Career Focus

Anna Murphy (Class of 1996)

Whilst for most of my life I have known the Loughborough Amherst School as Our Lady’s Convent School, I am delighted that the school has a new lease of life as it heads towards its 200-year anniversary. My mother and aunt were pupils back in the 1950s and 1960s and I started in first year (now year 7) in 1989. I was followed there by my sisters – Lucy (1992), Ruth (1994) and Maria (1998). We four sisters have always been close and our parents encouraged us to bring our friends home. Their welcoming attitude coupled with our home’s close proximity to school meant that it was constantly filled with groups of Convent girls usually laughing and talking but, of course, occasionally fighting and crying!

I have stayed in close contact with several friends from school who still live locally and am in rather less close contact than I would like with many. In preparing to write this article, I spent time thinking about the different life paths that we have chosen or found ourselves on and identifying what lessons school taught us to help us as we grew to adulthood and what values were instilled in us.

Giving to others was a common theme of my school days – whether that was donating tinned food for Christmas hampers for the needy or being encouraged to help younger pupils who were struggling with friendship group problems (a perennial problem for teenagers!). Service to others was a virtue widely encouraged, practised and praised at school. I think it is no coincidence then that as I look around the local community and on Facebook feeds that I see so many ex Convent pupils involved making a difference in the lives of those around them – whether this is by chairing the PTA, helping run youth clubs at church, working with local charities or volunteering at community sports clubs. As Louisa May Alcott tells us in Little Women, “The humblest tasks get beautified if loving hands do them.” Most of us aren’t called to do jobs which bring us fame or fortune but we can each make a difference through serving those we live amongst.

After school, I spent 4 happy years at Durham University (once I got over the initial homesickness) studying (perhaps rather less than I should have), socialising (perhaps rather more than I should have) and generally spreading my wings and growing up a bit. In my final year I was chair of the Junior Common Room of my college, which again I think reflects the importance of serving your community which I learned at school and home.

When the time came to choose what career to pursue, I knew that my vocation was something in the public service but exactly what was difficult to discern! On the advice of my tutor, I sat the civil service exams initially hoping to get a job working for a Government department. But whilst reading through the FastStream brochure, I found out about a small number of graduate jobs available at the House of Lords and I decided straight away to apply for this option. Twenty years later, I am still working at the House of Lords – in that time I have held a variety of posts within the administration which have kept me challenged, busy and fulfilled.

Like all of us, my life is busy. Family life with my husband and three children is busy and even, some might say, chaotic! A few years ago I was asked whether I would be the speaker at the Amherst prize giving and I was delighted to accept. Following on from that I became a governor at the school. I have greatly enjoyed rekindling my close connection to the school and seeing first-hand how the values of the school which inspired my generation are now being instilled in a new generation of pupils.

The words of St Henry Newman about vocation resonate with me, “God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.” This lesson of love for and service to others was kindly and gently taught to me by example rather than word. I shall be forever grateful to the school and my parents for the many opportunities I was given and the kindness with which I was steered towards finding a fulfilling and happy path in life.

Model Students

By Isi Webb-Jenkins (Class of 2016)

From one bubble to another. In the 2016 yearbook, I was awarded the title of ‘Most likely to return to teach at the High’, and whilst I am not planning to be a teacher, my classmates did recognise within me my love for the bubble – the intimate, pro-active, and sociable nature of LSF became my requirements for any circumstance. Therefore, it was a surprise to no one when I fell comfortably into life at the University of St Andrews, an equally small, supportive and busy education environment. It was easy to see how my university activities reflected the interests and values I had garnered over my 14 years at LSF – the abundance of theatre, involvement in charity and a complete lack of sport mirrors exactly how I spent my school days.

But throughout my time at university, it has become apparent that the culture and environment at LSF did not just have a profound effect on me, but also on many of my fellow classmates. There are only a few Loughburians currently at St Andrews, but those of us that are here run a high risk of bumping into LSF alumni - partly due to the small student population, and partly due to our shared attraction towards activity and commitment, undeniably forged during our school days. One such time, I found myself hosting a drag show alongside fellow Loughburian Izzy Peek, who had been Head Girl in the year above me, which I followed in the role of mere House Captain. Maybe giving school assemblies or rallying a crowd at sports day had had a greater effect upon our dispositions than we gave it credit for.

But there is a more prevalent example in my current university circumstance which speaks even more loudly of the invisible culture which is integral to life on the Walks. In my third year, I signed up for a charity fashion show called CATWALK – I was keen to be involved in the student fashion shows which play a large part in the St Andrews events calendar. What I did not expect to discover in a committee where I supposedly knew no one was to find one of my colleagues, and now close friend, was from the other side of Burton Street as a former pupil of Our Lady’s Convent School (now Loughborough Amherst School). Millie Elliott and I have spent the majority of our education in alarmingly close proximity: less than 500 metres from each other at LSF, she at OLCS and I at LHS, and then 2 years in the same small university town, all the while ignorant of each other’s existence. But Millie’s school experience greatly mirrors my own; she held the role of Caritas Prefect from 2013-14, and then progressed to Head Girl of OLCS for 2014-15, showing a penchant for commitment and activity from a young age. Despite not knowing each other, we both have taken very similar paths and have reached a very similar final destination for our final year at St Andrews: as Director and Vice Director of CATWALK 2020. These roles will challenge us much more than any other previous project, as we oversee and co-ordinate one of the largest fashion shows in St Andrews, striving to create an impressive event, and raise a minimum target of £10,000.

It is not a coincidence that two women educated at LSF, and brought up in an environment which celebrates extracurricular achievement as highly as academic attainment, have individually forged paths which led to the same goal. As a third alumna joined the team this year (Iona McNeill - another former OLCS pupil), the evidence really was incontestable. The fact that we all sought something beyond our degree reflects an extra-curricular convention which is rife in LSF, and it is often apparent in the lives of my other school friends who are at different universities. The fact we were all attracted to the only fashion show in St Andrews which donates all revenue from ticket sales and fundraising events to charity, a significant difference to the other fashion shows at our university, echoes the philanthropic and genuine nature which was encouraged through many endeavours in our time at LSF. The fact that three women, educated in an all-girls environment at LSF schools, are striving to raise large amounts for charity whilst growing a creative brand and rising within a team, speaks volumes on the value we feel an all-girls, LSF education has had upon our characters.

CATWALK has always relied upon generous donations from our sponsors to raise the extraordinary amount which we have already achieved (£45,000 since 2015). If you are able to support us and forge yet another link between the Foundation and this charitable cause, either through corporate sponsorship or through direct donations to our charitable total, it would mean a great deal to us, your fellow alumni. Many thanks.

If you are interested in helping the CATWALK Charity Fashion Show, please visit their website www.catwalkstandrews.com or email catwalkstandrews@gmail.com

INTRODUCING Loughburians Live

Loughburians Live is a brand new online mentoring and networking platform exclusively for Loughburians and OLCS Alumni. 2020 has been a year of changing plans and rethinking the role that the Alumni Associations can play in the lives of all alumni. The curtailing of events due to Covid-19 meant that we have to do things differently to keep in touch and engage with one another. Furthermore, the stories of racial abuse at some of the schools that surfaced this year was a reminder that we must do whatever we can to ensure that the Alumni Associations are relevant to all alumni. These are just a couple of the reasons why we have invested in Loughburians Live.

Loughburians Live is your platform to use in a way that works for you. It brings our whole alumni community together by providing members with access to the following:

A running feed of alumni updates, interesting content, photos and conversations. As well as seeing what others are up to, you can post your own updates and also keep track of current school activities.

A full opt-in directory of alumni and former staff allowing you to connect with the Loughborough Schools Foundation and OLCS Alumni communities around the world. You are in full control of what information you provide and what you want others to see about you.

A mentorship program, giving you the opportunity to be mentored by others or offer mentorship to fellow alumni and current pupils. Sharing career knowledge and opportunities has always been a part of being an alumnus of the Schools. As the job market becomes ever harder and competitive, Loughburians Live will make it easier to take part in career mentoring.

A job board with current opportunities, posted by alumni and strategic partners. Like everything on Loughburians Live, posting job adverts is free for alumni. If you are recruiting then posting your vacancy on Loughburians Live will increase your pool of possible candidates. And if you are job hunting then make sure you add Loughburians Live to your list of job search sites.

Group conversations allowing you to engage at a more granular level with those with the same year group, interests, careers, industries, locations as you. Re-connect with old friends and make new ones. You control the subjects you want to discuss although we have already started a number of special groups which includes OLCS Alumni. You will see others that we have been asked to include so far.

Events posted by alumni, the Alumni Associations and our Schools, inviting you to attend, encouraging popup engagement, coffee meetings around the world, webinars hosted by subject matter experts within our network and other organic engagement opportunities created for and by you.

You can sign up in less than two minutes and you can even register using your Linkedin or Facebook profile. Register now to expand your network at www.loughburians.com