ISSUE 6 WINTER 2017

Issue 6 | Winter 2017

Bringing geography to life Feature story on Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB (Class of 1980), former Director General at Ordnance Survey and Chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management

Inspirational achievement against the odds An interview with Jayne Franklin (Class of 1987), Headteacher at The Children's Hospital School, Great Ormond Street and University College Hospital

Alumnae in the education sector A glimpse at the careers and achievements of our alumnae working in the education sector

The power of a girls-only education Feature story on Alex Hems (Class of 1988), Head, St George's School for Girls, Edinburgh

a note from...

I am delighted to introduce this edition of Profile which provides a fascinating insight into the varied and exciting contributions made to the world of education in its broadest sense by generations of St Helen’s pupils. You will not be surprised to read that I am enormously heartened and reassured that so many of the St Helen’s alumnae have dedicated their professional lives to the pursuit of academic knowledge and understanding and the sharing of this with pupils, students and the wider world through their work.

dates for the diary Please contact the Development Office or visit www.sthelens.london/Events for more information.

Class of 2017 Certificate Collection Wednesday 3rd January 2018, 2.00pm-4.00pm Reception Area, St Helen’s School

Alumnae Ambassador Dinner Invite only – Thursday 4th January 2018, 7.00pm-9.00pm Dining Room, St Helen’s School

Futures Evening: Careers in STEM Tuesday 6th March 2018, 6.00pm-8.45pm, St Helen’s School

I suspect that many of the former ‘girls-in-green’ who have chosen these career paths could identify the particular teacher who inspired and encouraged them to study their subject at the highest levels. I know that I was heavily influenced in my choice of degree subject and career by the intellectual rigour and high expectations of my A Level History teacher, though my excitement in the subject began with a much more flamboyant and passionate teacher at O Level.

Education is about so much more than examination results and the subject content of syllabuses. The engagement with young minds and the opening of windows into new ways of thinking and seeing the world are what lie at the heart of what we do as educators. It is always a great privilege to discover – often years later – that one has had a significant and positive impact on the course of a student’s academic and professional life and the rewards of finding out what former pupils have done since leaving school are enormous. This is one of the reasons why we ask our alumnae to keep in touch with us through the Development Office.

Our featured alumnae, Vanessa Lawrence, Alex Hems and Jayne Franklin have been generous with their time and energies in recent years by speaking to our community. Many of you have also contributed to our exciting and growing programme of Futures Evenings, Development events and Profile. I am grateful to you for the tremendous support you give St Helen’s and for the contributions you are making to enable our current pupils to fulfil their potential and become leaders in their fields and communities.

Parents and alumnae working in STEM are invited to meet our Year 10 to 13 students interested in a career in this field.

Futures Networking Breakfast Wednesday 14th March 2018, 8.30am-10.30am RBH, St Helen’s School Alumnae and parents are invited to have breakfast with our Year 12 students to talk about careers and enable the students to practise their networking skills.

Alumnae vs Girls Netball Match Tuesday 27th March 2018, 5.30pm-7.30pm The Dome, St Helen’s School

Donor Drinks Reception with Dr Short Invite only – Thursday 10th May 2018, 6.30pm-8.00pm St Helen’s School Dr Short will be hosting a thank you event for all those who currently support the School through our Development Fund. Invitations will be sent out nearer the time.

Old Girls Day Saturday 12th May 2018, St Helen’s School

Afternoon Tea Wednesday 6th June 2018, 3.00pm-5.00pm The Centre, St Helen’s School Alumnae from the Class of 1971 and before are invited to join us for tours of the School and Afternoon Tea with old friends.

University Spot Lunch for Year 12 Friday 22nd June 2018, St Helen’s School Alumnae currently at University are invited to join our Year 12 students for lunch.

With best wishes to you over the festive season,

Fun Day

Dr Mary Short, Headmistress

Sunday 24th June 2018, 11.00am-4.00pm, St Helen’s School

Bringing geography to life 4

Feature story on Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB (Class of 1980), former Director General at Ordnance Survey and Chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM). Vanessa is now an advisor to governments, inter-governmental organisations and private sector organisations as well as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southampton and a Visiting Professor at Kingston University

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Alumnae in the education sector overseas

The power of a girls-only education 8 Feature story on Alex Hems (Class of 1988), Head, St George's School for Girls, Edinburgh

10 Alumnae in the UK schools sector Inspirational achievement against 12

the odds An interview with Jayne Franklin (Class of 1987), Headteacher at The Children's Hospital School, Great Ormond Street and University College Hospital

14 Alumnae in higher education upporting Our Vision together 16 SUpdate on the summer telephone campaign

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Alumnae news

cover photo Cover image of Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB (Class of 1980). Vanessa has been at the forefront of the progress made towards recognising the essential role of geospatial information in global development through her role at Ordinance Survey, where she served for 14 years as the first female Director General and later as the first Chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM). Vanessa has passionately supported the education sector throughout her career and continues to do so through her various roles.

Turn to page 4 to read more.

Feature story

Vanessa receiving a certificate for the founding of UN-GGIM from the Under Secretary-General of the United Nations

Bringing geography to life Geography: underpinning our daily lives

My love of Geography first started at St Helen’s. I used to look forward to Geography lessons as they were guaranteed to bring situations affecting the world into our school day. Our enthusiastic teacher Mrs Dover would ensure she illustrated every aspect of what we were studying with real-world stories, maps and photographs which on reflection, she must have worked so hard to prepare.

Sadly, at 15 years old I was told that due to ‘timetabling issues and the retirement of Mrs Dover’, I could not study Geography at A Level. This was a huge disappointment as I had already decided I wished ‘to be a geographer’! By careful selection of my university – the University of Sheffield, I was able to get back on track and I was proud to graduate three years later with a Geography degree. But what next?

Even in 1984, I could see that a better understanding of the use of location-based information really could be transformational when making decisions. My thinking was that if you could add the ‘where’ question to data then you could obtain much more information out of the original data. As a result, I enrolled and was given a

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scholarship to study at the University of Dundee for an MSc in Satellite Remote Sensing and its Applications.

After graduation I soon realised that no real jobs existed in the UK for someone with such a qualification.

Following my first public academic talk, I was approached by the publishers Longman Group, who invited me to take up the position of Publisher Higher Education for Geography, Geology, Agriculture and Veterinary Science.

At last I was to earn a living being a geographer!

Working at Longman Group enabled me to gain an excellent business training and allowed me to continue to develop my love of Geography. It also gave me my first independent contact with academia as most of the potential authors were based in universities. My role was to think up new ideas for books to be used by university students, produce an outline and then find a suitable author. During this role working with geography academics it soon became clear to me that Geography, as both an academic and a practical subject area, really is important and influential as it underpins transport, government administration, development issues, tourism, climate change and many other issues affecting our daily lives.

As Geography developed to embrace the digital age and I developed my career, I was fortunate enough to have an idea in 1992 that was accepted by the Governance Board of the Longman

Group to start a digital business around Geography; it was known as Longman GeoInformation. At the time I had no idea that it was one of the first digital publishing businesses and it quickly grew both in size and success. This led to me being approached to join a billion dollar revenue Californian-based software company, known as Autodesk and I jumped at the opportunity.

At Autodesk I worked from London through the Middle East and then into Africa to Cape Town assisting and later co-leading very large digital projects that implemented the software from Autodesk, plus geographical data, to provide real decisions on vital projects for nations. The most memorable was co-leading a project to assist the creation of the election ward districts for the first time in South Africa to allow ‘free and fair’ elections.

Whilst working for a few days in the Cayman Islands assisting the Chief Surveyor General to look at irregularities with land registration and environmental impact issues, he suggested I should apply for the Director General role at Ordnance Survey. Despite my protests, he insisted that I fill in the application form. A few months later my dream came true when I was selected to become the Director General and Chief Executive of Ordnance Survey, Great Britain’s National Mapping Agency. I was the first woman in its 209-year history to lead the organisation and I was the second youngest leader in its history at only 37 years old.

It quickly became apparent that Ordnance Survey needed to move further into the digital arena and that there should be one definitive set of foundation data created for Great Britain, from which all other geographical data and applications could be derived.

It also was increasingly becoming clear that ‘everything happens somewhere’ and that all other data generated in the world could be connected to geographical data. Using both a cross-organisational and cross-university team, Ordnance Survey developed the MasterMap of Great Britain in only 13 months. This database became the definitive base mapping from which Google, Yahoo and others in their early days derived their own data and it is now used universally throughout Great Britain by both the public and the private sector.

It is estimated by independent economists that the creation and maintenance of the MasterMap underpins over £100 billion per year of Britain’s Gross Domestic Product.

Throughout this process I again saw the benefits of working with academia and I was delighted when I was invited to join the Council of the University of Southampton to assist, with others, the strategic development of the university.

Working alongside the university system became the norm in Ordnance Survey as so many different faculties were relevant to our work from water management to transport management to the use of Artificial Intelligence. After nine years of being on the Council of the University of Southampton, I was selected by open competition to join the University Council of the University of Cambridge. At about this time, I was also approached to be a Visiting Professor at both the University of Southampton and the University of Kingston in their respective Departments of Geography. Both are unremunerated roles that involve working alongside the academics, very much bringing a different perspective to a debate and giving occasional lectures to students and post-graduate students.

In 2011, I was invited to meet someone who reported directly to the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations. They advised me that after four years of deliberations, a new part of the United Nations was to be founded, something not undertaken for over 20 years.

It was to focus on my area of interest, Global Geospatial Information Management. The Foreign Secretary had already cast the UK’s vote in agreement and I was told that leadership elections for the new Committee had already occurred at the UN. I was therefore shocked to learn that I had been appointed to be the first Chair of this new organisation.

Undertaking this role, to build a brand new global organisation known at the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), has to be one of the most challenging but satisfying tasks I have ever pursued. For the first two years I performed the role alongside my Ordnance Survey role.

However, in 2013 I decided that after 14 years, having been the longest serving Director General since 1875 I would leave Ordnance Survey to focus on building UN-GGIM. Again, the involvement in UN-GGIM with Universities was vital to take forward research interests. We also worked regularly with the Cabinets of countries in both the developing and developed world to help them understand the transformational opportunities available to their country’s economy through the better use of Geography. Today, accurate, reliable, and up-to-date geographical information now underpins some of the biggest issues facing the globe and governments, as well as some of the largest industries in the world.

As discussed earlier ‘everything happens somewhere’, and so measuring and monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is virtually impossible without the use of accurate, reliable and up-to-date geographical data.

Geographical data now comes in many forms and there are many new data collection devices being used. These include drones, constellations of small

satellites, high altitude platform stations (HAPS) and even the human being as a ‘passive location beacon’.

The increasing use of the automatic correction of the Global Positioning System (GPS) from 10m to 2cm accuracy is developing many new economically important applications.

The conflation of multiple data sources from ground, air, high altitude and social media is changing the decisionmaking landscape for many authorities.

Of course, it could be said that geographical information is just another data source within a ‘Big Data’ environment. However, since ‘everything happens somewhere’, geographical information is in fact increasingly seen as the ‘vital glue’ to all ‘Big Data’ environments.

Today my geographical journey continues working internationally as a senior advisor to governments, inter-governmental organisations including the World Bank and large private sector organisations. Alongside this I also have other geographically related duties that I perform including as a Non-Executive Director of the Satellite Applications Catapult at Harwell near Oxford, with a focus on fostering innovation in the use of satellite data. Of course I continue as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southampton and a Visiting Professor at Kingston University as well as being the Honorary Colonel of 135 Geographic Squadron Royal Engineers.

As geographical data usage becomes pervasive throughout all of our daily lives, who could imagine that those exciting geography lessons, taught so well by Mrs Dover at St Helen’s would take me on a life’s journey involving such incredible connections with universities and intergovernmental organisations, and all because ‘everything happens somewhere’.

Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB HonFREng, FRGS, FRICS, FCInstCES, FRSGS, CCMI, CGeog Class of 1980 BA (Soc. Sci.) Hons. Geography, University of Sheffield MSc Remote Sensing, Image Processing and its Applications, University of Dundee; Eight Honorary Doctorates from UK Universities

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Latifat Barbara Dosunmu Class of 1966 BSc Zoology and Education, University Lagos, Nigeria. Masters at the University of Warwick Founder, Beehive Primary School, Lagos, Nigeria I have been running a private nursery and primary school in Lagos Nigeria since 1986. I initially undertook a teacher training course, encouraged by my father, as I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to do.

Luckily I enjoyed the three year course and decided to study further by undertaking a BSc in Zoology and Education. During my first practical teaching experience I found that I really liked imparting knowledge to students. This led me to do a Masters course at Warwick University specialising in girls in science, with a view of getting my PhD. Unfortunately I didn't complete the PhD and left Warwick to come back home to Lagos. Finding myself at a crossroads in life I decided to open a nursery school, which eventually metamorphosed into a primary school.

I was fortunate to be able to represent Nigeria at an ILO Workshop in Geneva on early years education. This was a great opportunity to meet other educators from various countries and learn how they run their educational

programmes in their schools.

Additionally our school, through the British Council, now partners with Caversham Primary School in Reading. This enables our teachers and theirs to enjoy participating in the teacher exchange programme, bringing these invaluable experiences back to their respective schools and pupils.

I have always worked in the education sector as I love working with the little ones, opening their minds to the world of reading for the first time. I did however have a stint in the Lagos State Ministry of Education as an administrator but I definitely wasn't cut out for that!

I am lucky to be working in a sector that has always interested me and I have been more successful, with my work made easier because I have always loved what I do. I am constantly looking for new and interesting ways to impart knowledge to the children we teach, as making a difference to children's lives is what drives me.

If I had known I would take this path I would have definitely pursued a course in school management as I have had to learn these skills along the way as the school grew. I am now semi-retired although I remain very much involved in the day-to-day running of the school. When I look back at all that I have achieved I know that founding the school has been the most worthwhile project, as the joy I see in the children’s faces when they realise they can read, is precious.

Louise Lee Class of 1997 BSc (Hons) in Physics, Imperial College London Head of Digital Design, Vancouver Film School, Vancouver, BC, Canada

If you’d told me whilst I was at school that I’d end up working in a school, I’d have thought you were nuts! Then again, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I was at St Helen’s.

Instead, I focused on what I was good at (maths, physics, and music), and played regularly with the school orchestra and other ensembles. I got a BSc in Physics from Imperial College in 2000 and, after that, I joined Deloitte Consulting, working on client projects. Over the years, I evolved into a project manager – a natural step for someone who likes being organised and organising!

Learning how to work with clients in tough situations is the backbone to my career – life is all about how we connect with not only ourselves but with other people. It doesn’t matter how skilled or talented we may be – if we’re difficult to work with, can’t work with others, or don’t know how to communicate in a way that reaches our audience, we won’t get very far.

After moving to Vancouver in 2008 and managing some key accounts for Blast Radius, I had the opportunity to teach Project Management part-time to some design students. I jumped at the chance of passing on knowledge and

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Helen Julius (née Mortimer) Class of 1998 BEd (QTS) Maths and Education, Homerton College, University of Cambridge

supporting the next generation of designers, and signed up immediately.

That was in 2010 and four years later, they invited me to come on board full time to take over the program.

The thing I love about being in education is the connection I have with our students. I’m Head of the Digital Design program at Vancouver Film School – one of 13 one-year programs that the school offers. We cram a two-year course into one and the programs are intense. This means that I have the honour of contributing to what is often the most impactful twelve months of a student’s life.

They say that if you really want to know a subject, you teach it – ’tis true! – but I learn as much from the students as (I hope) they learn from me! I’ve had amazing opportunities to travel abroad to share the program with others, and I love meeting students who come from all over the world to learn here in Vancouver. How lucky that we, in this business, have the chance to inspire, motivate, and ignite that passion in them! Getting to witness and contribute to the evolution of these amazing people is incredible. This is why I do what I do.

Deputy Principal, Ela Murray International School, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea I am currently working as Deputy Principal at The Ela Murray International School, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG). It may be a cliché but there is no such thing as a normal day. Our school has students from over 40 countries and a range of expatriate and Papua New Guinean staff. Most situations have cultural implications to consider as well as educational ones. One minute I’m holding back the grin whilst telling a child off for something ‘naughty’ or chatting to a child who has excelled and later I’m consoling a child who has lost a parent.

I work alongside teachers to help develop their practice – my teaching load is always alongside another, usually newish teacher, modelling lessons, giving feedback and discussing how they can be even better at a job they love. As well as teaching part of the week and working with kids, my current role goes beyond this: reassuring parents that their child will make progress, discussing strategies to support them with behavioural issues at home, and

planning school events and excursions – the risk assessment for school camp this year included what to do if the volcano erupted while we were there!

I am involved with planning curriculum coverage, researching pedagogy and ensuring we are supporting and extending all students. I sometimes feel that I am Jack of all trades, master of none, but I think the essential skill in my job is knowing when I don’t have a clue so that I can ask someone else for advice.

It is certainly different to my original role as a classroom teacher; instead of worrying about 25-30 students I worry about 25-30 teachers, another 100 or so staff and over 400 students!

I think the role is more complicated working in PNG but I don’t know, having never done it in the UK. I originally came here with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), which was an amazing opportunity to teach, as well as develop awareness of HIV/AIDS, gender issues and environmental concerns, whilst teaching in a rural high school. Raising awareness of social issues remains a key element for me as a teacher and we weave in lots about democracy, human rights and the environment, usually looking at these issues in a local context.

I always knew that I would be a teacher, and despite some efforts by people to persuade me against it, it is a job that I remain passionate about.

I feel privileged to help shape the thoughts and views of children and to enable them to see things in new ways and to ask questions to further their learning.

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Feature story

I had finished my Oxford entrance exams and had done quite a bit of work on George Eliot, inspired by Valerie Cowley who had encouraged me to try for Oxford. A boy in one of the seminar groups started saying something about Middlemarch, with gusto and confidence, but I knew he was completely wrong. I had never come across that sort of outspoken confidence before in anyone I had been taught with at St Helen’s. I had however been taught to study, and to articulate my point of view, and I remember piling in as soon as I could, to correct him, (no doubt rather self-righteously) but certainly not with any hesitation. I was definitely a shy teenager, and I do believe that if I had faced that level of self-confident assertion in every lesson I attended at school, I might quite quickly have been cowed by it, or at least retreated into silence. Encountering it, as I did, fairly late in my school career, when I was feeling absolutely on top of my subject, I was well equipped to respond. At school, through my love of English, I had found my own voice.

I vividly remember, in the Christmas holidays of my final year at St Helen’s, going to a series of lectures and seminars in London designed for English A Level students.

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My first job, after leaving Oxford and taking my teaching qualification, was at an excellent co-ed school, where I learned a great deal about teaching and worked with some inspiring colleagues. I think the students there were happy, well cared for and well taught. It is telling, however, that my abiding memories are of the boys I taught, rather than the girls, even though they were equally talented or in need of my attention. The boys were certainly not naughty, but much more energetic and demanding in the classroom, so my skills, as an inexperienced teacher, were focused to a significant degree, on meeting their more assertively proclaimed needs. In 1997 I moved to St Paul’s Girls’ School to teach English and Latin and then, in 2003 to North London Collegiate School where I was Head of Sixth Form, a role I also held at St Paul’s when I moved back there after having my family. After a spell as Deputy Head at Francis Holland in Sloane Square I moved out to Buckinghamshire, where I was Deputy Head at Wycombe Abbey for four years. In January of this year I took up the Headship of St George’s School for Girls in Edinburgh, a school that was founded in 1888 to provide preparation for young women for entry to university level study.

For me, becoming a teacher was a matter of following an instinct. I toyed with a number

of other possibilities, but I have been fortunate in my career to have worked with some inspiring colleagues, and to have taught extraordinary, talented, exciting young people. My love of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton started at St Helen’s and over the past 24 years that I have been in teaching I have continued to learn more about the literature I love every term. As a Head I now only teach one lesson a week, but, inspired by my recollections of Miss Leader’s English lessons when I was in IIIA (year 7) I make sure that I am teaching the girls who are just starting out on their secondary education at St George’s, and I absolutely love the 40 minutes of poetry that I share with them once a week.

of leadership and girls’ schools are an excellent way to achieve this.

At St George’s, as at St Helen’s, all the leadership positions in the student community are held by girls, from our Junior School upwards; they speak on our Student Council; serve as House Captains, Prefects, Form Prefects; they direct plays, take the lead in debating, our Combined Cadet Force, the Model United Nations group, our Amnesty group, Eco Committee and edit their own award-winning magazine, Independent Women. We cannot cocoon our girls from all external cultural influences, of course, but we can ensure that they grow up in an environment where their voices are heard, in all their diversity.

Over the course of my career I have become a passionate advocate of single-sex education for girls, although I also recognise that it may not be the answer for every girl. I would always advise families looking at schools to think about finding the best fit for their child rather than starting with assumptions about any particular kind of school. Having said that, I believe that there are some things that girls’ schools do remarkably well for their students.

In this country there is an urgent need for more equal representation of women at Board level in almost every field of employment. Earlier this year there was much media attention given to a report published by a team of academics in America that seems to suggest that from the age of six girls start to regard themselves as less innately talented than boys. This is of course disheartening news, particularly as it appears to support the view that girls and women will tend to avoid professions which are perceived to demand genius or a high level of intellectual brilliance. One of the joys of a girls' school is the relative freedom from gender-related stereotypes.

I am not a fan of quotas as a way of achieving equality, although I recognise the arguments in their favour. Young women need strong female role models

The phenomenon known as ‘gender intensification’ means that in a mixed environment gender stereotypes are more likely to be reinforced by the young people themselves. A single-sex learning environment can help both boys and girls to shake free of the stereotypes surrounding subject preferences and approach to learning.

There is evidence to suggest that while girls in a girls-only setting will become more assertive and willing to articulate their views, boys in a boys-only group in turn develop more of the collaborative learning style that characterises girls’ approach. It is a natural part of growing up for young people to try to establish where they fit into their peer group, and to begin to articulate their own identity.

I believe that girls’ schools enable girls to grow as individuals in their own right, not as they perceive themselves in relation to boys. We are all aware of the increasing sexualisation of childhood. I believe that girls’ schools allow girls to stay young for that little bit longer, to be uninhibited in their enjoyment of childhood.

All good schools will offer a wide range of opportunities to their students; in a girls’ school no-one ever need fear that she will be the only girl in her physics class, or who wants to join the CCF or pursue a career in engineering,

astrophysics or computer game design for example. It is often said that girls and boys learn in different ways; that is a very broad generalisation, and there is also a great deal of variation within the sexes. We know, however, that boys and girls develop at different rates, and a single-sex environment enables teachers to focus on the needs and developmental stage of girls or boys as appropriate, rather than being stretched across both.

Girls’ schools labour under a negative stereotype of being academic hothouses, where girls are encouraged to pursue the top grades at the expense of all else. It is certainly the case that girls in single sex schools are very successful academically; of course it is also true that many single sex schools are selective. Even when this is taken into account, however, it does appear that learning in a girls-only setting is beneficial to girls’ attainment, an effect that is replicated in education systems in a number of other countries aside from the UK. There is of course a great deal more to education than grades, and many detractors claim that girls who have not been educated alongside boys are less able to cope sensibly with a mixed environment at university and in the workplace. There is evidence to suggest that in fact women who experienced a single-sex education are more assertive and confident in their adult relationships, but I imagine that this is a debate that will continue to stir up strong feeling on both sides. There are of course excellent co-ed schools, just as there are some poor examples of single sex schools. Being a girls’ or a boys’ school is not in itself a mark of excellence, the power of opportunity that a really fine girls’ school offers to the women of tomorrow is what makes me such an advocate.

Mrs Alex Hems née Bailey MA Oxon Class of 1988 English, Somerville College, Oxford; PGCE, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, Head, St George's School for Girls, Edinburgh

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Fathima Sumaiha Hashim (née Haniffa)

Georgia Chataway (née Gatsky)

Class of 1990

Class of 1999

BSc Mathematics and Management, Kings College, London. PGCE Secondary, Institute of Education

History, University of Leicester.

History PGCE Secondary, Institute of Education, University of London

Head of Mathematics, The Urswick School

Assistant Head Teacher, Haydon School, Northwood Hills

My first return to St Helen’s was for Old Girls day, ten years after I left as a student and it was great to see Mrs Landsman and Mrs Cole and tell them that I was Head of Mathematics. They had inspired me to study maths at university and go into the teaching profession.

Immediately after St Helen’s, I took a gap year working for Cornhill Insurance Company and I soon found that office work didn’t suit me. I went on to complete my first degree, followed it up with a teaching qualification and have been teaching mathematics in London secondary schools for nearly 21 years now. I am currently teaching in a school in Hackney and because I live in Enfield I still bump into past students and their parents from time to time – and now their own children too.

I have had different roles during the years from a teacher of mathematics to management positions, including Assistant Head Teacher. However I found that the hours in the classroom reduced as I climbed the leadership ladder and I missed the teaching.

Teaching is a challenge at times – the government and OFSTED don’t help, but it is a rewarding profession. The balance between work and home life was hard to juggle, but looking back now after having two children myself, I think that I have managed. The long hours put into ensuring the children make the right progress is rewarding. Not just because of those with bright minds that will make a difference to the world whichever school they are in, but because of those that need the support to just make it through school.

Teaching teenagers in the modern day has been a learning experience for me too. Not just keeping up with the language they use but their technology and music too. Education is changing constantly and it keeps me excited to be able to keep up with and meet the demands of the powers that be, as well as the children. I wouldn’t change my profession to anything else!

It’s not hard to imagine some of my old teachers being surprised that I ended up in the education sector. I realise now that I would have been a frustrating student, always “she has a lot of potential” but never quite letting myself work hard enough to see how much I could achieve.

But there were teachers at St Helen’s who challenged me to look deeper and this is what I try to encourage in my own students now. As I studied for my PGCE after university I came to realise that teaching is primarily about the connection you make with your students and how you can often be crucial to raising their aspirations.

You really do feel like you’re having an impact, which is a huge motivator.

I fell in love with my subject once I began teaching in a classroom. I have always been fascinated by History, but only truly appreciated it’s significance once I began to deliver lessons to my own students. Even though my job often takes me out of the classroom now, teaching History and seeing imaginations captured is still a hugely rewarding aspect of my work.

A lot of my day to day tasks involve supporting students who find school a challenge and helping them reintegrate back into lessons. I am the designated safeguard lead at my school which means helping students struggling with their mental health or who are facing difficult personal circumstances outside of school. When I entered the profession years ago I didn’t realise the various avenues that teaching offers, whether you are interested in the more academic routes (for example becoming a Head of Faculty or Lead Teacher Responsible for University Applications) or more pastoral areas (such as Head of Special Educational Needs, Head of Year or Head of Mentoring). I am currently studying child, adolescent and family therapy at the Tavistock, which at this stage of my career feels like a natural progression from my role in school.

Teaching is tough. You have to work extremely hard and there are huge challenges in the profession, especially at the moment with ever-tightening budgets. Every day offers something new, unexpected and a guaranteed smile. And even though you’ll really need the holidays when you get to them, they are quite a good perk of the job too!

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Wendy Reynolds Class of 1986 Bed Hons (sec) in Physical Education and English, I.M. Marsh College, Liverpool Director of Sport and Head of Expressive Faculty, Heathfield School, Ascot I am currently Director of Sport and Head of the Expressive Faculty at Heathfield School in Ascot. An Independent Boarding and Day School for 11-18 year olds. I graduated in 1991 and spent two years at Croham Hurst School in South Croydon, the ideal School in which to begin my teaching career.

I then moved on to Benenden School in Kent where I spent a wonderful seven years and discovered my passion for working in boarding schools and teaching in a true community.

Whilst teaching at Benenden School I was incredibly fortunate to be allowed to pursue my International lacrosse career as England goalkeeper. Gillian du Charme, Headmistress at the time was extremely supportive as were the rest of the PE department and this enabled me to train and attend squad weekends and tours. I was also privileged to coach their 1st lacrosse team to National Schools’ success in 1997. In 2001 I moved to run my own department as Head of PE at St. Swithun’s School, Winchester. Here I spent four years coaching teams to National Schools and South West lacrosse successes before moving to Queen Anne’s in 2005 in Caversham as Head of Department.

With my playing career coming to an end, having represented my country for 13 years and having played

in two world cups (winning a bronze and a silver medal) I now felt I needed another challenge. I now wanted to teach at a school where lacrosse was not already established at such a high level – hence Heathfield. This is my sixth year at Heathfield and despite its ups and downs – as in any job – I have loved every minute of it. As a small school, the challenge for me is to provide ‘sport for all’ whilst developing ‘elite sport’. I can however start to say, that with an extremely supportive Headmistress, the hard work is now starting to pay off.

I have been fortunate enough to travel the world with lacrosse for both school tours and world cups and through this I have made lifelong friends in Japan, Canada, USA and Australia. This summer I was immensely proud to have been awarded my ‘Emeritus’ at the world cup, a real honour, alongside being asked to read the oath on behalf of all the officials.

I’m not sure I can remember why I wanted to teach, but apart from three months when I wanted to join the MET Police, it is the only thing I have ever wanted to do. I certainly had great role models in my PE teachers at St Helen’s: Miss Adam, Mrs Fenwick, Mrs Jackman and Miss Fitzroy (now Mrs Stone) who I still see at lacrosse fixtures.

I think this made me appreciate the need for every pupil to have teachers who believe in them and who make them feel valued. This is what really enables pupils to reach their true potential and is something I have held on to throughout my career. For me, teaching is not a job but a vocation. I want each girl I teach to leave school having enjoyed their sporting experiences and with the confidence to join clubs and participate. I get as much pleasure from watching a girl succeed at catching their first lacrosse ball as I do when those who I have taught reach national standards.

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Feature Interview sports teams or drama groups so we have to look at other ways of helping the young people and children feel part of something while they are here.

Q: How many teachers and students do you have?

After thirteen years of Headship, alumna Jayne Franklin talks about her passion for and commitment to education. Having spent the last seven years as Headteacher at the Hospital School, Great Ormond Street, Jayne offers a rare insight into life inside a hospital school and why they are essential for sick children. Not only do hospital schools provide children with a sense of achievement, they provide continuity, and perhaps most importantly, enjoyment which has a positive impact on children's health and their futures.

Q: How would you summarise your career path?

A: I left St Helen's at sixteen and went to a Sixth Form College. From there I studied History and Education at Homerton College Cambridge and graduated as a qualified teacher before taking a year out to travel.

I started teaching in 1992 in a Primary School and soon became a lead teacher for maths. I think that because I had struggled with maths so much myself, I understood the challenges the students were facing. I worked with a fantastic Head and Deputy Head who were really inspirational leaders and they encouraged the middle leaders to develop. When sadly the Deputy Head became ill and passed away it felt like the right time for me to move on. As a result I took up the position of Deputy Head of a junior school in Westminster, a fantastic school with a really inspirational Head.

About four years later, in 2004, my Mum passed away and somehow with tragedy comes a drive to do something new and I found myself applying for a Headship at a very challenging school in a very

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disadvantaged area in Cricklewood, North London. I got the job and went on to work with a phenomenal team.

I was there for about seven years until my husband highlighted a fantastic opportunity to work as Headteacher at Great Ormond Street Hospital School.

I had just finished a multimillion pound rebuild project, been through two successful Ofsted inspections and felt that I was finally settling in to the role but somehow I could not pass up such a unique and amazing opportunity.

So I applied and here I am in my seventh year at the Hospital School.

Q: What are the main differences working in the Hospital School?

A: The teaching approach is really personalised and we plan and deliver our teaching to suit each student.

This is particularly the case for those on the wards where we liaise with their home school to tailor our teaching and support.

The other difference is that you haven’t got the same community feel.

We don’t have assemblies,

A: Across both sites we have around 40 staff, which is not as many as we often need. We teach anything between 100-150 children a day in groups or one-to-one. Over a year we see about 1200 different children. It’s a challenge managing so many people across two sites but I have a fantastic leadership team and I couldn’t manage without them.

Q: Where does the teaching take place?

A: Predominantly on the ward. There are about 21 different wards in Great Ormond Street and we go wherever the long stay patients are. Generally we teach one-to-one at the bedside. Some teaching occurs in bays of around six beds, so there are lots of people around.

We also have a school room, which is one large open plan space, where children who can leave the ward can come to learn and we really do encourage this.

A: Teachers meet at 9am to discuss and plan the day with teaching starting at 10am until 12 midday. In the afternoon we are open from 2.00pm-3.30pm.

If a child is well enough they can access about 20 hours of school a week, which is a lot. Most students on the ward however are getting about an hour a day of teaching, as this is usually as much as their health needs allow for.

Q: How do you teach such a diverse range of children?

A: To teach here you need to be adaptable. People often think that teaching one-to-one at the bedside is easy. Actually it is very intense and teachers have to learn to give pupils space to understand, process and choose when they want to engage.

We also have to adapt to the physical space we are teaching in with medical professionals walking in and out and lots of machinery. You have to be very creative and look at all the different ways of delivering a lesson. We also work with a lot of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties many of whom are in and out of hospital their whole lives.

Q: What happens if children in the hospital want to sit exams?

A: Exams are interesting. We will do everything we can to host exams and follow the same procedures as other schools. That said sometimes the child just isn’t well enough to take their exams. Then our focus is on helping them come to terms with this and plan for when they will be able to do the exam.

The decision not to take an exam is usually to do with how much school has been missed. Sometimes however you just can’t stop a student who is determined. Last summer one of our students received 2 A grades in her GCSE science examinations. She was practically immobile and yet was cross with herself that she didn’t get A*s.

Q: How has technology helped you to support the children at the Hospital School?

A: Enormously. Technology is great when facilitating long

distance learning, skyping schools, video conferencing and sharing lessons.

They are also now developing robots for children who are unwell that can attend the child’s classes and enable the student to participate in the lesson from their bedside.

Having said that nothing replaces personal interaction. Children here are very isolated already and we try to bring the world to them, not just through technology but through personal contact and interaction.

Q: Why do you think it is so important to have hospital schools?

A: It is essential. Our strap line is, ‘Achievement, Continuity and Enjoyment’. Every child has the right to achieve and they can only do this if there is continuity in their education.

Enjoyment when learning is also key as this makes a difference to their health and future outcomes. Sometimes it is hard to believe that it is not us pushing the children to learn but instead it is the children who want to learn. Obviously some days are harder than others but then the sense of achievement is all the more incredible.

Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges for children admitted to the hospital long-term?

A: Isolation. Feeling isolated can have a real impact on a child’s academic wellbeing as well as their mental health and emotional wellbeing. Helping them feel connected to the outside world, their family and their friends is really important. Anxiety is another major challenge for our students as they are often anxious about missing school and the impact of this later on. All that we can do is constantly reassure them.

as a team. Unfortunately we also have an End of Life Policy which outlines how we support our teachers if one of the children we teach passes away.

For me personally, I also have to find time to switch off and leave the stress behind; circuit training in the park always seems to work!

Q: How would you describe your time at St Helen’s?

A: Happy. I met so many people there who were from different parts of the world which was fantastic. I did struggle sometimes because I wasn't overly academic but the subjects I did really well in were the ones where the teachers really inspired me. I can remember my history, Spanish, drama and sports teachers the most. I also remember being caught hiding in the changing rooms in the former gym (now The Centre) when we should have been in lessons. I think I was actually quite naughty at school!

I want to end by saying that it fills me with incredible pride that I am an alumna of St Helen’s and I actually feel very privileged that you wanted to come and chat to me today. I look back to how I started out in School and where I am now and I think that it just goes to show that not everyone needs to be super academic to achieve great things.

Jayne Franklin, Class of 1987 (left aged 16 in 1985) History and Education BEd Hons Cantab, Homerton College, Cambridge NPQH National College School Leadership Headteacher, The Children's Hospital School, Great Ormond Street and University College Hospital

Q: A great deal of the children you meet must have very difficult stories, how do you manage this?

A: We try to maintain clear professional boundaries as we are here to facilitate education and learning and try not to overindulge ourselves in each family’s personal stories. I don’t mean that we are cold but that we need to act in a professional manner at all times.

At the same time we are also very good at supporting one another

Int er vi ew e

Q: What does a school day look like?

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by

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Christine Janis Class of 1968 Natural Sciences (Zoology Part II). BA (Cantab.), University of Cambridge; PhD (Organismal Biology/Vertebrate Paleontology, Harvard University) Professor Emerita of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, USA and Honorary Professor, Earth Sciences, University of Bristol.

I’m what would be described as an ‘academic’: that is, I’ve had a life mixing scientific research and teaching. I’m recently retired from my position of Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University, having lived in the US for over 30 years and I now hold an honorary professorship at the University of Bristol (a centre of excellence in my subject area, palaeobiology*). For me, being ‘retired’ means doing what I’ve always done (albeit at a slower pace) and without a salary. I can’t imagine a life where

I didn’t continue to have ideas about how and why animals evolved the way that they did, nor a life without the opportunity to still influence students and teach them how to think.

I got into academia rather by chance, as life was less goal-oriented in the 1960s. I’d always had a great love of animals, especially horses, and wanted to turn that into some sort of career.

I thought of becoming a vet but then realised that I was more interested in healthy animals and wanted to pursue something more intellectual.

My interest in, and aptitude for, biology was greatly influenced by a wonderful teacher at St Helen’s, Elizabeth Whittick (who only died a couple of years ago, aged 99). She definitely influenced my style of teaching which is characterised by making students think through issues for themselves.

Barbara Jones Class of 1972 BA(Hons) Physics, Somerville College, Oxford; MA, DPhil, Oxford; DMS, London; MEd, Open University Consultant Lecturer and Course Designer, Freelance I finished at St Helen’s in 1972 to read Physics at Oxford. In my gap year June Leader kindly offered me the opportunity to teach Maths, Physics and Chemistry and it was during this time that I caught the bug of teaching. I enjoyed it so much that it was with reluctance that I went to Oxford, as I was convinced that my future career lay within teaching. However, I was seduced into staying at Oxford for my DPhil and I kept my teaching interest by tutoring 6th formers and working at the Open University.

I was enticed by the pay and glamour into industry for a further 25 years, working on the Space Shuttle, Flat panel TVs,

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I’ve had a rather unusual career, in that I’ve been somebody who’s been successful by having good ideas that rewrite established notions about animal evolution. Unfortunately, I never gained a good training in maths and as my field has become increasingly quantitative I have had to rely on collaborations with colleagues for statistical verifications of hypotheses (good arguments just don’t suffice anymore!)

My advice to all potential biologists: get yourself a good foundation in statistics! *Paleobiology (sometimes spelled palaeobiology) is a growing and comparatively new discipline which combines the methods and findings of the natural science biology with the methods and findings of the earth science paleontology.

It is occasionally referred to as ‘geobiology’.

Diamonds, and Formula 1. All the while I retained my interest in teaching, including supervising 35 PhD students, continuing tutoring and taking coaching qualifications in Lacrosse, Rowing and Clay Pigeon Shooting. Twice during this time St Helen’s offered me teaching posts but I believed that I had more to give in research (some 65+ patents it turned out!), although I did take a year’s sabbatical to Cambridge University and help set up the Production Engineering Management programme.

It was in 2006 (when I finally left industry due to family illness) that I increased my teaching commitment with the Open University in various aspects of engineering, environment, and design and innovation. This led to exciting consultancy work behind the scenes for BBC programmes such as Horizon and Coast. I also took my MEd with the Open University in 2007. In short, I am now a freelance ‘educator’ lecturing and designing courses at several universities and I love every minute of it. As June Leader once said to me “at the end of the day, even if it has been awful, there are always the students; one sign of enlightenment or inspiration makes it all worthwhile” and I couldn’t better these inspirational words.

Jo Lakey (née Greening)

Chih-Chun Chen

Class of 1991

Psychology with Philosophy, University of Oxford; MSc Computer Science, UCL; PhD Computer Science, UCL

BA (Hons) Theatre Studies and Dramatic Art, Warwick University; MBA (Higher Education Management) at UCL Institute of Education Research Manager for the College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences, Brunel University London I did Theatre Studies at Warwick University and went on to drama school. I spent several years doing auditions and occasionally getting acting work before eventually deciding to find an alternative career. I worked in a number of different industries but didn’t find anything particularly inspiring. In 2002 I started working at London Business School and realised how vibrant and exciting higher education institutions are. So in 2010 I completed the MBA in Higher Education Management, which helped me to broaden my knowledge and my network.

Working at a university, there’s always something going on – it’s never dull! I’m involved in interesting projects and work with some amazingly clever people, who are passionate about what they do. My College contains a range of academic disciplines, so in one day I can talk to a Professor about their work on organisational behaviour, a Research Fellow about their work combining literary analysis and psychology or a Journalism lecturer about their research looking at women’s experiences of refugee camps. The next I could be preparing a report on the College’s funded research – everything from small grants of less than £10,000 to multi-million pound projects.

In 2014 I was seconded to the Higher Education Funding Council to work on the assessment phase of the Research Excellence Framework – a year-long project assessing the quality of the research undertaken in universities. To see the process from the other side was fascinating.

It was the best year of my working life (so far!).

Class of 2000

Research Associate, University of Cambridge and Director of Education and Research, Cambridge Coding Academy I co-founded and now run an organisation called Cambridge Coding Academy, which teaches young people how to code through building tangible products. I also work as a research associate at the Engineering department of the University of Cambridge.

I have been incredibly lucky in my working life to have always had a job that I have enjoyed. After my degree in Psychology with Philosophy, which I absolutely loved, I developed a deep interest in Computer Science while project managing an IT project in my first job. This led me to take a conversion Masters and then a PhD in computational modelling and simulation. After my PhD I worked in Paris for several years as a researcher, analysing data and developing computational models to understand successful online communities.

A few months after arriving in Cambridge, I met my co-founder, Raoul.

At the time, I was thinking about individual differences in learning and how we might discover the different reasons why people are good and bad at different subjects. Raoul on the other hand, was thinking about how to teach coding more effectively to young people and had dreams of delivering quality computer science education to all.

This led to our shared vision of developing personalised adaptive learning solutions for people learning to code. Rather than diving straight in we decided to start by running in-person courses so that we could gain a better understanding of our market and fund the business. We then divided into two companies aimed at different markets, and both companies are now growing fast.

I never really decided to pursue a career in the education sector, I simply chose to do things I enjoyed and cared about, and somehow ended up here. Research gives me the freedom to explore new ideas and learn about different domains, while running a company allows me to work with talented, enthusiastic and knowledgeable people who energise and inspire me.

My tips for success: be interested in the sector – read widely and consider how things fit together. Talk to people who work where you’d like to work. Ask questions, and listen to the answers!

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Supporting Together We have been overwhelmed by the support of our community of parents, alumnae and friends this summer following the launch of our Development Fund and fundraising activities.

New Sixth Form Centre in Mackenzie

New School of Music currently under construction

Funds raised will enable us to: increase the number of bursaries available for the brightest students regardless of their backgrounds and financial circumstance.

New Sixth Form Centre in Mackenzie Dining room refurbishment

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upgrade our Senior School teaching environment to a level commensurate with the facilities in the Prep School with a particular focus on the classroom teaching and learning facilities available, D&T and music equipment.

New School of Music currently under construction New computer lab

As you will know our first telephone campaign took place this summer with many of those in our community receiving phone calls from our callers – a team of recent leavers from St Helen’s. Our callers all thoroughly enjoyed the conversations they had with our community and we have received encouraging feedback from the parents and alumnae we have since spoken with.

During the campaign our callers spoke to over 600 people and had both supportive and indeed lengthy conversations with our community. As a result of these conversations we have been able to expand our professional networks, inform our community about our Futures Programme (designed to help our students and alumnae as they make important decisions about their careers), as well as launch our Regular Giving Programme in support of the School.

To date our community have very generously pledged donations amounting to over £57,500 to the Fund, through either single or regular monthly gifts, over the next few years as a result of this telephone campaign. This has been an overwhelmingly positive start to our fundraising activities.

The campaign was all about small scale regular giving and you have shown how together we can make a real difference.

The Development Office will of course report back to you in due course on how the funds have been spent and be

in touch personally with those who have supported us and those who are interested in joining our community of supporters and making a gift to the Development Fund.

We have exciting plans for St Helen’s and our community and we hope that you will continue to support us to achieve our Vision.

We would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank our community and friends for the positive engagement with our telephone campaign this summer and for your overwhelming support, whether financially as a result of a gift or through the extensive offers of support offered for our girls and alumnae through the Futures Programme.

As we continue to invest in the School and its development we hope for continued support from our community.

We have ambitious plans for our School, its development and our students, but we cannot realise our Vision alone.

We believe investing in today, is investing in our tomorrow and the support to date is just the beginning. If we were unable to speak with you during the summer or you would now like to make a gift to the School, regular or one-off, please do get in touch. Every gift, large or small, really does make a difference to our students and to our community.

Zoe Baines, Development Director

Support Us If 70 people donate £20 a month we will be able to support one student with a full bursary for a year.

If 20 people donate £20 a month for a year then we will be able to upgrade one classroom in Senior School through the provision of a new and appropriate teacher wall.

For more information on our fundraising activities, the Development Fund or how to support us please visit our web site via www.sthelens.london/support-us or contact the Development Office via development@sthelens.london

New Sixth Form Centre in Mackenzie

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Alumnae in the news

Patricia Hodge OBE Congratulations to Patricia Hodge (Class of 1964) who was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Patricia made her West End debut in 1972 and went on to receive two Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical, 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 (where she played Miranda's embarrassing mother Penny) and also in the drama Downton Abbey. Patricia also holds three honorary doctorates.

Nicola Gale Congratulations to Nicola Gale (Class of 1979) who earlier this year was elected President of the British Psychological Society (BPS).

Nicola is both a practitioner psychologist and lecturer at City, University of London and was previously clinical lead and head of service for an occupational health psychology service in the NHS, where the work had both a clinical mental health and organisational focus. Earlier in her career she worked in organisational development and training, as well as in professional services as a management consultant and an accountant.

In response to her election as President of the BPS Nicola said “It is an honour to have been elected and it will be a privilege to serve. The BPS exists to make things better for people, so that everyone can access evidence-based psychology to enhance their lives, communities and wider society. There are many areas of challenge where our discipline can make a real difference through our research, practice, education and public affairs work and I am looking forward to working on this over the coming year with our communities across the UK, in Europe and internationally”.

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Dame Ingrid Roscoe DCVO, FSA (née Hargreaves-Allen) Congratulations to Ingrid Roscoe (Class of 1962) who was appointed Dame Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (DCVO) in the 2017 Birthday Honours.

Ingrid is a writer on English art and has published numerous articles on aspects of the fine and applied arts.

She studied at the University of Leeds, and her doctoral thesis on Peter Scheemakers, the sculptor responsible for the monument to William Shakespeare in Westminster Abbey, was published by the Walpole Society. Ingrid stayed on at Leeds University to lecture in the 1990s, and in 2010 she was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, by the university.

Ingrid has served in the Lieutenancy of West Yorkshire since 1994, when she was made a deputy Lieutenant, and became the Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire in 2004. She now holds many voluntary positions and is the patron of numerous groups.

Alice Lassman Congratulations to Alice Lassman (Class of 2016) who has been awarded the ‘Rising Star’ prize of £10,000 as part of the inaugural Indigo Prize for Economics.

The prizes were awarded to economists for coming up with a better way to measure the wealth of modern nations rather than gross national product. Alice, who is currently studying geography at Durham University was awarded this prize for her new GIIP index, which suggests that a nation's prosperity be measured through two perspectives: their degree of global integration, and also an individual’s potential contributions to an economy (judged by their perception, opportunity and ability).

from the development office University Spot

Lunch tch rls Lacrosse Ma

Alumnae vs Gi

Alumnae BB

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king Futures Networ Breakfast

Careers Futures Evening ustries Ind e tiv ea Cr in the

University Sp

ot Lunch

Afternoon Tea Future Lives Speakers

a

n Te Afternoo vs Alumnae

sse Match

Girls Lacro

Futures Networking Breakfast

Guest speakers Thank you to Shamira Sanghrajka (Class of 2009) for coming back to St Helen’s to speak to the Sixth Form as part of the Sixth Form Lecture Programme; and thank you to Charmian Baker née Davies (Class of 1971), Cilla Alexander née Crump (Class of 1961), Janet Kirchheimer née Ritchie (Class of 1969), Karen Kellock née Davidsen (Class of 1984), Barbara Jones (Class of 1972), for giving up their time and coming back to St Helen’s to talk to our Year 7 students about their time here.

Shamira Sanghrajka

Cilla Alexander

Karen Kellock

Charmian Baker

Janet Kirchheimer

Barbara Jones

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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.