Careers Focus

Safeguarding Manager at the English Football League Alex Richards

née Morris (Class of 1997)

Ijoined Our Lady’s Convent School in 1983 at four years old. I left after completing my A levels in 1997. The school was my constant and leaving was a hard transition as I had never known anything different.

As part of my Head Girl’s speech at Prize Giving, I focused on the fact that OLCS was about creating rounded individuals with good morals who had achieved academically to the best of their ability. I was not a high achiever - I did well in my GCSEs and found A levels hard. What I did not realise at the time was that the moral and spiritual education that I had received would influence my career path.

Transition from my safe place, my school to university, was confusing and scary. I did not know what I wanted to do at all after school, just that I did want to do a degree. I was given some advice and told to do something that I enjoyed. I had always loved history and so I opted for that. I liked it so much that I went on to complete my Masters as well. I spent four amazing years at university and met my husband aged 21.

We wanted to settle down and get on the property ladder, so it was time for me to look for employment. I saw a short-term contract advertised at the University of Sunderland working within student welfare administration. I took the role and ended up working within the department for five years. Next, I applied for a role at a local Further Education College, again in student welfare, this time gaining experience of working with under 18s. I was always willing to take on new challenges, expand my learning and push myself out of my comfort zone. During my 12 years at the College, I became Designated Safeguarding Lead and worked my way up to the role of Assistant Principal managing a large student welfare department.

In 2018 my husband asked me when I had last interviewed for a job. I realised that it had been over a decade and that I needed to ensure that I could perform in a competitive environment. I started to look in The Guardian for national positions that would suit my experience, where I saw a role advertised for Head of Safeguarding for The English Football League. It appealed to me as I wanted to use my skills from education in a new industry. After two nerve wracking interviews, I was offered the job and we relocated to the Northwest of England three years ago.

I love working with such a wide range of organisations. We have 72 football clubs across England and Wales, making up the Championship, League One and League Two of Professional football. I work closely with other key stakeholders in the industry, the FA and the Premier League and travel around the country ensuring that Clubs meet the safeguarding standards we set.

Working in safeguarding is a privilege but does have an impact on you as an individual. You need to have a strong conviction and passion to do this type of role. My motivation is to ensure that children, young people and adults at risk are not only safe from harm but that they can thrive in whatever activity or environment they are in, reaching their potential and becoming well rounded individuals with good social skills and morals. I feel as though I have come full circle - how I described the School’s ethos at the Prize Giving as Head Girl is now my vocation and I look back at my school years with nothing but gratitude and happy memories.

Thank You!

Our alumni give back to our Schools in a plethora of ways and this page is dedicated to highlighting your amazing contributions. Thank you for giving your time, talent and expertise to support today’s pupils and make a difference to our Schools. The generosity of our alumni never fails to astound us – Thank you!

Here are some examples of how alumni are contributing to the Schools today:

Cyril Engmann (Class of 1987) spoke at our 100th Burton Service. He made a huge impact on the staff and students as our guest speaker.

Lieutenant Colonel Adam Foden DSO MBE

(Class of 1996) returned to School in July to inspect the contingent as the Reviewing Officer of the Combined Cadet Force’s 63rd Annual Review.

The Music Department valued the assistance of Ellie Slorach (Class of 2012) who ran a Symphony Orchestra Workshop and Ailsa Burns (Class of 2019) who made tutorial films for the Y2 strings scheme to allow lockdown learning.

Our Black Alumni Group are continuing to work closely with Dr Fiona Miles. Thank you to all who have contributed, including Kash Palmer (Class of 2013), Jualani Palmer (Class of 2017), Seun Matiluko (Class of 2015) and Chanju Mwanza (Class of 2012) who have led the way with a new initiative at LHS called ‘Proud to be…’

The Development Office are hugely indebted to the efforts of Dave Barnett (Class of 1977) who coordinates the Loughburians Golf Society.

Ellie Leeson (Class of 2018) has worked extensively on the LHS Archive to reorganise and catalogue the materials held there and continues to work closely with the Development Office on archive activities.

The Careers departments have run several events, both virtual and in person and our alumni community have been so generous with their time. Becky Simms (Class of 2013), Sarah Kelly (Class of 2005), Jualani Palmer (Class of 2017), Katie Morris (Class of 1999), Lydia Forster (Class of 2009), Tessa Boyd (Class of 2014) and Emily Daniell (Class of 2007) all delivered careers talks for LHS pupils over the lockdown learning period.

Firaz Waez (Class of 2001) got back in touch with the Schools on his return to the Loughborough area and gave a fascinating careers talks about the music industry.

Phillippa O’Neill (Class of 1991) offered networking assistance to a fellow LHS graduate.

When LGS were organising their Careers Dinner, we put out a call to arms for assistance in multiple industry areas. Aaron Anstey (Class of 1995), Ed Wheatley (Class of 1991), Emma Wardle (Class of 1991), James Hutchinson (Class of 2014), James Taylor (Class of 1994), Peter Cannon (Class of 1980), Ricky Ruparelia (Class of 2009), Robert Saunt (Class of 2018), Sam Wilkinson (Class of 2006), Shameet Thakkar (Class of 2006), Tom Bird (Class of 1994), Tom Fanthorpe (Class of 1999) and Tom Owen (Class of 2007) all attended to represent their individual industry sectors. In addition, we had offers of help from the following alumni who remain on the careers department radar for future years:

Arjan Giga (Class of 1997), Ethan Youel (Class of 2014), Stephen Bott (Class of 2005), Michael Smith (Class of 1987), Chris Ninan (Class of 2002), Mairi MacLean (Class of 1984), David Watson (Class of 1999), Rachel Healey (Class of 1999), Rajvinder Saundh (Class of 2002) and Louisa Sanfey (Class of 2000).

Sometimes alumni are asked if they would consider coming back to School to lead assemblies or other special events. Robert Saunt (Class of 2018) presented an assembly on apprenticeships as a post18 option. Niraj Nain (Class of 2000) led a session with our computer science students about careers and internships in programming. Alex Eveson (Class of 2020), Gurbaksh Sandhu (Class of 2019), Ethan Stratford (Class of 2017) and Jake Walton (Class of 2018) contributed to the leaving assembly for outgoing Headmaster Duncan Byrne. Lauren Church (Class of 2016) was a fantastic contributor to the LHS Space Day inspiring all in attendance. During lockdown we hosted several Loughburians Go Live talks for alumni and are extremely grateful to Matt Bull (Class of 1998) and John Weitzel (LGS Staff 1978 – 2016) who entertained us on a variety of subjects. Jack

Nunn (Class of 2004) and Ross Burns (Class of 2015) have both volunteered their time to present future talks. Mansi Vithlani (Class of 2019) and Diya Kalyan (Class of 2019) both spoke at the Life after LHS day and Giles Kristian (Class of 1994) inspired Year 6 pupils with his experiences of being an author.

QuadFest was a huge success as a celebration of our recent leavers and their achievements. Caitlyn Byrne (Class of 2020), Alex Eveson (Class of 2020), SarahJane Feeley (Class of 2020), Libby Mallon (Class of 2020), Elicia Pancholi-Moore (Class of 2020), Finley Parsons (Class of 2021) and Naomi Wilbram (Class of 2020) were all a huge help with recruiting guests or creating the decorations for the evening. Shailan Mehta (Class of 2007) and his band provided the entertainment and Emilia Foot (Class of 2020) wowed us with her amazing singing voice. Thank you all.

When the Classics department were looking for a way to inspire our current Classicists, the following alumni all contributed to a Where my Classics Degree took me… piece: Verity Simpson (Class of 2005), Kate Gray (Class of 2010), Fay Collinson (Class of 2006), Rachel Emmerson (Class of 1978), and Elizabeth Lewin (Class of 2001) all spoke so glowingly of the teaching they received in this area.

This year we launched the Completion Fund in response to the three-fold increase in families experiencing financial hardship who were unable to meet the cost of school fees due to pandemic. Collectively, to date, 122 alumni raised £44,908 enabling 25 pupils to continue their education and ensure that no pupil got left behind. We are delighted to celebrate all who gave on our Donor Roll of Honour:

• Edem Ankutse (LHS Class of 1997) • Ian Antill (LGS Class of 1971) • Michael Aris (LGS Class of 1952) • Ronald Atkin (LGS Class of 1963) • John Birch (LGS Class of 1959) • Don Bird (LGS Class of 1943) • Tom Bird (LGS Class of 1994) • David Brockhurst (LGS Class of 1950) • John Bryson (LGS Class of 1974) • CMS Cepcor • Romaine Darey (LHS Class of 1987) • Joan Davis - née Hancock (LHS Class of 1953) • Gary Deurance (LGS Class of 1976) • Tom Drife (LGS Class of 1994) • Stephen Drott (LGS Class of 1997) • Tony Eley (LGS Class of 1953) • Peter Frewer (LGS Class of 1966) • Janet Frost - née Smith (LHS Class of 1959) • John Futcher (LGS Class of 1965) • Laurence Gormley (LGS Class of 1972) • Elaine Hare (LHS Class of 1954) • Gillian Hayward - née Smith (LHS Class of 1959) • Michael Hendry (LGS Class of 1967) • Andrew Hill (LGS Class of 1964) • Helen Hood - née Lesser (LHS Class of 1957) • Ed Hopper (LGS Class of 1994) • John Hubert Lacey (LGS Class of 1963) • Carol Laidler - née Lloyd (LHS Class of 1975) • Steven Xiaochen Li (LGS Class of 2003) • Katherine Morris - née Sprake (LHS Class of 1987) • Joseph Murphy (LGS Class of 1997) • Michael Napier (LGS Class of 1964) • John Neal (LGS Class of 1966) • Gillian Neal - née Mee (LHS Class of 1974) • Tom Owen (LGS Class of 2007) • Vina Parekh - née Patel (LHS Class of 1986) • Mitul Patel (LGS Class of 2003) • Jacqueline Prescott - née Kirk (LHS Class of 1970) • Sandra Prince - née Ellis (LHS Class of 1972) • Ajay Ratan (LGS Class of 2009) • Lisa Ratcliffe (LHS Class of 1987) • Laura-Jane Ryves (Current Staff) • Tim Seager (LGS Class of 1982) • Peter and Chris Sergeant (Former Staff) • Elizabeth Sydenham (Former Parent) • Fiona Sydenham (LHS Class of 1992) • Lawrence Taylor (LGS Class of 2012) • Dr David Taylor (LGS Class of 1963) • Pauline Taylor (LHS Class of 1972) • Kate Thurman (LHS Class of 1973) • Steve Tilsley (LGS Class of 1967) • Harris Tisarhontou (LGS Class of 1997) • Philip Tranter (LGS Class of 1977) • Ian Walker (LGS Class of 1948) • Douglas Ian Watson-Walker (LGS Class of 1963) • James Webster (LGS Class of 1954) • Robert Wix (LGS Class of 1985) • Catherine Woodbine (LHS Class of 1977) • Jennifer Wyles - née Leach (LHS Class of 2005) • Jason Young (LGS Class of 1989)

Thank you to those 63 donors who chose to remain anonymous. If you would like to be recognised in the future, please do get in touch with us.

Many alumni choose to support the Schools in other ways. Some contribute to our Burton Bursaries Fund, helping to make a Loughborough Schools’ education accessible to young people. Together we raised £47,120 and helped enable 120 children to access a Loughborough Schools Foundation education. Other alumni have chosen to remember their former School in their Will. If you would like to become a donor, please do get in touch – development@lsf.org or 01509 638920.

Back on the School Roll LSF Governor

Sunny Shah (Class of 2000)

Sunny Shah attended Fairfield (1993) and Loughborough Grammar School (2000) and went on to pursue a successful career in investment banking with Citi Global Investment Bank and Goldman Sachs. Earlier this year he started his own venture and joined the Loughborough Schools Foundation Board of Governors to give back and help prepare the next generation for the future. Here Sunny shares what Loughborough means to him and his advice for current pupils and alumni looking to give back and get involved with the Schools today.

I have good memories of Fairfield and LGS and owe a lot to the schools for shaping my career today. I’ll always remember my A Level maths teacher suggesting I should avoid pursuing A Level Further Maths, however my father encouraged me not to give up and to prove them wrong. This theme of grit and resilience stayed with me throughout.

Over the Summer I came back to the school for the first time in years and fell in love with the new Music Hall for children to express their artistic and cultural creativity. It was nostalgic remembering friends and games we used to play in the Quad and on the sports fields. Some of my closest friends today are boys from Fairfield and LGS and we remain in touch, attended each other’s weddings and our children all play together today. During school I played chess and was on the rugby, hockey and tennis teams. These days I play golf and squash.

Growing up in the Loughborough countryside, I was always keen to experience the city. Most people I knew were into Medicine, Dentistry, Law or Engineering. But I grew up around business and my heart was always in business. I went on to study Business, Maths and Statistics at the London School of Economics and found my love for a career in finance. Following graduation, I joined Citi Global Investment Bank as a summer intern in 2003.

I joined when banking was at the start of the Chinese industrialisation and the broader growth in emerging markets. Then the Chinese industrialisation meant there was a huge boom in commodities, and metals and mining and I was involved in some of the world’s largest M&A transactions and capital raising transactions - a fantastic and surreal experience for someone so young. I went on to join Goldman Sachs where I spent 10 years, was promoted to Managing Director and was most recently Head of EMEA Metals and Mining Investment Banking team before I left in 2021. I am now working on some entrepreneurial projects focusing on the minerals supply chain that are critical for de-carbonisation technologies.

I chose to get involved as a Governor because of my four-year old son and our daughter who was born in May during lockdown. I benefited from my early education and I want to give something back to the next generation. For my kids, it’s a good thing to teach them altruistic values, giving back and inspiring other people. But also, as I spend time with my children, I can see education is going through an evolution right now. It was different when I was at school. Now everyone has access to the internet and the answers to every question within two seconds. It means that education will no doubt have to adapt to the digital age. I want to pass on my resilience mentality and teach my children to try new things. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get it right the first or second time. If there’s anything I want to teach my kids it’s that, and of course to find their passion in whatever they choose to pursue. We’re at a period where technology and innovation are going to change so many industries. We can’t possibly predict what jobs children are going to be in in 20 years’ time. Everything could be digitalised and automated. To prepare them for the future they will need to think differently and collaboratively. I want to understand how schools in general, and my old schools, can think about preparing children for that future.

If I had to give one piece of advice to pupils today, I would say believe in yourself. Whatever you think you want to do, just keep trying. As my father always told me, if you follow what you want to do with diligence and passion you will get there.

If you are thinking about getting involved in the alumni community today my advice would be just do it. I understand everyone has different schedules, especially with families and young kids, and it can be challenging, but in the end it’s the future generations that are going to drive us forward. It’s our children and the people they’re surrounded by who are going to make the world a better place.

Back on the School Roll LSF Chaplain

Elizabeth York (née Merry) (Class of 1989)

Rev’d Elizabeth York began working as the first Chaplain to the whole Foundation in September 2019 (previously Chaplains were only ever appointed to LGS). Elizabeth is an alum of LHS and is married to Chris (LGS Class of 1988). She has three children – one an LGS alum (Class of 2019) and two who currently attend LAS.

Whether it’s favourite teachers and lessons, trips, sports days, Burton services, the May Ball or LES musicals, I have many memories of LHS/LES. I joined LHS in the Lower Fifth and I’m grateful that I was able to make friends and feel as though I belonged to the school so quickly - this was especially true in the Music Department. Music was always an important part of my life at LHS, as both an academic subject and as something I enjoyed through extra-curricular ensembles; it has remained important to me beyond the barrier and now one of the great privileges I have as Chaplain is supporting LSF’s young musicians by attending Soundbites, Lunchtime Live and other school concerts.

Having joined LHS so late, I was surprised to be chosen to be Head Girl - a role that often took me out of my comfort zone. I can still remember the nerves before I had to speak at Prize Giving! I would never have put myself forward for this role, but I know now that it was a great opportunity to learn about service and gain valuable leadership skills. During the past couple of years as Chaplain, I can see that giving our pupils opportunities to lead continues to be an important part of the offering made by all our Schools, whether this comes through being a form captain, by running a society or by captaining a sports team.

I left school to study French and German at the University of Birmingham but decided at the end of the first year that it wasn’t for me. It took me a long time to integrate this false start in a positive way: at the time, I remember feeling as though I had fallen short of where I wanted to be. I took a year out and worked in various retail jobs and banking, all of which gave me the chance to learn about myself and the world outside the privileged contexts of home, LHS and University. At the end of the year, I began another degree studying Music at the University of Nottingham.

After a short period exploring orchestral management, I found my way into fulltime teaching – firstly as a peripatetic music teacher in inner city Nottingham and then, after a PGCE at Nottingham Trent University, as a full-time teacher and Music Coordinator in primary schools. I added another subject specialism by completing a distance learning diploma in teaching RE and then, years later, when my children were little, my language skills and teaching experience enabled me to begin a new chapter as a teacher of French across the primary school phases. This in turn led to some valuable experience teaching in KS3 and the realisation that the year of study in Birmingham had led to something positive.

By this time, I was aware of being nudged in a different vocational direction, but I continued to teach for a few more years until I found the courage to respond to a sense of calling to full-time ministry. It took me around a decade to let go of teaching, which was a career I loved, and commit to the discernment process that led to me being selected for training for ordination in the Church of England. This change of direction meant a further two years of full-time, postgraduate study, before I was ordained and served four years of training for ministry in local parishes. During this time, I completed courses in Chaplaincy Skills and Counselling before being appointed as LSF Chaplain in 2019.

Looking back to write this account has reminded me how much happened in those early years after leaving school and how unexpected much of this was. I had always assumed that learning and life would follow a linear pattern after school but, in fact, the journey to now has been a lot richer, more creative, chaotic and challenging than I could ever have planned. This feels like an important, hope-filled story for the Chaplain to tell whenever invited: life can be fuller and more exciting than we might imagine for ourselves!

Whilst at theological college I came across a quote by the Danish philosopher and theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, who said that ‘life can only be understood backwards but must be lived forwards’. I like to think it’s possible to live life forwards with understanding too, with the help of the gift of faith, trusting in God who loves all his creation and desires to give each of us ‘hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

With a lot of life lived since those first steps beyond the barrier, I know I have re-joined the LSF family with a deeper personal understanding of the ‘blessings’ and ‘unfailing mercies’ we sing of in the school hymn. As Chaplain, it is a privilege to be able to represent the faith, tradition and hope on which the Schools are founded and help current generations begin and continue to live their own, unique and hope-filled stories.

Since the first lockdown, the Music Department have been sharing many of their musical treats, both weekly occurrences such as Sound Bites and Lunchtime Live as well as concerts for special occasions with us via their YouTube channel. Even though in-person attendance is now possible, they continue to post recordings and these are available to all at www.youtube.com/channel/ UCb7x4StW96miQ2ScK1Zs5QA