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Gifts That Go on Giving

We are very touched and grateful that two of our former teachers have kindly remembered LEH in their wills.

The Junior School is to rename a new part of the library as The Jill Grant Reading Room, in memory of one their most cherished former teachers, who taught there for 30 years.

The dedication comes after a generous legacy from the popular teacher who was an avid reader herself. She fostered a lifelong love of reading in hundreds of girls over the years and gave huge amounts of extra time and commitment to running the Junior School Library, which took up every lunchtime and many other hours.

“Jill is still much missed and fondly remembered by all who knew her,” said Junior School Head Teacher Paula Mortimer. “I can’t think of a better way to keep her memory alive among a new generation of young book lovers.” And plans are now being drawn up to improve and develop LEH’s precious archives, thanks to a very considerate legacy from former teacher Mollie Newman (see her obit on page 43), who was married to LEH’s first Bursar, WingCommander Kenneth Newman. Appreciating the importance of preserving the school’s history and maintaining records of important documents and photographs, she ring-fenced the money in her will.

“We are incredibly indebted to Molly and her family. This will really help us keep LEH’s story alive for future generations”, say archivists Elizabeth Hossain and Trish White. A search is now underway for a new location for the archive “cupboard” which is currently tucked away down a corridor near the Drama Department in the Senior School, as well as a heritage display area to showcase some of the artefacts and documents.

Dates for the Diary

Please note these dates in your diary now and reserve your place via the Holles Connect website. We will confirm nearer the time if they have to be held virtually. As lockdown restrictions are relaxed further, we hope to be able to announce more events, so please keep an eye on the monthly email newsletters for more details.

ALUMNAE REUNION

Saturday 2 October

10.30am-4.30pm

Location: LEH (we hope)

Ticket cost £20 per person if we can hold the lunch

ANNUAL LUNCH

2021

ALUMNAE CAROL SERVICE Monday 29 November

7.30-9pm

Location: St Giles’ Church, Cripplegate (we hope)

Please reserve your free place. Alumnae, family and friends welcome.

All events can be booked at:

www.hollesconnect.org.uk

Welcome to the Virtual Alumnae Reunion 2020

VIRTUAL ALUMNAE REUNION 2020

A Remarkable Turnout of Remarkable Women

Determined not to cancel the annual get-together for alumnae, despite the fact Covid-19 had forced the school to shut its doors, we took it online. And that proved a popular decision with nearly 200 guests joining LEH’s first ever Virtual Alumnae Reunion in October last year, many from around the world.

The oldest alumnae who paid a virtual visit to the school was 91-years-old, from the Class of 1947, while the youngest was one of the most recent joiners – aged just 18 - from the Class of 2020. Others joined online from Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Canada, USA, Australia, Belgium, Germany and France. She added: “Our relationship with you, our alumnae, is a very special one… It’s a two way street. You give a great deal of support to us and I hope that through our Emerging Talent Awards, mentoring scheme and networking events, that you all feel that you benefit from your continued relationship and ongoing communications from us.”

83-year-old Trish White, Class of 1955, said: “The Virtual Reunion was a great occasion and was very successful. It was so lovely for me to see quite a few of my year and it was great that we had some overseas visitors. Thank you all so much: the event meant a lot to me and I am sure that many other alumnae felt the same.”

Visitors were greeted with a video address from Head Mistress Heather Hanbury, who told them: “A very warm welcome to this very strange Virtual Alumnae Reunion. It is sad that I don’t have you here with me in school today.”

She went on to talk about how touched and inspired she, and the whole school community, had been by the hard work and commitment demonstrated by our alumnae on the frontline during lock down and beyond in our fight against Covid-19. Then there was a chance for school friends and contemporaries from across the years to catch up in person, with a series of 12 video chat rooms. Some of the rooms were dedicated to the main reunion groups celebrating key anniversaries from the Class of 1955 – now aged 84 and marking 65

Music Scholars performances

We were all delighted to participate and are going to keep in touch

Welcome to our Virtual Tour

years since they left LEH, to the Class of 2000, who are now aged 38 and graduated 20 years ago. Other chat rooms, hosted get-togethers of LEH alumnae who’d attended during a particular decade.

The Class of 1970, who were celebrating 50 years since leaving LEH, chatted away for over two hours, with former Head Girl Liz Cheyne, Elizabeth Newby as was, stepping up to chair the conversation between 18 former class mates, to allow everyone a chance to speak for a few minutes about their memories of school and what they have been doing since.

Juliet Grimm, Class of 1970, said: “We were all delighted to participate and are going to keep in touch. As someone pointed out, it was in fact thanks to Covid-19 that we were all together virtually. Had the reunion gone ahead as planned at the school many of those present on Saturday would not have been there so ironically it was a blessing in disguise for us. We have all agreed to do a Zoom again. “

Entertainment was provided on the day, as ever, by some of the school’s most gifted pupils – four of the current music scholars performed show tunes and classical pieces, and two L6 students gave thought-provoking research presentations, one with a biomedical theme and the other concentrating on neuropsychology.

Plus, for those who hadn’t stepped foot inside the school for years, there was a chance to take a look round and see how the Covid-19 restrictions are having an impact, as four of our Sixth Formers carried out a video guided tour of the classrooms and facilities, in PPE.

There were also two wonderfully nostalgic photo galleries – one showing images of the school Then and Now, and another with an eclectic selection of school snaps through the years – from school productions, overseas trips and sports teams, to VIP visits and pupils messing around.

We were delighted by the enthusiastic response from those who took part, many of whom were attending a reunion for the first time, and who took time out afterwards to email their thanks.

OF PEOPLE OF COLOURALLIES

ALLIES OF PEOPLE OF COLOUR

Together Towards Inclusion

LEH’s first Diversity and Inclusion Forum resulted in a lively and constructive discussion in January, as 10 alumnae, who’d all volunteered to take part, shared experiences of their time at school as well as their ideas for taking the initiative forward.

Head Mistress Heather Hanbury welcomed them to the virtual meeting and brought them up to speed with what the school is already doing to promote and embed equality, diversity and inclusion into classrooms and beyond.

Topics discussed by the alumnae, members of staff and the impartial moderator included how best to celebrate the history and culture of people of colour within the curriculum and ideas for increasing the diversity of the governing body and senior leaders at LEH. LEH’s Diversity and Inclusion Champion Vakini Ranjan said: “Thank you so much to all the alumnae who took part in the forum. It was a great success. Hearing about their experience really opened my eyes to the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. Additionally, it was wonderful to share with them how far the school has come in terms of Diversity and Inclusion over the last decade.”

The next Diversity and Inclusion Forum will be later this year, with parents of current pupils. The School website has also been updated to include a new dedicated page setting out more information about equality, inclusion and diversity at LEH.

ALLIES OF PEOPLE OF COLOUR

And if you’d like to see what pupils have been posting on the subject of Diversity and Inclusion, please check out their Instagram account @leh_apoc (Allies of People of Colour).