The GDST Life Magazine 2024/25

STORYTELLING FROM THE FRONTLINE

Ramita Navai

MOTHER OF THE MINISKIRT

Mary Quant remembered

MAKING A SPLASH

Summaya Mughal

ALUMNA OF THE YEAR

HANAN ISSA

LINDA GRANT

Hanan Issa is a Welsh-Iraqi poet, film-maker, scriptwriter and artist. Her publications include her poetry collection My Body Can House

RAMITA NAVAI

Winner of the GDST Alumna of the Year 2023, Ramita Navai is a double Emmy and double Robert F. Kennedy award-winning British-Iranian investigative journalist, documentary maker and author. The Alumna of the Year Award is an annual competition celebrating the extraordinary achievements by the GDST’s alumnae. Entrants are nominated by their community, and the winner is decided by public vote.

Writer, Linda Grant, shares memories of her Belvedere school days. The author of five non-fiction books and seven novels, she won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2000 and the Lettre Ulysses Prize for Literary Reportage in 2006. The Clothes on Their Backs was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2008 and went on to win the South Bank Show Award. Her latest novel is The Story of the Forest 14 16

Two Hearts and Welsh Plural: Essays on the Future of Wales. Her winning monologue With Her Back Straight was performed at the Bush Theatre as part of the Hijabi Monologues. In July 2022, Hanan was appointed as the National Poet of Wales, the first Muslim poet to hold the title. We talked to her about the books that shaped her literary backbone.

Welcome to the 2024 edition of GDST Life

Over the past year, we have made great strides in fearlessly leading our GDST family of 23 independent schools and two academies into the future. Our Space Diploma programme has been delivered to 11 schools to date and we are in the third year of our hugely popular GDST LEAD Diploma programme for Sixth Form students in partnership with LSE. We are also working towards harnessing the potential benefits of AI to enhance our teaching and learning outcomes.

Alongside these student-centred activities, we proudly hosted two tremendously successful TEDx events, one at Nottingham Girls’ High School and the other at Oxford High School, and we have more exciting activities planned for the future so watch this space. In March, we honoured Women’s History Month with a campaign celebrating our trailblazing GDST alumnae and the future change makers being educated in our schools.

This edition of GDST Life is a celebration of our phenomenal alumnae who have achieved extraordinary things and have strived to make our world a better place; groundbreaking role models who have challenged age-old norms, broken cultural barriers and given a voice to women who would otherwise have remained unheard.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you, the members of our 100,000-strong alumnae network, who continue to inspire our students in so many different ways. Your contributions, however big or small, are hugely appreciated. Whether it’s participating in a panel event, visiting a school or connecting with a Sixth Form student to offer careers advice. The feedback that I continually receive from our schools shows that these interactions make an overwhelmingly positive impact on these young women.

Thank you for remaining an essential part of the GDST family - your support and insight are pivotal to our mission to empower girls to learn without limits. I am sending my warmest wishes to you for every success and happiness in the coming year.

Cheryl Giovannoni CHIEF EXECUTIVE

EDITOR Rachel Eling

DEPUTY

EDITOR

Jackie Ashe

DESIGN

NEWS

GDST LEAD REACHES NEW HIGHS

GDST LEAD (Leadership & Enterprise Advanced Diploma) is our flagship leadership and enterprise programme, which we launched in 2021 in partnership with The London School of Economics (LSE). With its hands-on, experiential, and femalefocused approach, LEAD offers a unique introduction to the business world, and helps students build the skills they will need to thrive in the 21st-century workplace. This year, over 200 students across 20 GDST schools have joined LEAD, with three more schools signed up to join next year.

The year-long programme is designed for Sixth Form student teams to develop a sustainable business idea that has social impact and can be monetised to raise funds for the charity of their choice. Throughout the year, students receive mentoring from dedicated LSE alumni entrepreneurs and GDST Innovation & Learning staff, along with in-person support, online boot camps and leadership workshops. The programme culminates in a showcase event in central London,

which brings the teams together to pitch their businesses to a panel of judges, and closes with an awards ceremony.

Karen Kimura, Careers & Employability Manager at the GDST said, “GDST LEAD is a ground-breaking programme whose objective is to empower students to feel confident and able to thrive in the fast-evolving future landscapes that await them.”

GENERATION GENAI

Generation GenAI – the young people who are growing up with Generative AI as part of their everyday reality – are in our education system right now. And so for the GDST, GenAI has become a priority in terms of pulling together across all our schools to harness the potential benefits, and address the challenges it presents.

A number of GDST schools are already on board with the AI movement, and have launched highly creative programmes encouraging students and colleagues to engage productively with it. Blackheath High School are planning their forthcoming AI conference for GDST staff (see

page 10) and Oxford High School's recent TEDx Youth event featured Google DeepMind's Jennie Lees who talked about the importance of bringing curious and diverse minds to AI development (see page 24).

Brighton Girls have embraced the AI revolution, working with Sphinx AI to pilot the use of AI chatbots to support SEND students in the classroom. Sydenham High School has been focusing on deepening understanding in the value of AI in teaching. Meanwhile, Wimbledon High School’s Sixth Formers have been putting students’ voices at the heart of the debate, taking part in the Financial Times’ The Big Read series on the merits and pitfalls of using AI in their studies. This is just the beginning.

Rachel Evans, Interim Director of Digital Transformation at the GDST and co-chair of the GDST’s AI Committee, said, “Identifying the potential and risks of AI in education is such a broad aim, so it's exciting to bring together colleagues to share and develop the best ideas about how we can use this technology to benefit our pupils.”

However teachers move forward with AI in schools, there is not, and never will be, any substitute for human connection in learning. As Rachel puts it, “We’re still going to be ensuring that human decisionmaking and communications are at the heart of what we do, but we can leverage AI technologies to make our lives easier.”

The GDST’s AI Committee has been formally established to foster

a culture of AI innovation and provide resources for stakeholders including a full programme of AI CPD for teachers as part of the EdTech 25 Continuing Professional Development programme. It will also consider pedagogical and ethical considerations, data privacy, and compliance with relevant regulations in all AI-related initiatives.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND

Students continue to ’boldly go‘, with our Space Technology Diploma now going into its fifth year. Created for the GDST in collaboration with Sutton High School's Head of Computer Science, Nicola Jane Buttigieg, the course is comparable to an undergraduate university module – designed to fill a gap in degreelevel study in computer science disciplines that relate specifically to space science.

This year the course was delivered to 11 schools across the GDST, in collaboration with STEM Associates Cranfield University Student Exploration and Development (CranSEDS). It is supported by NASA Earth Data Systems, NASA HQ Goddard Space Flight Center and The University of Warwick

Satellite Engineering Programme, who provide live lectures and content throughout the year.

One NASA representative, who joined a panel of industry professionals invited to take part in the course said, “I have PhD students who aren’t coding to the level that this group are.”

Feedback from the students has been extremely positive, too. Alex said, ”The Space Technology programme has pushed me outside my comfort zone. I have learnt exciting real world applications of code which have allowed me to look at future careers in space technology engineering.”

Alysha added, “It's an amazing opportunity that will stay with me long after I leave school. It teaches skills you wouldn’t usually learn at school and gives an idea of future career opportunities.”

The Diploma challenges students to develop programming skills for space technology ventures, using their new-found knowledge of stratospheric data analysis, Python coding and planetary science. It also combines a highly experiential component, where, this year, students designed and built their own solar-power aircraft.

GDST SING!

Earlier this year, we hosted our annual GDST Sing! concert at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where over 100 students from all 25 of our schools collaborated on a musical performance.

Talented young choristers, including Natalie Fooks, winner of the BBC 2023 Young Chorister of the Year competition, and a Sheffield Girls’ student, took to the stage to sing The Girl from Aleppo, by multiaward winning composer, Cecilia McDowall. Based on the international best-selling book, The Girl from Aleppo tells the story of Nujeen, a teenager with cerebral palsy forced by war to flee her home and travel 3,500 miles in a wheelchair to safety in Germany.

The GDST singers were conducted by Tori Longdon, Principal Conductor of the Covent Garden Chorus and Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Training Choir. The concert was co-ordinated by Richard McElwaine, Director of Music at Northwood College for Girls.

GDST Sing! Juniors will return next year, to give the GDST’s youngest musicians their own opportunity to come together, learn through music and build their confidence.

The Belvedere Academy

Belvedere Academy’s Eco Group, under the leadership of Health and Social Care Subject Lead and Eco Lead Catherine Keenan, has been making a real difference to the school and local community.

The group is not only encouraging and managing recycling efforts throughout the school, but has made recyclable and biodegradable equipment available in the academy canteens. The initiative now forms part of a wider programme of using reusable water bottles at water machines, and recycling wherever possible. The Eco Group has also started a project to encourage staff and pupils to switch off devices before the end of the day, and will be measuring the impact of this by comparing energy use over the course of the scheme.

In addition, staff and pupils often join The Friends of Princes Park on Sundays to help with litter collection and general park maintenance – Princes Park being a beautiful and important amenity that Belvedere backs onto.

Belvedere has submitted a bid to the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority Community Fund to create a space outside for a greenhouse and a couple of bee hives. This space will be used for teaching and learning, as well as for the Eco Group to enjoy learning about sustainability.

SCHOOL NEWS

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

DAME MARY QUANT

Dame Mary Quant, the British designer and Blackheath High School alumna who revolutionised fashion and epitomised the style of the Swinging Sixties, died in April 2023. Known as the mother of the miniskirt, she was 93.

Mary Quant was born in Blackheath on 11 February 1930 to Welsh schoolteachers John and Mildred. Evacuated to a village in Kent with her brother Tony during the war, Quant recalled her earliest fashion memory as being in bed with measles at six years old and cutting the bedspread with nail scissors to transform it into a dress.

When Quant was dispatched to a boarding school in Tunbridge Wells and presented with an exam question that asked her to choose between the Roundheads and the Cavaliers, Quant deemed it a no-brainer. “I came down

strongly on the side of the Cavaliers, as they were more chic,” she said.

On leaving Blackheath High, she expressed her intention to pursue a career in fashion. Her parents were firmly against the idea. Quant persuaded them to agree, on the condition that she took an art teacher’s diploma. Quant applied to and was accepted at Goldsmiths. It was here that she met her future husband, the debonair Alexander Plunket Greene, describing him as “a 6ft 2in prototype for Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney rolled into one.”

Photograph by John Adriaan

“Life … began for me when I first saw Plunket,” she wrote in her 1966 autobiography, Quant by Quant He was short on ready cash, with an income of “four bob a day,” she recalled, “if one bought cigarettes one couldn’t go to the cinema too.”

Mary Quant graduated from Goldsmiths in 1953, the year of the Queen’s Coronation, in a Britain still subject to wartime rationing, and began work as a trainee assistant at the Mayfair milliner Erik. Quant picked up pins with a magnet and counted out the ration of one chocolate biscuit a day for the assistants, who were so poorly paid that, as Cecil Beaton joked, “there were weeks when only an aspirin touched Mary’s lips and, but for the Jamaicans in nearby Claridge’s kitchens handing over their refuse bins, she would have starved.”

Plunket’s poverty ended on his 21st birthday when he inherited £5,000. Advised by the entrepreneur Archie McNair, a lawyer who had become a portrait photographer and who ran a coffee bar under his studio in Chelsea, the three decided to open a business together. Each man put up £5,000, and they bought a building at 138a King’s Road. Plunket told McNair that his girl was good at clothes, and Quant quit the Mayfair millinery to set up Bazaar, a fashion boutique, on the ground floor. Young women at the time were turning their backs on the corseted shapes of their mothers, with their nipped waists and ship’s-prow chests which had dominated since 1947. They disdained the uniform of the establishment — the lacquered helmets of hair, the twin sets and heels, the primly matched accessories — the model for which was typically in her 30s, not a young gamine like Quant.

Quant’s fashion connected with a new generation of aspirational and modern young women with careers and money in their pockets.

When she couldn’t find the pieces she wanted, Quant made them herself, buying fabric from Harrods at retail prices on a Plunket family account, and had to sell each batch of clothes before she could buy more; when she ran out of stock, she simply shut up shop and started sewing in her bedsit, batting away her Siamese cat as it tried to eat the Butterick patterns she worked from.

Within seven years of opening in Chelsea, a second store was launched in Knightsbridge, and the business had made more than £1 million. Quant’s designs were in 150 shops in the UK, 320 shops in the USA and on sale globally in France, Italy, Switzerland, Kenya, South Africa, Australia and Canada.

Hair and make-up were also part of the vision. She was already having her hair cut at acute angles by rising star, Vidal Sassoon, telling him decades later, “I made the clothes: you put the top on.” And in the mid 1960s, Mary Quant Cosmetics was born, to complete the Mary Quant ’look‘.

In the spring of 2019, when the Victoria & Albert Museum showed its retrospective of her work, a vibrant exhibition of 120 pieces from her heyday, the curators included a montage of photographs and memories from the thousands of women who had answered their call to share their beloved Mary Quant pieces — along with tales of how they had worn them as liberated young women heading to job interviews and first dates, a powerful tribute to Quant’s legacy and the nascent feminism of her times.

As tributes began to flood in on

Twitter following news of her death, the Victoria & Albert Museum said: “It’s impossible to overstate Quant’s contribution to fashion. She represented the joyful freedom of 1960s fashion, and provided a new role model for young women. Fashion today owes so much to her trailblazing vision.”

In 2009, Quant’s favourite dress – called the Banana Split – was featured on a set of Royal Mail stamps, along with other icons of design including Concorde, Spitfire, the Anglepoise lamp and the London Underground map. When she wrote her second autobiography in 2012, three years before she was made a Dame for Services to the Fashion Industry, she looked back on her adventurous existence with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. “I mostly felt, my God, what a marvellous life you had, you are very fortunate. I think to myself, you lucky woman – how did you have all this fun?”

“I think to myself, you lucky woman –how did you have all this fun?”

Dame Mary Quant

Mary Quant, Blackheath High School alumna, fashion designer and entrepreneur, born 11 February 1930, died 13 April 2023.

SCHOOL NEWS

Birkenhead High School Academy

Over the years, Birkenhead High School Academy’s relationship with Lingham’s, the local bookshop, has brought reading to life. Clare Balding, Eoin Colfer, Chris Riddell, Dermot O’Leary and Dame Jacqueline Wilson are just some of the great writers to have excited students with their love for reading and their commitment to writing a good story.

Reading now permeates every aspect of school life, with the expansion of the library into two beautifully stocked libraries; the employment of Reading Dog Rita, to help captivate more reluctant readers; and the impact of ´big girls reading to little girls´ through the Big Sister reading project.

Being a 3-19 state funded girls’ academy provides some very distinct opportunities for reading. The Big Sister reading project is one of these, highlighting the mutual benefits of reading and being read to. Not only does it give Sixth Formers the chance to show leadership, but it also provides them with an opportunity to talk with younger students and see the positive impact they can have.

This year, BHSA’s oracy project was infused with excitement, with former pupil Lizzie Waterworth attending. A professional cartoon voice artist (and the voice of Horrid Henry) Lizzie has recently published How to Talk so People will Listen. She explained how confidence in speaking is not necessarily something that you are born with but is a skill that can be developed.

Cressida Cowell, author of How to Train your Dragon and former Children’s Laureate also visited, addressing BHSA students alongside pupils from surrounding primary schools.

Blackheath High School

To explore the impact of AI on education, on society and, critically, on women and girls, Blackheath High School will host a groundbreaking Teaching & Learning conference for GDST colleagues entitled AI Through the Lens of a Girl

Illustrious keynote speakers include Dr Kerry McInerney, Research Fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge –her work explores the intersections between race, gender, political violence and artificial intelligence – and Toju Duke, lead at Google’s Responsible AI programmes and the founder of Diverse AI - which champions underrepresented groups to build a diverse and inclusive AI future - and author of Building Responsible AI Algorithms

Workshops, a student panel and discussion sessions will enable GDST teachers to explore the role of AI in shaping educational methodologies, gender disparity in technology and the complexities of navigating the ethical and wellbeing of AI integration in classrooms.

The event is part of Blackheath High’s mission to deliver an education designed for the women of the future, equipping educators with the insights and tools to navigate AI in education.

SCHOOL MEMORIES my

Multi-award-winning author and journalist, Linda Grant, tells tales

during

girls’

of her Belvedere school days,

a time when the world was changing and

heads were full of the Merseybeat.

I started at Belvedere in the autumn of 1962 having graduated from the junior school along the road, passing a test taken in addition to the 11+ called the ‘promotion’ in which I excelled in English and failed at maths. On my first day I was called into the Headmistress's office and told that the Board of Governors had to decide whether or not to admit me. I was there on probation.

“It was a momentous time to be nearly a teenager in Liverpool.”

It was a momentous time to be nearly a teenager in Liverpool. The school, which occupied a row of Victorian houses next to a convent, was in Liverpool 8, close to what is now called the Georgian Quarter. A short bus ride away was the art school and NEMS, the record shop owned by Brian Epstein who had just appointed himself manager of the Beatles. The city was swarming with rock and roll clubs: the Jacaranda,

the Mardi Gras and the Cavern, a cellar that smelled of damp and rotting vegetables. A month after I arrived in regulation school uniform of gymslip, blue shirt and blue and green striped tie,The Beatles released their first single, Love Me Do, and all hell broke loose in this self-consciously elite establishment which educated the city’s daughters of professionals and businessmen.

At lunchtimes we took over the

school hall and had an impromptu disco, doing the hand-swinging dance called the Cavern stomp. Come Christmas the senior Sixth Form girls performed a series of skits in which four girls, one of whom was reputed to be a girlfriend of George Harrison, dressed in The Beatles’ borrowed Hamburg leather jackets, miming to the new single.

Being a direct grant school, a proportion of the intake were on scholarships from the city council, awarded for high grades at the 11+. In an attempt to flatten out any class differences between us, in the first term there were compulsory elocution lessons given by the speech and drama teacher, Miss Dodsworth. In our navy blazers and berets we were considered to be ambassadors for the school on the various buses that took us home to the suburbs.

The teachers were mostly what were known then as spinsters, house-sharing with other teachers and seemed to be several hundred years old. I think they were in their forties and fifties. They came from a generation who had to give up their careers when they married and for whatever reason, had stayed single, whether they liked their profession, or had not met the right man (or the right woman). We assumed they knew nothing whatsoever about sex.

Photograph by

Charlie Hopkinson

But these unmarried teachers exerted an influence of which we were not, at that time, conscious. While the school was not an academic hothouse, they gave us the breathing space to develop an independence of mind so that feminism came naturally to us.

“The teachers gave us the breathing space to develop an independence of mind so that feminism came naturally to us.”

We were charged to go out into the world and do something. My probationary period at the school came to end when I encountered our form teacher, Miss Smith. Vera Smith, born in 1910, an Edwardian. She was less than a decade away from retirement when I started, with fine, fair hair, dressed in tweed skirts, sensible shoes and lace-edged cream blouses. She had studied English at Liverpool University, graduating at the beginning of the Thirties, and was the first teacher to make me see that there was a world of literature out there in which I might find a place.

It was Miss Smith who made me a writer. I could write, I couldn’t and still can’t do much else. It was a tragic loss to me when she died not long after she left the school.

In the Sixth Form, we girls who were no good at games were given the option of going on a cross country run, around Princes Park

Linda Grant (bottom right) c1967

which the school backed onto. They knew they were giving us a ticket to ride: as soon as we got out of sight, we dropped our gait to a leisurely walk and meandered towards the swings. We felt louche and sophisticated. We would soon be leaving – for university or teaching training college or for me, to a job as a trainee reporter on a local newspaper.

I am older now than the oldest of our teachers. All are long dead. Still, they appear in school photographs - rows of independent women grappling with the minds of unformed girls, whose heads were full of the Merseybeat.

Linda Grant

Linda Grant is an alumna of The Belvedere Academy (formerly known as The Belvedere School). After her studies, she worked as a journalist, writing for The Guardian and Independent on Sunday. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and holds honorary doctorates from the University of York and John Moores University.

Her first novel, The Cast Iron Shore (1996), won the David Higham First Novel Prize and was shortlisted for The Guardian Book Prize. Her next book, Remind Me Who I Am, Again (1998) a family memoir about her mother’s dementia, won the Mind Book of the Year award, and the Age Concern Book of the Year award. When I Lived in Modern Times (2000) won the Orange Prize for Fiction and Still Here (also 2000) was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Her non-fiction book, The People on the Street: A Writer’s View of Israel (2005) won the Letter Ulysses Prize for Literary Reportage, and her next novel, The Clothes on their Backs (2008) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Her subsequent novel, The Dark Circle (2016) was shortlisted for the Bailey’s Prize and Wingate Prize, and A Stranger City (2019) won the Wingate Prize in 2020.

Her latest novel, The Story of the Forest, was published in 2023.

Brighton Girls

On 8 March, Brighton Girls welcomed ten fabulous alumnae back to celebrate International Women’s Day. During an afternoon of panel discussions, chaired by the brilliant Jasmine Birtles, everyone was entertained by inspiring life stories and career journeys featuring everything from farting corpses to incredible acts of service.

Some speakers could trace a line from their present career directly back to a moment at school. While in the Junior school, Rachel Carr had listened to a talk from a police community liaison officer and decided on her path; she knew she wanted to serve her community and is now a Chief Superintendent at Sussex Police. In a tear-jerking moment, former Head Student, Daisy Wright, named Ms Baldwin (sitting unsuspectedly in the audience) as the reason why she now has a career in politics.

Others had taken surprising turns - like Danielle Sanderson, who had no involvement in sport while at school but, at the age of 26, started running, discovered a talent, and went on to represent Great Britain 21 times. Danielle found herself sharing the stage with Olympian, Karen Pickering, and discovered their paths had crossed once before since leaving school - at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

Careers in finance, journalism, AI, publishing, fashion and social media, politics, and sport were all represented but, despite their disparate paths, the speakers possessed a common spirit: a determination to pursue their goals; a desire to make a difference to people’s lives; and, of course, a great affection for their former school.

Bromley High School

Bromley High School was delighted to welcome alumna Serena Gupta (Class of 2019) back to school to quiz her about her role as Communications Officer for an MP at the House of Commons.

Graduating from the University of Warwick in History of Art before going on to complete a Fashion Curation and Cultural Programme Masters from the London College of Fashion, University of Arts London, Serena found her calling in communications. Her varied responsibilities include briefing the MP before interviews, media liaison, and crafting editorial pieces and correspondence. She also attends constituency and parliamentary visits, documenting events to put out on social media.

Of her role, she says, “Surprisingly, I didn’t study politics. It goes to show that to excel in politics you just need to understand people, rather than theory – and that’s exactly what Bromley High School taught me. It fostered an open-minded approach within me, as the education didn’t adhere to a single perspective. All students’ viewpoints were valued, and we also delved into diverse, opposing and global perspectives during class discussions.”

SCHOOL NEWS

SHELFIE

The

National Poet of Wales and Howell’s School, Llandaff alumna Hanan Issa on the books that inspire, educate and delight her.

Neverwhere Neil Gaiman

I’m a huge Neil Gaiman fan but Neverwhere has a special place in my heart for conjuring up such a fantastical, layered depiction of London and its multifaceted past. I’ll never forget the way he imagined characters and scenarios based on place names - an Earl at Earl’s Court, the black friars at Blackfriars - I still wonder whether there are any ghostly grey friars on Greyfriars Road here in Cardiff!

Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe

This was the first time I encountered prose writing that felt truly poetic. Achebe unfolds his story so delicately only to bludgeon us with the stark realities of colonial history towards the end. Eye-opening and unforgettable work that introduced

me to the themes of identity, colonialism and works that speak of the darker elements of world history.

Orientalism Edward Said

Said’s work gifted me with so much understanding about my own mixed heritage and more broadly the concept of Otherness and how we humans see difference. I return to it every so often to re-educate myself and I think it’s definitely that time again!

Crown Of Stars Kate Elliott

I’ve always been an epic fantasy lover and have got lost in the worlds of Tolkien, CS Lewis etc over and over again but Kate Elliott’s work was the first world-building fantasy series I read where women were the main characters - and not just women but mixed-race women - so you can see the attraction for me! Based on the historical happenings of the Hapsburg Empire this series is brimming with magical creatures and landscapes to lose yourself in. The shift to include much more woman-centred storytelling was refreshingly welcome.

The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison has been a guiding light since I first studied a module of

her work back as an undergraduate. She famously said, “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” I have taken that advice very much to heart! The Bluest Eye has an unreliable narrator you can’t help feeling an immense amount of empathy for as she struggles to feel beautiful and accepted in a world not built for women who look like her.

The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid’s Tale was the book that articulated so much of my own anxieties on womanhood and the world. I remember hearing Margaret Atwood speak on the plot, explaining that nothing in the novel had not already happened at some point in time, somewhere in the world. Her book is still hauntingly resonant today as we, unfortunately, see the precarious position women’s bodily autonomy still has in 2024. It was such a privilege to meet her a few years ago and say how much her work had meant to me. I asked her about transitioning from writing poetry into prose and after giving me some very helpful advice, she shook my hand and wished me luck - I didn’t want to wash that hand for a while after!

Hanan Issa

Hanan Issa is a Welsh-Iraqi poet, filmmaker, scriptwriter, and artist. Her Welsh grandparents recited poetry to her as a child, and she learned folklore and storytelling from both sides of her family. Issa wrote poems for herself for years until an anti-Muslim comment by then–British Prime Minister David Cameron sparked her anger and prompted her to share a poem on the subject with a friend. The friend encouraged her to share the poem on Facebook, where Hanan Issa found a passionate response, inspiring her to consider poetry as a connector with others as opposed to a personal practice. In July 2022, Issa was appointed for a three-year term as the National Poet of Wales. Her work has been performed and published by publications and organisations including BBC Wales, ITV Wales, Huffington Post, StAnza Festival, Wales Arts International, and the British Council.

Croydon High School

The Royal Astronomical Society recognised Mrs Arabi Karteepan, Head of Physics at Croydon High School, with the 2024 Secondary and Further Education Award, acknowledging her outstanding contribution to promoting Astronomy and Space Science within the educational community.

Mrs Karteepan’s achievements include leading one of the first successful launches from a UK school of high-altitude meteorological balloons, reaching an impressive altitude of over 32,000 metres. This accomplishment demonstrated her commitment to hands-on, experiential learning, providing her pupils with a unique and engaging experience.

Mrs Karteepan has collaborated with other agencies to engage her pupils in exciting scientific projects. Notable among these collaborations is her partnership with OpenWeather, hosting a workshop on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration images using amateur radio.

In February, the school hosted an evening event to celebrate the success of Mission Aspiration and announce Astrogazers' new mission, Mission Pegasus. Family and friends, staff, professionals from universities, institutions, and industry, and the Executive Mayor of Croydon, Jason Perry, were in attendance. Ms Davies, Head, gave an opening speech sharing the success of Astrogazers and mentioning Croydon High’s commitment to developing STEAM opportunities.

Mrs Karteepan was excited to reveal that Croydon High will be the first school in the UK to launch a satellite into space as part of Mission Pegasus.

SCHOOL NEWS

Ramita Navai is a multiple award-winning journalist, documentary maker and author. She is also an alumna of Putney High School and winner of the GDST’s Alumna of the Year Award.

ALUMNA OF THE YEAR

PUTNEY HIGH SCHOOL’S RAMITA NAVAI

Photograph by ITV/Ramita Navai

Back from a longer-than-planned assignment in the West Bank, Ramita Navai views her career and what brought her here through a very long lens. She starts her story well before her years at Putney High School (which she joined in Year 7), with some of her most formative experiences in Tehran, at less than five years old.

Always engaged with the world around her, Ramita and her friend Natasha started an Amnesty International group at Putney and began writing human rights letters from an early age. “But,” she says, “it may also have been my background that informed this, with the fact that there was a revolution in my country and so political talk at the breakfast table was normal. And not just any political talk but talk of revolution, and the impact of it on friends and family. And the bloody, violent regime that was installed afterwards. That was all normal talk for me growing up.

“I remember the revolution. I was five years old when it happened; six when I finally left the country. My Mum took me out as a child, secretly, to the protests. She carried me in her arms. We had a flat with a little balcony and Mum would take me out onto the balcony and show me the tracer fire when there was fighting and shooting. And I remember militia fighters coming into our cul-de-sac and everybody turning the lights off and being very still, huddling together. I remember knowing that people were feeling afraid.

“I was sitting on my own, and I remember Mum whispering, did I want to come and sit with her? I said no. I was watching. I was fascinated. I knew this was abnormal and the

adults were fearful, but I felt safe with Mum and Dad.”

A career in frontline journalism may well have been her destiny, but Ramita says she found her way “quite late in life.” After graduating with a Masters in journalism, she headed straight to Iran. Here, she was freelancing for the UN humanitarian news site (then called IRIN News, now The New Humanitarian), when disaster struck. Iran suffered a massive earthquake, leaving tens of thousands of people dead, and Ramita was one of the first western reporters to get to the area. “That was 2003, the Bam earthquake, and the first newspaper job I ever did. I phoned up The Sunday Times and said, if I can get myself there, will you take the piece? They carried the story, and then the next day The Times found out I was there and asked me to file for them too. My story made front page of The Times: I was the first journalist who had never written for the paper before to get a Times foreign front page story.

“It’s something that doesn’t sit well with me… it was this horrific event that gave me my break. There’s something very uncomfortable about that.”

Since then, Ramita has put herself into some extremely dangerous situations, exposing injustice, criminal activity, and appalling cruelty around the world. These include reports from South Sudan and Syria, and investigations into blood diamonds in Zimbabwe, sex trafficking in Mexico, child prisoners in Burundi, the Taliban’s treatment of women in Afghanistan, India’s rape scandal and El Salvador’s child assassins, to name just a few. She talks about the bravery of people she has met along with way, like the Iranians risking their lives to stand up against the regime, the young women in Afghanistan running secret safe houses, and the Indian men and women speaking out against rape. Or most recently, the Israeli peace activist she met, helping Palestinian families with their olive harvest.

“It was this horrific event that gave me my break. There’s something very uncomfortable about that.”

“These are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They’re speaking out when there’s so much pressure on them. Social pressure, political pressure, cultural pressure,” she says. So, how does Ramita keep herself safe? For a start, she stresses that she is “not a soldier. I don’t want to be on the frontline. I don’t do frontline journalism. While my appetite for risk hasn’t changed, I guess the more experience you have, the safer you are, and you probably have a better instinct for danger.

“We have a rule when we’re working; if one person [on the reporting team, usually of three people] doesn’t want to do something, we don’t do it.”

Psychologically, it is a different matter, and she is mindful that the mental strain might one day take its toll. “I’m very good at compartmentalising,” she says, “but none of us are immune from breakdown. So far that hasn’t happened… though I do have a sense that I’m very unimportant – especially when I’m reporting something horrific – and that it’s not my pain. In a way, I think there’s something slightly egotistical about taking on somebody

else’s pain, when I’m really lucky to be able to go back home to my life, my friends and my family. I don’t have the right to take on others’ pain.”

With all that she has achieved, Ramita is most proud of her book, City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran (2015). “I felt that ordinary Iranians’ stories were not being told,” she says. “If you live and work in Iran as a journalist, you have to self-censor, or you’re censored,

and if not, you get arrested, possibly imprisoned and maybe worse. I knew I wanted to write all the stories that I hadn’t been writing as a journalist, but it came at a cost. The price I pay is not being able to go back to my motherland, ever.”

So, what’s next? “I’m really interested in the power of fiction,” she says, “and the power of art to convey a message and tell a story.” She talks about using fiction to raise contentious, often frightening issues with new and large audiences, and is exploring different mediums to tell her stories. She has recently started writing a novel, “inspired by the truth” and is working up a television series with a UK production company – an experience she describes as liberating.

She stresses, though, that she has no plans to leave current affairs reporting and documentary-making behind. “I can’t imagine not doing what I do,” she says.

Ramita Navai is a British Iranian investigative journalist, documentary maker and author. With a reputation for working in hostile environments, she has reported from over 40 countries, made over 30 documentaries and features, and worked as a foreign correspondent for print. She completed a Masters in journalism at City University, where her graduating film on transsexual legislation in the UK won the national Young Broadcast Journalist of the Year award. Some 20 years on, her work has taken her to many of the world’s most dangerous and wartorn countries. With this, she has won over 20 major awards, including two Emmys and two Robert F Kennedy awards, with nominations too numerous to list. She has written and contributed to two books (so far), guested on scores of television and radio shows, created a Top 10 Apple podcast, The Line of Fire, and has appeared – as herself – in the thriller TV series, Homeland

www.ramitanavai.com

Ramita Navai

Howell’s School, Llandaff

Everyone at Howell’s is thrilled that, after almost two years of painstaking and intricate work, the restoration of the oldest part of the school building has been completed.

The transformation is truly spectacular. Originally opened in 1860 as a school for ’orphan maidens‘, this beautiful building boasts a new roof, meticulously repaired stonework and replacement windows, restoring it to its original splendour. Many thanks to Gareth Dyer, Director of Finance and Operations, Fran Keeping, Business and Lettings Manager, colleagues at the GDST and everyone involved for their invaluable contributions to this project; their dedication will ensure that future generations of Hywelians will receive their education in this magnificent setting.

Members of the Howell’s community will all be warmly welcomed back to witness the remarkable results of the hard work first hand!

SCHOOL NEWS

Kensington Prep School

Eco-Warriors at Kensington Prep are a force of nature! Led by the Head of Science, the Eco-Warriors have grown from a muchin-demand extra-curricular club into a way of life at the school.

The Eco-Warriors are currently working towards the school’s Plastic Free Status (an accreditation from Surfers Against Sewage) with the aim of eliminating single use plastic in school. A trash mob, collecting litter from the school grounds for analysis, revealed that packaging from local supermarket products is not always recyclable and the Eco-Warriors have sent letters to these companies to enquire about their plans to use more sustainable packaging.

It is not just the Eco-Warriors who are set on improving the school’s eco-practices: the teachers are too. In art lessons, sustainability is woven through the curriculum by sourcing and using materials that might otherwise have gone to waste, such as wood off-cuts from cabinet makers and loom reels from textile factories. The Head of Art even bulk-buys paint and decants it into squeezy ketchup bottles.

Each week the Eco-Warriors highlight an easy way to help the planet, so make sure you check the Kensington Prep Instagram account for inspiration.

LIGHTBULB MOMENT

What started as a nagging insecurity in childhood remained a shadow in Summaya Mughal’s life as, into her twenties, she remained unable to swim.

A host of factors, from her own British Pakistani background to social anxiety, had all conspired to stop Summaya from learning until, in the course of her work for the BBC, she met Alice Dearing, Team GB’s first black female swimmer.

“I love the water,” Summaya says, “I absolutely adore it. So, not being able to swim was a weird dichotomy of wanting so much to be near water, and finding it very peaceful, but at the same time, being super-scared. I had considered having swimming lessons before, but I didn’t really want to go to my local pool for the fear that someone I knew might see me and I would be really embarrassed that I was an adult who couldn’t swim.”

Inspired and encouraged by Olympians Alice Dearing and Rebecca Adlington, Summaya embarked on a life-changing journey to become a swimmer, charting her progress through her podcast, Brown Gal Can’t Swim . Life-changing in many ways, as not only did Summaya complete a 500m open-water challenge just eight weeks later, but Brown Gal Can’t Swim became a sensation, winning broadcasting awards and kick-starting an entire

Photograph by Sam Nahirny

movement to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to learn to swim.

Despite her own mother being able to swim – something that Summaya didn’t know until she started her own swimming crusade – opportunities to learn as a child were lost. She describes her mother taking her to the odd swimming lesson, but not picking it up, and how her Pakistan-born father was not interested. “Sport generally wasn’t really seen as a priority when I was growing up; let alone something like swimming, which was something my dad couldn’t do at all. He never learned and never took us to the pool. It just wasn’t on his radar.”

The potential barriers (and she is careful to stress the word ‘potential’) to swimming are, she has learnt over the course of her podcast, wideranging. Modesty – and the spectrum of how modesty is regarded by different people - was one. Cost and accessibility is another, as is the format of swimming lessons. “Not having enough female swimming sessions is one thing,” she says. “But I also spoke to many men over the series of the podcast who expressed that they would not be comfortable learning to swim in front of women.”

“Changing rooms matter too. There often isn’t a big enough or a dedicated changing space for women, or there will be a mixed-cubicle setting, which might be quite scary for some people.”

Then there are the lifeguards: some women may not feel comfortable with a male lifeguard overseeing a female-only swimming session. And then there’s the issue of pool visibility. If your pool has glass all along the side and looks out onto a car park, a lot of people will feel self-conscious.

“Not having enough female swimming sessions is one thing. But I also spoke to many men over the series of the podcast who expressed that they would not be comfortable learning to swim in front of women.”

Summaya’s mission clearly hit a nerve. “The podcast went way further than I expected it to,” she says. “I didn’t expect it to get the coverage that it did – BBC Breakfast, Woman’s Hour, Five Live, the TEDx Talk, and outside the UK as well. And I didn’t expect the number of brands and organisations that came forward wanting to get involved and understand more about what they could do to help adults learn to swim.”

Off the back of some of the issues that Brown Gal Can’t Swim surfaced, Swim England commissioned a major piece of research into adult swimming, focusing particularly on the Asian community, The Royal Lifeguard Society have invited her to become a lifeguard, and Speedo have made an approach to work with her on a modest swimwear line.

“I’m just really thankful that the sector is hoping to make a difference and support all communities,” she says.

Photograph by Emma Ford Photography

And there, possibly, is some of the magic of her movement. Brown Gal Can’t Swim, it turns out, didn’t just highlight the potential barriers to swimming within the Asian community. “I think Brown Gal Can’t Swim did so well because firstly, we found a community of people that felt seen, regardless of their ethnicity, because they couldn’t swim. Then, because the community it was originally aimed at – mine – felt seen and heard in something they knew was a problem nobody was speaking about, and finally, because it’s a topic that captures the interest of all sorts of people.”

“We found a community of people that felt seen, regardless of their ethnicity, because they couldn’t swim.”

So, where does Brown Gal Can’t Swim go next? “It is open-ended,” she says. “The BBC have spoken about a number of different options for the Brown Gal brand – whether we do another sport, or go into other areas. Whatever we do, there are always millions of individuals who can’t do something, who don’t feel visible, or have perceived barriers about acquiring a particular skill.” She’s very clear about one thing, though. “I’d like it to move away from me. Tempting as it is to tell the world about all the things I can’t do, I don’t want to become ‘novel’. It would be great fun, but the most

rewarding things I’ve done are things that have served a greater meaning or purpose.

“The most important thing is probably to figure out where I can have the greatest impact for the people that need it the most… which is a really long way of saying that I’m still working it out!”

STOP PRESS. Summaya has been appointed to the BBC’s Olympics team, and will shortly be heading to the Paris 2024 Games to report across the BBC’s TV, radio, online and social media channels.

Summaya Mughal

Summaya is an alumna of Nottingham Girls’ High School, and a multi-award winning senior BBC journalist, presenter, actor and TEDx speaker.

Brown Gal Can’t Swim won Podcast of the Year at the British Sports Journalism Awards, a Nottingham Award from the city for contribution to community, the Asian Media Award for Best Podcast and Summaya was nominated for On Screen Breakthrough at the Midlands Royal Television Society Awards.

She currently presents weekday Mid-Mornings (10am-2pm) on BBC Radio Leicester where she created Brown Gal Can’t Swim

@SummayaMughal summaya.mughal

Photograph by Sam Nahirny

Photograph by Charlie Firth @Charliefirth

Newcastle High School for Girls

When young girls are empowered to pursue their dreams, they not only fulfil their own ambitions but also have the potential to inspire the next generation to aim high. This is why NHSG has launched its Trailblazing in… assemblies where one of the school’s 5,000 alumnae is invited to share their trailblazing journey with Senior School pupils.

Alumnae are a vital part of the NHSG community, and hearing from impressive women who once attended the school talking about their careers and experiences highlights to pupils what they are capable of achieving in the future. The diversity of careers presented resilience and adaptability and encouraged all pupils to think more laterally about their own career paths.

The Trailblazing in… assemblies have so far covered Medicine, Performing Arts, Hospitality, AI and Swarm Robotics, Engineering, Graphic Design, Veterinary Medicine, Start-up Business, and Trailblazing as a Barrister. The school has also welcomed alumnae giving careers advice and talks for girls who are beginning to shape their own plans for the future.

Whether speaking to one pupil or 500, every message an alumna gives has impact. Role models matter, especially for women, and NHSG’s alumnae pave the way for those coming through behind them, and instil belief in the younger generation that they too can achieve their dreams.

Northampton High School

Northampton High School has put mental health at the heart of its wellbeing focus throughout the school, and with Children’s Mental Health Week 2024, launched a series of initiatives to engage with students of all ages.

Inviting pupils to embrace Place2Be’s campaign, My Voice Matters, the school highlighted how voices can be encouraged or inhibited, and how a voice for beliefs, values and feelings can be expressed through a variety of mediums, from the spoken word, through art, music and/or dance. Guests from The Lowdown, the children’s mental health charity, also visited the school and students got involved by discussing positive habits that support their own mental health and sharing what matters to them on a wellbeing wall of hearts.

Through wellbeing spaces in both the Junior and Senior School, the PSHE programme and weekly wellbeing offerings, including the popular wellbeing walks, Northampton High School’s aim is for every student to feel that their voice matters and that they will always feel heard.

SCHOOL NEWS

WHY AI NEEDS CURIOUS MINDS

Photograph by Alex Tandy

JENNIE LEES

Engineering Manager at Google

DeepMind,

Brighton Girls alumna, Jennie Lees joined Oxford High School’s TEDx event to share her thoughts on AI. Below, we share an extract of her speech, edited for continuity.

“The game of Go is a strategy game which requires creativity, intuition and foresight. It’s similar to chess, but because there are a lot more options for any given move, it’s much harder to write a computer program that can play it. This meant that for a long time, it was considered a ‘grand challenge’ in artificial intelligence.

Twenty years ago, I was an undergraduate studying computer science. I got curious about this challenge and thought, ‘how hard is it?’ Well, the AI I created didn’t win a single game against a real person, and I concluded that the answer was ‘impossible’. Thirteen years later, an AI system called AlphaGo beat Lee Sedol, widely considered the greatest Go player of that decade. It was a pivotal moment for AI – the impossible had been achieved.

Today’s world presents tough, complex, global problems like climate change, disease, poverty, and inequality. These can seem impossible, but I believe that there is hope; that artificial intelligence can – and will – directly help with all of these challenges.

It’s already helping advance science. Every single protein has a unique 3D shape, the knowledge of which allows us to study the protein in depth, to better understand what it does and how it interacts with

other molecules. The problem is, it’s expensive to figure this out – it can take a scientist years just to study one protein – and there are over 200 million to discover.

This is a perfect problem for AI to tackle. Scientists have worked out enough protein structures to kickstart a machine learning process, which is particularly good at going from a set of known things to a larger set of unknowns. Real-world science is more complex than Go, though, so nobody knew if it would be good enough to predict protein structures. In 2018, DeepMind unveiled AlphaFold, which took the 100,000 proteins whose structures were already known, and accurately worked out how to predict others. By 2022, it had published the shape of all 200 million, including every protein in the human body –another impossible problem solved.

It is hard to overstate what this single development means for science. Researchers are already using these AI-generated protein structures to investigate treatments for early onset Parkinson’s Disease. They are creating enzymes that can break down plastics to reduce waste and help the environment; and they are developing vaccines against diseases like Malaria. So, AI developments like AlphaFold can potentially save and transform millions of lives.

Other AI systems are helping to reduce the climate impact of air travel, save endangered species, and impact poverty by improving agriculture. None of these developments happen without humans who are inspired to challenge the status quo, to do impossible things and question what else is possible.

There are women and nonbinary visionaries, challengers, artists and leaders doing just that, bringing their diverse perspectives to the world as we know it today and redefining the boundaries of possibility. For example, Dr Kerry McInerney, a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, focuses on the intersection between artificial intelligence and society. She has uncovered ways that cultural bias can be echoed through AI systems, and has helped shine a light on gender inequality when it comes to AI in films. It turns out a higher proportion of on-

If someone tells you something’s impossible, ask, “where do I begin?”

screen scientists are portrayed as men than exist in our workforce today. For once, fiction is stranger than fact!

We also see role models in leadership who are bringing the power of AI technology to the world. Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) has been at the forefront of the recent explosion in large language models, bringing technology out of the lab and into the spotlight, and helping ChatGPT become the fastest growing app in internet history.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring for AI, and I’m excited by that. A single AI system like AlphaFold will change science for

years to come, and there are so many more problems we haven’t solved yet. Anyone can take an idea and have an impact on the world, more so now than ever. That might seem unreachable from where you are today, but I think the most important thing is to stay curious –and if someone tells you something’s impossible, ask ‘where do I begin?’”

Scan the QR code to watch Jennie Lees' speech

Jennie Lees

Jennie Lees is a software engineering lead at Google DeepMind, one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence research labs. An alumna of Brighton Girls, (Class of 2000), Jennie went on to a Computer Science degree at the University of Cambridge, and then her MPhil in Computer Speech Processing. Moving to California, the epicentre of AI, she spent over a decade both in big tech companies and start-ups, as Engineering Manager at Riot Games, and as Director of Engineering at BossAlien. She is a regular speaker, passionate about bringing new understanding to the positive potential of AI, and an ardent advocate for minority groups – in particular, women and girls - in the gaming and tech industries.

Northwood College for Girls

In January, Northwood College (NWC) welcomed back alumnae from 2020 to 2023, and invited them to record some short stories about their time at the school. Entertaining in themselves, the films also exhibited a strong sense of confidence, ambition, optimism and an appetite for the future that NWC’s alumnae have left school with. You can see their films on the school’s website.

Students and alumnae know that they are part of the NWC community for life. And to commemorate this, the school has established the Nexus Project in its new Alvarium building. Nexus is a textural wall display made up of rose, bronze or silver tiles, each of which carries the name of a member of the NWC community –whether alumna, student, teacher, staff member or associate of the school – and NWC is inviting all alumnae to add their name to it. You can read more by scanning the QR code.

https://bit.ly/ NWC_Nexus

Norwich High School for Girls

SCHOOL NEWS

Norwich High School for Girls was a hive of activity over the last summer break, with its Estates Team working hard with builders and designers to transform several spaces across the school.

Norwich High School’s standalone Sixth Form Centre underwent a complete renovation of the ground floor, in a modern style of organic and natural interior design; so that Sixth Formers can now enjoy learning, working and relaxing in a bright and welcoming space with a fresh workplace-café feel. The design is both biophilic and neurodiversity friendly.

Other major improvements include the creation of two new communal spaces for Senior School students. First, the Wellbeing Lodge has been refurbished to include an indoor wellbeing space, and a new Year 11 common room area has been created opposite the Hub.

For visitors to Norwich High School, the Eaton Grover reception area and foyer are undergoing a two-phase transformation, to bring new vibrant spaces to the front of the school. The second phase – taking place this summer – will see the conservatory transformed into modern teaching spaces that will double as an event space for student, staff, parent and alumnae gatherings.

SCHOOL NEWS

Nottingham Girls’ High School

After months of planning, Nottingham Girls’ High School (NGHS) held its first ever TEDx event, entitled What can our Humanity bring to the Greater Good? Attended by some 100 guests, the event featured staff, student and alumnae speakers along with performances by the Chamber Choir, the school’s Musician in Residence and the Hubbub Theatre Company.

In a thought-provoking opening speech on redefining leadership, NGHS Head, Julie Keller, said, “We must educate girls to lead but be in control of their choices and demonstrate how wellbeing completely sits with this.”

Subsequent speakers addressed a wide range of issues, from de-colonising the curriculum and overcoming division through united dialogue, to period poverty, the power of human creativity and having the courage of your convictions when making life and career choices.

You can catch up with videos of the speakers and performances here: https://bit.ly/TEDxNGHS

Notting Hill & Ealing High School

This year, Notting Hill and Ealing High School (NHEHS) has been celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding.

Last September, the school welcomed back over 300 alumnae and former staff for a delicious afternoon tea. The highlight was a breathtaking performance by the Madrigal Choir, conducted by Gordon Pullin, former Head of Music at NHEHS. An auction raised money for the Alumnae 150th Anniversary Bursary Fund with some amazing prizes, including tickets to Disneyland.

February saw the official opening of the new Junior School building by TV presenter and alumna, Konnie Huq. Cheryl Giovannoni, Chief Executive of the GDST, commented, “As Notting Hill & Ealing High School celebrates its 150th anniversary, the GDST is proud to have invested in this light-filled, inspiring, sustainable Junior School building. With these flexible and stateof-the-art learning spaces, NHEHS has prepared for the future and can continue delivering the outstanding education for which it is renowned.”

Other celebrations throughout the 150th year included a spectacular music concert, with performances from current pupils and alumnae at Cadogan Hall, the Parents’ Guild 150th Anniversary Spring Ball, and the release of a commemorative book, 150 years in Memories

ISOBEL STEVENSON

ONE OF A KIND

to 2022.

With a reputation for being both formidable and kind-hearted, Isobel Stevenson devoted her life to teaching, and left a legacy which ensures that her belief in the power of girls’ education and opportunity will continue for many years to come.

Born on 19 May 1934 in Croydon, Isobel attended Croydon High School, where her love of teaching began: she knew from the age of just five that she wanted to make a life for herself in education.

Isobel had a lifelong connection with the GDST, and after finishing university, she took on her first teaching role in 1957 at Shrewsbury High School to teach maths and science, later moving back to Greater London to join the staff at Wimbledon High School. She taught physics at Wimbledon, but according to the school, her influence went far beyond her subject. She threw herself into a range of extra-curricular activities, including playing in the string section of the school orchestra, coaching the badminton team and supporting the Photographic Club.

In 1966 she parted ways with the GDST, taking up increasingly senior positions in Eastbourne and Derbyshire, before moving to Jersey in 1981. And this is where she settled. As the school’s Principal for some 13 years, Isobel put her mark on Jersey College for Girls (JCG), living by her strong belief that a girls-only education was the best start in life for her pupils. And she fought hard for them. She would go undauntingly into battle for funding to improve the school’s facilities, and to save the school itself when in 1986 she fought

Isobel Stevenson, 1934

the island’s Education Committee to retain JCG’s Sixth Form, the biggest battle, she said, of her years at the school.

With her commitment to girls’ education and her love for the schools she knew – over seven decades from her early years at Croydon High School – Isobel’s final gesture was very much in character. Over and above her very generous gift to Jersey College for Girls, Isobel remembered her three GDST schools, with legacies to each of them. These have enabled Shrewsbury High School to provide financial assistance to the family of an existing Year 11 pupil (herself the daughter of a Shrewsbury alumna) and for Wimbledon to boost their Bursaries and Assistance Fund, giving bursary students the same

Leaving a lasting gift

opportunities to go on school trips as other students and providing them with the technological devices they need to participate fully in school life.

At her alma mater, Croydon High School has created the Isobel Stevenson Bursary. With this new award, in recognition of outstanding academic potential at Sixth Form, Croydon has made sure that Isobel Stevenson’s generous legacy has been fulfilled, with the first bursary already having been awarded - a fitting tribute to an inspirational teacher who dedicated her life to the advancement of young women.

Find out more about GDST bursaries here: https://bit.ly/GDSTbursaries

Remembering your school in your Will is one of the most significant ways you can support future generations of talented GDST girls and young women. Legacy gifts often take the form of a specific sum of money or a percentage of a person’s estate. We are hugely indebted to those who have recognised the importance of providing for the long-term financial support of the GDST in this way.

If you have any questions about leaving a gift in your Will, contact the Philanthropy Team by calling 0207 393 6898 or emailing giving@wes.gdst.net.

Joining the Minerva Circle

If you have made provision to leave a charitable gift in your Will to the GDST or a GDST school, please be sure to let us know. You will then be included in our Minerva Circle, a special society of those that have made this significant gesture. Members receive a copy of our annual Giving publication and invitations to supporter events.

Leave a lasting gift.

Have you considered leaving a charitable gift in your W ill to your school? Leaving just 1% of your estate can change a girl’s life through our bursary programme.

As a GDST alumna, you can write your Will for free using leading will-writing service, Farewill. Get started by visiting www.farewill.com/gdst-girlforlife2024. .

SHARMALYNE JOSEPH

HELLO WORLD

From opening her bursary letter, writing her first piece of code in Year 7, and gaining a place on one of the most soughtafter computer science degree apprenticeships, Sharmalyne Joseph is coding her own way to success.

Taking time out of her busy university life and undeterred by another grey morning in January, Sharmalyne Joseph looks back to her days at Blackheath High School. It was here that her love for all things computer science began, writing her first piece of code, ‘Hello World’, in Year 7.

She describes joining Blackheath and starting computer science lessons as feeling like a game. “Lots of the things we did in lessons were code, mini-games, and apps,” she explains. And by Year 8, everything started to click. “I felt like [computer science] was something I was weirdly good at. I understood what I was doing, and it all made sense. That had a positive impact on me because it felt like, ‘Oh, this is something I can actually do!’

“I definitely felt nurtured

throughout my time at Blackheath,” she continues, and describes her sense that all ideas – whatever they were – would be welcomed, and should be shared.

Sharmalyne was awarded a full bursary. “This might sound a bit of a cliché, but receiving a bursary opened a lot of doors for me.”

Taking us back to the moment she opened her letter, “I sort of joked around that I’d probably got 100%. I was a bit full of myself back in Year 6!”

Joking aside, Sharmalyne talks about the many opportunities and support her bursary provided, including the “unparalleled” career advice she received. “Without bursaries, people like me wouldn't be able to join the school.

“The bursary is evidence that you definitely belong and deserve to be there.”

“It really helped me get to where I am - a degree apprenticeship at a Russell Group university - which is a huge achievement and couldn’t have been done without the support of the bursary.”

So, what advice would she give a bursary recipient starting out now? “Don’t let it hold you back. Some people might feel nervous or have a bit of imposter syndrome because they feel like they don’t belong. But, if anything, the bursary is evidence that you definitely belong and deserve to be there.”

Sharmalyne is a second-year degree apprentice at the University of Birmingham and PwC. Unlike other degree apprenticeships, which typically divide the week between university and the workplace, Sharmalyne studies full-time and then goes on a ten-week placement with PwC every summer. “They ask you what skills you'd like to develop that summer to figure out which area of the business would be best,” she says, an approach that has given Sharmalyne the chance to explore new areas of computer science such as data analysis.

To close our conversation, she shares her hopes for the future. “The kind of impact I want to have on the

world is to leave a legacy of helping people. I want whatever work I end up doing to matter, and to better someone else’s life.” Sharmalyne continues, “The world needs more people who aren’t scared to speak their minds and just be their true selves.”

The future certainly looks bright for Sharmalyne, and we look forward to seeing where her journey takes her in the years to come.

Sharmalyne Joseph

Sharmalyne Joseph is one of thousands of women who have benefited from the lifechanging opportunity of a GDST education thanks to the bursary programme, which has been in place for over 25 years. GDST bursaries are not just about providing financial assistance: students are given the chance to flourish, to learn and to discover on the same terms as their peers. Bursaries benefit not only the recipient but also their family and networks, along with the entire school community, by ensuring that our learning environments reflect the diversity of the world beyond the school gates.

Donate to our bursary fund

1 in 10 students are being supported by a bursary

995 students benefited from a GDST bursary

£2.1 million raised for Bursaries and Financial Assistance

458 students benefited from a 100%+ bursary Figures taken from the 2022-23 GDST Giving Impact Report

Oxford High School

In March, Oxford High School (OHS) hosted a TEDx Youth Event on the theme of New Realities: The Big Questions Shaping Our Future . The event brought together educators, business leaders, students and parents from the OHS community, sparking conversations that will shape the leaders of tomorrow.

Students from across the Prep and Senior School took to the stage to deliver a series of inspirational talks exploring what ‘new adulthood’ might look like, and how young women can be empowered to navigate a future of uncertainty and competing priorities. Speakers included trailblazers Claire Davenport, CEO, NED and angel investor, and Jennie Lees of Google DeepMind. You can read an extract of Jennie’s speech on page 24.

Look out for

#TedxOxfordHighSchoolGDSTYouth

Portsmouth High School

With sustainability at the heart of its ethos, Portsmouth High School was delighted to win two major awards recognising its work in this area.

The EduCCate Global Bronze Award makes the school a centre of excellence for sustainability and climate literacy, with five members of staff having completed training on minimising the school’s carbon footprint, raising the climate literacy of the whole school community, and mitigating the impacts of climate change.

Additionally, the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award has been renewed, and the Prep School was delighted to gain a distinction this year. Assistant Head at the Prep School, Mrs Ruth Irvine-Capel said, “This year’s eco teams have already started to plan for the year ahead, and our annual audit of our environmental impact is currently underway.”

Mr Ben Roberts, Director of Finance and Operations, described ongoing greening work at the school, including lighting upgrades, window replacement and re-planting programmes.

SCHOOL NEWS

Putney High School

In recognition of the importance of coding, Putney High School has added Python computer language to its language learning curriculum, alongside five modern languages and Latin.

Mr James Mutton, Deputy Head - Innovation and Curriculum, explained, “We know that learning a language brings enormous cognitive benefits and acknowledging the importance of coding languages within our language curriculum is an exciting and important addition.”

Language learning is extremely popular at Putney. There are more than 40 modern foreign languages spoken in the senior school alone and the school offers a specialist bilingual programme. For their language options, students choose between French or Spanish and German or Mandarin in Years 7-8 and add in a third option from Italian, Spanish, Latin and now Python in Year 9.

Coding skills are developed in Computer Science lessons and Coding clubs, but with Python added to the Modern Language curriculum, students can now deepen their understanding of the skill and explore its application in a wealth of careers. This is part of an innovative curriculum which Putney describes as “modern scholarship” and includes timetabled lessons in Design Thinking, Product Design and Computer Science and in the Sixth Form the option of a Space Technology Diploma.

Royal High School Bath

The international community at Royal High School Bath is celebrated and deeply valued, playing an integral role in the school's vibrant atmosphere. Ever since the establishment of the International Student Association in 2021, this diverse community has flourished. From lively celebrations of Eid and Chinese New Year to various activities during International Week, there are countless opportunities for everyone to partake in. A highlight is an annual

International Gala, an entirely student-led event which brings the whole school together with music, dance, a food fair, and an international catwalk. It is always fantastic to see so much effort and care being taken by students to share their countries’ customs and cultures and these whole-school events are a wonderful way to learn about different cultures – creating great talking points and encouraging students to practice awareness and appreciation for diversity in their school community. Additionally, food workshops and weekends dedicated to exploring and savouring traditional cuisine from different regions are common activities within the boarding houses. The school truly embraces and cherishes its international community, providing a welcoming environment where students can connect, learn, and feel at home.

Sheffield Girls’

Sheffield Girls’ hosted a Careers Spotlight speed networking workshop for Year 9 students along with an alumnae panel event for Sixth Form and Senior School students, for pupils to interact with alumnae, ask questions and gain valuable insights into a wide range of career paths.

The speed networking gave students the opportunity to meet five alumnae and two guests, each representing a different field of expertise – from sustainable engineering to orthotics – and to pick up advice on how to navigate their own career paths. The panel event featured distinguished alumnae from diverse professional backgrounds, including Kerry Priest, award-winning poet and author; Guneet Hawley, fluid dynamics engineer and climate change projection specialist; Francesca Makey, lead orthotist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital; Sahah Akhter, HSBC finance degree apprentice and Sascha Way, marketing professional and business founder.

The school extends its heartfelt gratitude to all the alumnae and guests who generously contributed their time and expertise, playing a pivotal role in inspiring and guiding the next generation of Sheffield Girls’ students.

THE RULES I LIVE BY

EVA KEEN

Eva Keen, Notting Hill & Ealing High School alumna and winner of the GDST’s 2023 Trailblazer of the Year award, is a commercial airline pilot with easyJet. She shares some of the rules she’s lived by, that have taken her so far, so quickly, in her career.

Communication is key

In the aviation world, effective communication is not merely a practice but a lifeline in challenging situations. Active listening and clear expression become pillars of successful relationships, personal and careerbased. Much like a well-coordinated flight crew, clear communication ensures effective decision making, ease of working in a team and most importantly - safety.

Embrace uncertainty

In the dynamic world of aviation, embracing uncertainty is not just a necessity but a mindset that propels growth. Unforeseen challenges, much like turbulent weather, are

Eva Keen

inevitable. However, cultivating the ability to perceive these challenges as opportunities to learn and adapt creates both personal and professional development. Drawing inspiration from aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who fearlessly flew solo across the Atlantic, embracing the unknown can lead to extraordinary achievements.

Continuous training, continuous confidence

Regular training is mandatory for a pilot’s career. This not only sharpens skills but also instils confidence. Confidence derived from competence extends beyond the

cockpit, empowering you to confront challenges without fear. Commitment to training reinforces a mindset of self-improvement, contributing to personal and professional success.

Prioritise yourself

Self-care as a fundamental rule of living. Guard your physical and mental wellbeing, recognising that nurturing yourself empowers resilience and fulfilment. Set boundaries to maintain a healthy balance between personal needs and external demands like work commitments. Remember, by prioritising your well-being, you lay the foundation for a more positive and rewarding journey.

With just 5% of all pilots and only 1.42% of captains being female, Eva’s accomplishment in becoming a Second Officer with easyJet is an achievement in itself. When you add the global pandemic, and the impact this had on the aviation industry, it is truly stand-out.

After school, Eva went to L3Harris Flight Academy. She was based in Southampton for six months, where she passed the required 14 written exams that allowed her to move onto flight training in New Zealand. It was here that she obtained her commercial pilot’s licence at the age of just 20. Returning to the UK in 2021 to complete her jet orientation course at Gatwick, Eva found the airline industry in post-Covid turmoil. Undeterred, she took her first steps into the business as an Operations Officer at easyJet, which led to her being offered the position of Second Officer on easyJet’s Airbus 319/320, flying predominantly short-haul European routes.

SCHOOL NEWS

Shrewsbury High School

In 2025 Shrewsbury High School will be 140 years old! To celebrate this landmark birthday, a number of events are planned - for all alumnae, former staff, parents and friends of the school.

The festivities will commence this December, the time of year that so many old girls refer to in their fondest memories. The annual ‘Carols Round the Tree’ will be recreated exclusively for alumnae on Friday 13 December – so prepare to sing The Holly and the Ivy in the round and bellow ‘five gold rings’ in the New Hall.

Early April 2025 will see current pupils take to the stage in an all-singing-all-dancing Celebration Production at Theatre Severn, to which all old girls are warmly welcomed.

On Friday 2 May, retrace your steps and get ready to party as the doors will open for alumnae to relive their youth and join in a celebratory lunch, with tours all day.

The finale of the celebrations is the Celebratory Gala. On Saturday 3 May, dust off your glad rags and be ready to party the night away - remember, you’re not at school anymore and there’s no homework due in on Monday!

Shrewsbury High School was founded on 5 May, which in 2025 is a bank holiday. Hopefully you will spare a moment on this day to reflect on your school days and catch up with friends you may not have seen in a while.

In addition to this packed itinerary, expect plenty more, from guest speaker events, to community projects.

If you would like to hear more about these events, please make sure your details are up to date with the GDST, as this is the database that will be used to communicate with former pupils. The first alumnae newsletter will be emailed out after Easter next year.

You can update your contact details here:

https://bit.ly/GDST_ update_details

All money raised during the celebrations will go towards Shrewsbury High School’s bursary fund, to give as many girls as possible the opportunity of a Shrewsbury High School education.

Should you wish to make a donation in advance of the celebrations that will directly benefit girls at Shrewsbury High, you can do so here: https://bit.ly/ Shrewsbury_donate

Please note: Full details on how to book these events will be sent to you later this year. For now, please save the dates!

South Hampstead High School

South Hampstead’s alumnae community has gone above and beyond this year in supporting the school’s bursary programme, both through its Class Of bursary campaign and as ambassadors and mentors for the programme.

Lola and Datshiane were in the same year group and have remained close friends. Lola is now a university lecturer and Datshiane is a broadcaster and journalist. They joined two current Sixth Form bursary award holders on a panel to share their advice and wisdom with younger bursary students. It was a wonderful opportunity for current students to discuss experiences and seek advice about making the most of the opportunities at South Hampstead.

Streatham & Clapham High School

At the Annual Reunion Tea in March, alumna Chloe Tartan launched the Bursary Ambassador scheme by inviting the whole school community to help spread the word about bursaries and encourage more bright young women to apply for these places.

Streatham & Clapham High School was delighted to welcome its new Head, Ms Cathy Ellott, in September 2023. Ms Ellott was previously Senior Deputy Head at St Mary’s Ascot.

Cheryl Giovannoni, Chief Executive of the GDST, commented, “Ms Ellott is a true champion of girls’ education. We were particularly taken with the contagious enthusiasm Ms Ellott showed for Streatham & Clapham High’s ethos of being not a factory, but a family school, along with her belief in the importance of visible, inspiring and creative leadership. Her dynamism, creativity and energy will make her a fitting Head for this fine school in the GDST family.”

Ms Giovannoni and the GDST were also impressed by Ms Ellott’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, high academic standards and the value of a rich academic and co-curricular programme.

Ms Ellott said, “I am thrilled to be joining Streatham & Clapham High School, to lead a school of such vibrancy, ambition and warmth where every girl is celebrated for her triumphs and supported in her challenges. It is a school that enriches within and beyond the curriculum, unearthing hidden treasures and the potential in every girl, and I feel honoured to be part of the school’s very exciting future.”

THE SOUNDTRACK FIONA SWEETING TO MY SCHOOL DAYS

Fiona Sweeting (née Yates) went to Sheffield Girls’ from 1976 to 1983, and recalls “good times” there, to a soundtrack of some monster hits of the day.

“It was a very different time,” Fiona says of her school days. “Much more traditional than schools are now, but I absolutely loved it.

"Our headmistress was Miss Lutz. I'm not sure how long she had been there, but she retired (and married) as we were leaving. She taught history and was always impeccably dressed. She was a wonderful lady, I remember with gratitude. Her secretary was called Miss Lucas and everyone was terrified of her - she was the one who told you off for school uniform irregularities etc - we all tried to keep away from that end of the middle corridor! From a sports point of view, we all trekked up to a windy hockey pitch on Manchester Road where there was just a wooden hut for changing and no showers. We loved playing netball on the school courts, in GPDST [sic] tournaments and against the Sheffield schools on a Saturday morning.

"So, my five tracks are:

YOU’RE THE ONE THAT

I

WANT

from Grease, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (1978)

Obviously, this was a worldwide sensation of a film. I went to see it with my best friend, Tonia Davison (née Love), at the Gaumont Cinema in Sheffield. Tonia absolutely loved John Travolta! I remember refusing to take my sister Julia, who was in U3. The next day my mum made me go again with Julia - and as it turned out Tonia was there again in the row in front with her sister Katrina, also U3.

THE LOOK OF LOVE ABC

(1982)

A Sheffield band - brilliant intro, brilliant song!

I CAN’T STAND THE RAIN Eruption feat

Precious Wilson (1978)

This is a bit random, as it's not really a favourite song, but it really reminds me of a school trip we went on with Mrs Rankin to Plas-y-Brenin in Snowdonia in L4. I was there with Tonia and Susannah Parden - and I remember Susannah making up new words to this on the minibus. It's not on the radio much but if it ever is, it reminds me of the trip.

REWARD The Teardrop Explodes (1981)

That was my first ever concert at Sheffield City Hall.

MIRROR MAN Human League (1982)

Being in Sheffield in the 1980s was brilliant for pop music. I can't pretend I went to the Leadmill as some of our friends did, but I did love the music. I still do love 80s music best. Phil Oakey lived near us in Ecclesall. There was also ABC and Heaven 17 to name a few. I've chosen Mirror Man as it was high in the charts on my 18th birthday."

Fiona Sweeting

After studying Chemistry at King's College London followed by an MSc in Industrial Relations at the LSE, Fiona’s career has been spent in HR. She is currently HR Director at Northern Gas Networks in Leeds. She lives in East Yorkshire with her husband, has four children and a golden retriever called Walter, and enjoys tennis and travelling.

THE WRITE STUFF

Once again, GDST alumnae authors have been busy, and here are some of the latest books from the past year.

FICTION

All the Little Liars by Victoria Selman (South Hampstead High School)

The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons (Bromley High School)

The Bay by LJ Ross (Newcastle High School for Girls)

The Big Day by Aliya Ali-Afzal (Putney High School)

The Birdcage Library by Freya Berry (Royal High School Bath)

The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola (Croydon High School)

The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella (Putney High School)

The Engagement by Samantha Hayes (Northampton High School)

For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria MacKenzie (Brighton Girls)

The Future by Naomi Alderman (South Hampstead High School)

The Good Liars by Anita Frank (Shrewsbury High School)

The Hidden Years by Rachel Hore (Sutton High School)

Life in a Week by Gillian Forrest (Sheffield Girls’)

Offset: A Dystopian Climate Fiction by Anna Trompetas (Croydon High School)

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley (Portsmouth High School)

The Secret Beach by Veronica Henry (Royal High School Bath)

The Stargazers by Harriet Evans (Notting Hill & Ealing High School)

POETRY

365 Poems for Life: An Uplifting Collection for Every Day of the Year compiled by Allie Esiri (South Hampstead High School)

NON-FICTION

Acts of Resistance by Amber MassieBlomfield (Royal High School Bath)

An Alterable Terrain by Rhea Dillon (Croydon High School)

Decolonising My Body: A Radical Exploration of Rituals & Beauty by Afua Hirsch (Wimbledon High School)

Emperor of Rome by Mary Beard (Shrewsbury High School)

Oh Miriam! Stories from an Extraordinary Life by Miriam Margolyes (Oxford High School)

A Musical Year, and a Musical Journey; and The Snow Lies Thick by Ruth Sellar (Oxford High School)

Queer Art: From Canvas to Club, and the Spaces Between by Gemma Rolls-Bentley (Sheffield Girls’)

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Bettany Hughes (Notting Hill & Ealing High School)

Unexpected Items by Rachel Bowlby (Croydon High School)

CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULTS

Can You Get Jellyfish in Space? by Dr Sheila Kanani (Wimbledon High School)

Honey & Sugar Get Adopted by Georgina Day (Croydon High School)

Island of Whispers by Frances Hardinge (Ipswich High School)

Looking for Lucie by Amanda Addison (Norwich High School)

Return of the Wild: 20 of Nature’s Greatest Success Stories by Dr Helen Scales (Sutton High School)

Secret Sister by Sophie McKenzie (Sydenham High School)

The Wolf Twins by Ewa Jozefkowicz (Notting Hill & Ealing High School)

SCHOOL NEWS

Sutton High School

Sutton High School kicked off its 140th anniversary celebrations in January by welcoming back over 100 alumnae, teaching staff, students and the GDST’s Chief Executive, Cheryl Giovannoni, to a day of celebration.

School archivist and former Head of History, Mrs Sue James, gave an enthralling presentation on the school’s colourful history and peppered it with humorous anecdotes provoking hoots of laughter amongst the audience. Following Mrs James’ presentation, attendees were treated to afternoon tea, fizz, and tours of the school from current Sixth Formers. Watch the speech here.

Head, Beth Dawson, said, “What a wonderful celebration! Our school’s DNA is made up of trailblazing women; from Frances West, the first Sutton High student to go to university (Somerville College Oxford) in 1897, to Marianna Spring, the BBC’s first ever disinformation correspondent in 2020. What better way to celebrate this momentous occasion than to look back at our history and share our alumnae stories, the bedrock of Sutton High School’s trailblazing history, a history that unflinchingly emphasises our school’s commitment to girls ‘learning without limits’."

Sydenham High School

Alumna Joanne Butcher (Class of 1978) recently gave an interview to Sydenham High School, to coincide with the publication of her book, Getting Your Film Funded, Produced and Distributed Globally: A Seven Step System – The Film Box Office SUCCESS Formula

Her expertise in the filmmaking world extends well beyond fundraising, with the range of roles she has taken on including Founder of Unstoppable, a disability film festival, the Miami Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival, and the Brazilian Film Festival, Miami.

Joanne attributes her time at Sydenham as instrumental in shaping her character and building confidence. Born in London to a bi-racial, bi-cultural and multinational background with Trinidadian heritage, she says the challenges she faced outside school were left at the school gates, and Sydenham High School was a safe and happy place for her. She was the first in her family to attend university and because the school never doubted that she would attend college, it never crossed her mind to question otherwise.

She pursued literature at university and, falling in love with the film industry, went to the US where she has supported countless filmmakers in achieving their dreams. Her hope is that with her book, she will be able to help even more.

Wimbledon High School

SCHOOL NEWS

Congratulations to Wimbledon High alumna and senior journalist at BBC News at One, Six and Ten, Felicity Baker (Class of 2002), whose latest piece Is Stammering in Our Genes? was broadcast recently for BBC News at Six, to great acclaim.

Felicity has worked on many high profile news stories, including five general elections, the coronation of King Charles, the war in Ukraine, and Brexit. At Wimbledon High, she has been a regular source of inspiration for Year 7s with her wonderful talks about a part of her life that she kept hidden for most of her childhood – her own stammer. In a recent Year 7 assembly, she divulged to students that she even struggles to say her own name. Her message, to find the courage to be yourself and show kindness to others, resonates every time. In 2021, she spoke even more publicly about her stammer for the first time, after she revealed her secret to fellow GDST alumna and BBC presenter, Sophie Raworth (Putney High School), fronting a TV documentary I Can’t Say My Name She is now a ‘Stambassador’ and a trustee for Action for Stammering Children. Felicity said,“My stammer has made me brave and empathetic and, more importantly, rather than stopping me doing things, has given me opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise have had.”

https://www.wimbledonhigh.gdst.net/news/2024-02-06/i-can-t-say-my-name

AL UMNA E

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The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the GDST. All reasonable attempts have been made to clear copyright before publication.