I said no I hadn’t, but he was adamant I should pursue the possibility. He introduced me to someone who gave me my first job in TV, presenting the children’s programme ‘Take Two’. I worked as a presenter for the next eight years (during which time I also did a number of acting jobs). I had some amazing experiences, including presenting a travel programme for Sky TV, which allowed me to travel extensively and see some extraordinary parts of the world. I then took a break to raise my family and, on returning to
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production company, Josephine Buchan Productions. She now produces and directs artistic events, musical theatre, theatre and concerts; and focuses on developing new work and the skills of young people through the Arts, many of whom are struggling in the education system. As a result of her work with schools and disadvantaged youth, Josephine received a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours and was made an Amabassador for Kent in recognition of her work for the young people of that county.
work, I was lucky enough to be asked to see if I could turn a 1963 Warner Bros film ‘Robin and the 7 Hoods’ into a stage musical. I managed to get the project to the point of production, with all the money raised, but the plug was pulled at the eleventh hour due to circumstances beyond my control. The whole experience was like going to producing school but without paying any fees (or writing any essays!). This launched my career as a producer and I have been in this profession ever since. I am so fortunate to have found a line of work which not only engages me completely but also utilises my somewhat eclectic set of skills. Q. What first interested you in a career in performance and production? I became interested in performance at school, taking part in a large number of school productions, and it was initially my ambition to pursue acting as a career. However, one of the key life lessons I’ve learned is to be realistic about your strengths and I realised that, although I loved acting, I wasn’t completely passionate about it and if the passion isn’t there, then it’s probably not for you. Producing on
the other hand fulfils me completely, I love every single aspect of it. Q. What do you love most about what you do? Auditions! There is nothing more wonderful for me than being on the dance audition panel for a show. The privilege of seeing 20+ professional dancers being put through their paces by a choreographer is utterly thrilling. I also love putting a creative team together, matching skills and temperaments and introducing new blood. Q. Considering all your accomplishments, which of them are you most proud? My ability to make things happen in the face of seeming impossibility. I was working recently to help raise the profile of a London-based charity, Mousetrap Theatre Projects, and I said I’d like a cinema chain to show a one-minute commercial for the charity. Everyone said this was impossible, cinemas are so time-strapped with films, infomercials, commercials and so on, that there isn’t a single minute to spare. Whenever I’m told I can’t do something, I’m like a thing possessed!
is small, and negativity unfortunately travels at the speed of light. The other thing I always do is to talk to everyone, wherever I am. I have made more useful connections travelling on trains and planes, chatting in restaurants, than I would have believed plausible! Q. Do you feel that you have equal opportunities to men in the industry? Absolutely. I have experienced nothing but support and encouragement from men in the industry, and anything I’ve set my sights on I have been able to achieve. Q. How did you feel when you realised you were being awarded a BEM in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours list? In the end the wonderful Picturehouse chain of cinemas agreed that, if I could get Eddie Redmayne (one of the charity’s patrons) to front a one-minute film, they would show it before every screening of ‘Fantastic Beasts’ in all of their cinemas. They were as good as their word. Q. Do you have any career regrets? I never have regrets career-wise. Sometimes you think you regret something happening/not happening, but then in hindsight it was always for the best. Q. How important is networking in your industry? What other skills do you think are key to success as a producer? The most important thing is always to be as good as your word. Never exaggerate your skills or your connections. If you’re not sure of something, say so, and there will always be someone happy to show you what to do. If you say you know someone, make sure you really do know them, and didn’t just meet them once at a party. Your consistency and ability to deliver is your calling card and what defines your reputation. The industry
disadvantaged young people I work with benefit from the communication skills they learn though drama and music. Increasing your emotional vocabulary is a key tool in being able to express yourself in any situation, which ultimately makes travelling the difficult path of life that little bit easier. Whether it’s a job interview or relationship, being able to communicate is key. The process also, without a doubt, raises confidence and self-esteem. Q. What are your future aspirations? I’m currently making a documentary about the power of the arts to change the lives of young people, and it would be wonderful if this did well and was seen by as wide an audience as possible. Otherwise my aspiration is simply to continue as I am, for as long as I’m able! Q. What advice would you give someone who wants to pursue a career as a producer?
It is very strange to receive an unsolicited letter from your Prime Minister saying the Queen would like to know if you’d be happy to receive a medal! The BEM is awarded for individuals deemed to have gone above and beyond in some area of their life and work. I received mine for the work I do engaging difficult teenagers back into education. The citation reads ‘For services to Young People through the Arts’.
I would say familiarise yourself with ALL areas of production because every bit is equally important, and then start by putting together a small, but achievable, project and see how you go. There’s very little money in producing unless you have a monster hit, it’s exhausting and all-consuming, but it’s also utterly wonderful!
It’s a huge honour, something of which I’m very proud, and I was so glad that I was able to take my three children to the ceremony. My only sadness was that neither of my parents were alive to celebrate with me, but I very much felt their presence, all my values come from them.
On reflection I think it impacted hugely because I was given the freedom to put on productions as well as be in them. So without knowing it, I learned all aspects of production from a young age. A school play is, in essence, just the same as a West End play. You need actors, musicians, a set, costumes, lights, sound, backstage crew, publicity, and someone needs to pay for it. If this is what you’d like to do, you’d REALLY like to do, then do it and you’ll have the time of your life!
Q. How do you think that the arts can help disaffected young people to change their lives for the better? Some of the very disadvantaged young people I’ve worked with have gone on to pursue careers in the business. One has just started training as a classical bass/baritone at Guildhall, and another has recently joined the cast of ‘The Lion King’, covering the part of Mufasa. At the very least, the vast majority of
Q. How did your time at St Helen’s impact your career path?
Josephine Buchan BEM Class of 1973 Director/Producer, Josephine Buchan Productions BA (Hons) Philosophy, University College London
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From our Drama Department
How many ways can you stage a play? As a department we like to experiment with ways in which we stage our productions. Last year, having taught ‘Woyzeck’ by George Buchner to many St Helen’s girls for years (it was an A Level Drama and Theatre Studies set text), we decided to make it our main school performance. The premise of the A Level examination question for ‘Woyzeck’ was ‘How would you direct this production and make it relevant to a modern-day audience?’
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Over the years we have enjoyed students’ different interpretations of ‘Woyzeck’ as they have challenged a modern-day audience in an attempt to relate to the issues in Woyzeck. Some of the suggestions have been: Woyzeck the Musical, Woyzeck in Dystopia, Underwater Woyzeck, Woyzeck set in the London Dungeons and Woyzeck set in Northern Ireland/Afghanistan/Iraq/former Yugoslavia (countries affected by war and conflict). In the end we decided to set our play in contemporary England, with Woyzeck’s madness being the result of post-traumatic stress from a tour in a war zone and his strange medication. Six months prior to opening night, I organised a team of teachers and technicians to get together and think creatively about our new project. We looked around at the space we were going to perform in, which was The Centre, and our minds started to wander… “What if…” was said, excited voices were raised, we got off our chairs and moved about, out of the building, exploring the site and going back on ourselves to create an indoor and outdoor journey. We wanted to use site-specific, promenade and immersive theatre that would tell a story about a man who was treated badly by… perhaps all of us. We decided that the promenade nature of our production was particularly appropriate for ‘Woyzeck’, as the play itself was found in a series of fragments. Immersive theatre has long been my favourite genre of theatre. As a member of the audience in Punchdrunk’s performance of ‘The Drowned Man’ in 2014, I remembered how excited I felt at discovering secret rooms and fragments of stories, and trying to make sense of them. I felt like I was part of a production without having to attend any rehearsals! Everything felt like it was happening around me for the very first time and that I was part of it. It was a very special way to see theatre. The hardest thing for me as a director was persuading the actors that what we were doing was actually going to work. Rehearsing a torture scene in the laboratory, that minutes earlier was used to teach GCSE Biology. Ceilidh dancing through the Mint Café and onto the pitch, while Lacrosse practice was going on, and creating a literal blood bath in the space where normally girls would listen to inspiring assemblies that encourage students to feel good about themselves, was a big task. I felt that it wasn’t until the opening night that the cast really got a sense that what they were part of was really very special. I am immensely proud of the creative ability of our St Helen’s students, past and present: they set the wheels in motion for making our production of ‘Woyzeck’ our most ambitious show yet. Although this year’s musical ‘9 to 5’ will be very traditional, we are keen to continue to be explorative in staging a play. Mrs Michelle Connell, Head of Drama
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Alumnae news Fay Thomas Congratulations to Fay Thomas née Potter (Class of 1952), for receiving honorary membership of the NSPCC Council and an NSPCC award for being a Childhood Champion for the South West and Channel Islands. Fay started an NSPCC Taunton District Committee fifty-five years ago and has continued as a volunteer and Chair of this Committee ever since. Ten years ago, Fay received the Gordon Brown medal for Volunteer of the Year, and six years ago she became President of the West Somerset NSPCC Branch. Fay believes passionately in supporting children to overcome the ever-increasing problems and challenges that they face and has dedicated her life, as a volunteer with the NSPCC, to this end. Now, at the age of 84 years old, Fay continues with her volunteer duties and is increasingly busy organising events for the charity.
Frances Zagni Congratulations to Frances Zagni née Valentine (Class of 1959), on the release of her book Gepruft, an extraordinary collection of Second World War letters of prisoner-of-war John Valentine and his wife Ursula. Frances compiled and edited these letters, written by her parents to each other. They provide a unique and unprecedented insight in to how two people struggled to find solace, and keep their hopes and love alive despite the anxieties of John’s dangerous operational life and his three years behind barbed wire as a prisoner in Germany. Across all their correspondence, parts of which had been blacked out, the word ‘Gepruft’ (‘checked’ in German) had been stamped by the German censor.
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Rosie Hinge Congratulations to Rosie Hinge née Shipley (Class of 1976). This year, having just turned 60, Rosie completed a six-month voyage around the UK (with her husband Doug) on their 37-foot yacht. Rosie described the trip as “Truly wonderful! We discovered some spectacularly beautiful places and visited islands with only 40 inhabitants and schools with only 12 pupils where resourceful people lived and worked together to support each other. At times we found ourselves in powerful winds with swirling currents, but our trustworthy yacht always kept us safe.”
Tiffany Brenninkmeijer Congratulations to Tiffany Brenninkmeijer née Jolowicz (Class of 1983), on the release of her new book IRONWOMEN, published in February 2018. Tiffany wrote this book after completing IRONMAN Switzerland and Challenge Roth triathlon. Tiffany worked with 40 other female IRONMAN finishers to compile ‘Ironwomen’. This book contains funny, emotional and inspiring revelations from ordinary women who took on a Herculean challenge and turned their lives inside out to make it happen. It records in detail how the athletes overcame fears and failures, how they delighted in their strengths and success and how they all emerged as stronger, more courageous women.
Georgina Woods Congratulations to Georgina Woods née Rodgers (Class of 1998), on the release of her new book of poems, A Year of Reading Aloud. Georgina is a Sunday Times bestselling ghostwriter, editor and journalist with over 17 years’ experience working on showbiz and women’s titles and websites. She specialises in celebrity, lifestyle, travel, books, parenting and health. In her latest book, A Year of Reading Aloud she celebrates the power of the spoken word with a poem to learn and love for each week of the year – this is a book that will capture your imagination through verse and help you fall back in love with this beautiful art form.
School news 120 Years of St Helen’s! 2019 marks 120 years since St Helen’s was founded in 1899 and we will be finding every opportunity to celebrate this remarkable birthday with our community through the year. We will be inviting all alumnae to a particularly special Old Girls’ Day on Saturday 11th May 2019 so, whether this is your usual year for a reunion or not, please save the date!
Saying Goodbye! As we celebrate 120 years of St Helen’s, 2019 will also be marked by the departure of our Headmistress, Dr Mary Short, who has announced that she will be retiring in August. Dr Short has provided strong and dynamic leadership of St Helen’s for the past seven years and has overseen many new and exciting developments at the School during this time. We will of course seek to celebrate Dr Short’s remarkable achievements at St Helen’s and to say our farewell as a community at the appropriate time later in the academic year.
Musical Miracle! After many decades housed in the Fitz Walters building, our Music Department has now moved into the new School of Music. We look forward to showing our community around this fantastic new facility over the coming months.
Guest speakers Thank you to Penny Marshall (Class of 1981), for joining us as this year’s guest speaker at Speech Day. Penny is a television journalist and is currently the Social Affairs Editor for ITV news. She has achieved enormous success, winning critical acclaim and prestigious all rsh Ma y nn Pe awards for her investigative work. Penny has dedicated her professional life to a field which was, and still is in some areas, dominated by men and she has stood up for the rights of women to take their place alongside, and on equal terms – and equal pay – with men in the world of current affairs. Her speech was a huge inspiration to our students and indeed to our staff and parents present. Thank you to Caroline Ford, (Class of 2005), for adjudicating this year’s House Arts Competition. As a successful actress, known by many of our students for her role in Netflix Originals ‘Once Upon a Time’ and ‘Free Rein’, she provided insight into a career in production and performance as she awarded this year’s House Arts prizes. You can read Caroline’s profile on page 6. Thank you to Clare Miller, (Class of 1998), a Senior Producer with Shiver TV and Nikita Patel, (Class of 2005), a Fashion Buying and Merchandising student, for inspiring our Year 10 students as part of their Futures Day activities. You can read Clare’s profile on page 12.
Caroline Ford
Clare Miller
Thank you to Tracey Trussell née Joseph (Class of 1979), Caroline Fisher née Kenton (Class of 1974), Janet Kirchheimer née Ritchie (Class of 1969) and Teresa Betts née Massey (Class of 1961) for coming to meet our Year 7 students as part of their History of St Helen’s project.
Teresa Betts
Janet Kirchheimer
Tracey Trussell
r
e Fishe
Carolin
Finally, a huge thank you to all those from our community of alumnae, staff, parents and friends of the school who have come in to support us through a variety of events over the past six months. We could not provide such a varied and diverse events and careers programme for our students, and each other, without your ongoing support.
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St Helen’s School Development Office Eastbury Road Northwood Middlesex HA6 3AS +44 (0)1923 843327 development@sthelens.london www.sthelens.london Registered Charity No. 312762.