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Masonica 2019
The Alumnae Magazine
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Masonica 2019
Masonica Email your stories and updates to masonica@rmsforgirls.com RMS for Girls Rickmansworth Park, Rickmansworth Hertfordshire WD3 4HF 01923 725772 Editor: Lucia Hull Contributing Editors: Jenny Newton, Vivian Wright Front Cover Photograph: Eleanor Howarth (Class of 2006) | www.eleanorhowarth.com Design and production: Gma | www.gma.eu.com
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Masonica 2019
Contents Introduction from Kevin Carson, Headmaster A note from the Development Office
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Our Alumnae Community Forthcoming Events Events Round-up Regional Reunions Our Growing Alumnae Community
6-9 10-11 12-13 14-15
Catching up with Old Girls Pippa Corry Francesca Smyth Stephanie Leung Jill Hopkins Bobbi Duffin
16-19 20-21 22-23 24-25 26-27
RMS Heritage & Archives RMS in the Architect’s Imagination From the Archives - Memories from 1964 The Grace Robinson Memorial Fund
28-31 32-33 34-35
Our School Re-inventing Alexandra House From the Art Room Performing Arts Prize Giving Destinations of leavers
36-37 38-41 42-43 44-46 47
The Old Masonic Girls’ Association Minutes from the AGM and Accounts Copy of the official handover letter between OMGA and the RMS
48-57 58-59
Obituaries Old Girls’ Obituaries
60-67
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Masonica 2019
From the Headmaster It is a privilege to introduce you to our latest issue of Masonica. As you will soon read, it has been a very busy year for the RMS alumnae community. In 2019 and throughout this year I have had the pleasure of chatting with and hearing from many Old Girls at events in School such as the recent Leavers’ Barbecue, our University Choices day, the opening of the new Performing Arts Centre in Alexandra House, and the very well attended Sports Day and Remembrance Sunday gatherings. In this issue you will be able to see something of the busy and successful year that we have had in School including images from our recent drama production of Lorca’s “House of Bernarda Alba” and our students’ fabulous pieces of art. There is much more to tell you about than can be included in any issue of Masonica, including our gymnastics teams all qualifying for national finals, and the U14s winning first place, and the RMS trampolining team reaching the national finals for the first time in RMS history, and then finishing second overall in the country. Four Year 8 pupils won the prestigious CyberFirst competition in cyber security run by GCHQ, and as a school we were shortlisted finalists in the Independent Girls School of the Year competition, which is a lovely recognition of the first-rate work of teachers and colleagues in support teams for our pupils. We have also enjoyed another summer of excellent examination results, with our 2019 GCSE results being particularly outstanding. Nationally, just 837 students attained straight Grade 9s (the new A*) in seven or more GCSE subjects, and 10 of those pupils (more than 1%) were RMS girls. Just this week we have received news of four current RMS sixth formers being offered places at Oxford or Cambridge, and also of the trampolining team qualifying for the 2020 national finals so the success of RMS girls looks set to continue for some time yet! I am very pleased to inform you that in addition to the Cadogan-Rose award we are now able to offer an additional new bursary to a new Year 7 pupil, which is both hugely important to us at RMS and transformative for the recipient. It is the ongoing support of our alumnae through the donation of the OMGA’s funds that has made this possible. Looking ahead through 2020, you will see in this issue that there are many events throughout the coming year that we hope you will be able to attend, including the Diana Rose reunion dinner on the 6th June which promises to be a fabulous evening for all. I hope to see you soon at Rickmansworth; do please pop over for a chat with me to let me know how you have been prospering since you were last here visiting your School, The Royal Masonic School for Girls.
Kevin Carson, Headmaster
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Masonica 2019
Welcome to the 2019 edition of Masonica We have a brilliant array of articles in the ‘Catching Up with Old Girls’ section with features on alumnae working in design, textiles and fashion. We also caught up with two Old Girls who have come back to RMS to teach, albeit at very different times in the School’s history. One of our History teachers, John Adams, has recently conducted an architectural survey of the School which tells us more about the intricacy of its original design. We hope you enjoy the read. As many of you will know, 2019 was a significant year for RMS alumnae, as the Old Masonic Girls’ Association handed its responsibilities over to the School. Many of the OMGA’s activities will continue as they always have, however, one important change is that all former RMS pupils are now members of the alumnae community. For this reason, we have not included a list of members at the back of the magazine as in previous editions. Should you wish to contact a fellow Old Girl, please do get in touch with the Development Office. We will always ask for permission to share any personal information, but are here to help Old Girls reconnect whenever we possibly can.
Although the OMGA no longer exists as a separate entity, we would love to hear your thoughts on how you would like to shape the future of the RMS alumnae community. You are invited to join an RMS Alumnae Steering Group on Wednesday 25 March from 18.00-21.00 at the School. Please do join us for drinks, nibbles, an open discussion and to share your thoughts and ideas. If you are interested in coming along or if you are not able to make it but would like to feed in your thoughts, please do get in touch by email to development@rmsforgirls.com or telephone 01923 725772. Looking ahead, our hope is that the connection between alumnae and the School will bring more opportunities for Old Girls to connect with each other and the School. Please do take a look at the Forthcoming Events pages to find out about all that will be going on at RMS and further afield throughout the year. I very much hope to see you soon. Lucia Hull, Development Manager
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Masonica Our Alumnae Community
Forthcoming Events For further information about any of the events listed below and to book tickets visit www.rmsforgirls.com/alumnaeevents, email development@rmsforgirls.com or telephone 01923 725772.
RMS Alumnae Steering Group Wednesday 25 March, 18.00 – 21.00 RMS for Girls Old Girls are invited for an evening back at School with drinks, a finger buffet and the chance to shape the alumnae community going forward. Whether you think we should be organising a regular meet up of Old Girls at universities, have ideas about professional networking events, reunion events or thoughts about the best way for Old Girls to stay in touch, we’d love you to come along and share your thoughts. So that we can ensure we cater for everyone who will be coming please email development@rmsforgirls.com if you plan to attend.
University Choices Wednesday 1 April, 13.00 – 16.00 RMS for Girls Recent leavers who are currently at university, on a gap year or apprenticeship are invited to come and talk to the Year 12s who will soon be embarking on the UCAS process. Join us for a classic RMS School lunch and then an informal afternoon where you will be able to talk to the girls about your experiences so far. There is no need to prepare anything in advance, just be willing to chat and answer questions. Please email development@rmsforgirls.com if you plan to be there.
Museum of Freemasonry Tour Monday 6 April, 11.00 Freemasons Hall 60 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ Alumnae are invited to take tours of the Freemasons’ Hall, where an expert will guide us through one of the largest collections associated with Freemasonry. Afterwards, we will head to Bill’s restaurant, a short walk away, to enjoy a three-course set menu lunch and a catch up. Tickets cost £20 to include lunch with wine/drinks. Please book online at www.rmsforgirls.com/alumnaeevents or call 01923 725772.
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East Midlands Reunion Saturday 2 May, 12.00 The Three Swans Hotel 21 High Street, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7NJ The East Midlands Reunion will take place at the Three Swans Hotel this year. Anyone who would like to attend should contact Deborah Ellis (Class of 1975): deb.ellis27@hotmail.co.uk.
Home Counties South Reunion Saturday 9 May, 12.00 The Harts Boatyard, Portsmouth Rd, Surbiton KT6 4ES Old Girls and their partners living in or visiting the area are invited to this regional reunion lunch in Surbiton. If you would like to attend please contact Monica Drake (Class of 1961) before the 30 April: monicaddrake@yahoo.co.uk.
Melbourne Reunion Sunday 17 May, 12.00 The Rising Sun Hotel 2 Raglan Street, South Melbourne, VIC 3205 All Old Girls living in or visiting Australia are invited to this annual reunion event. For more information or if you would like to attend please contact Wendy Chorley (Class of 1977): wendy.chorley@gmail.com.
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Masonica Our Alumnae Community
Forthcoming Events continued For further information about any of the events listed below and to book tickets visit www.rmsforgirls.com/alumnaeevents, email development@rmsforgirls.com or telephone 01923 725772.
Diana Rose Reunion Dinner Saturday 6 June, 18.30 RMS for Girls Alumnae and staff who attended RMS during Diana Rose’s Headship are invited to a unique reunion dinner back at School. This will be a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends, former teachers and of course, Diana Rose. Starting with drinks on the Dining Room Terrace (weather permitting) followed by a delicious three-course dinner, we hope that many of you can join us for this special event. Tickets cost £30 to include the drinks reception, dinner and wine. To book tickets please visit www.rmsforgirls.com/alumnaeevents.
East Anglian Reunion Saturday 6 June, 12.00 The Fox Eastgate Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 1XX And afterwards for tea and cake at the home of Lesley Bishop. If you live in East Anglia or are visiting the area and would like to meet up with fellow Old Girls please do come along to this reunion lunch followed by tea and cake. For more information or to let her know you will be attending please contact Lesley Bishop (Class of 1962): lesleybishop974@btinternet.com.
Sports Day Saturday 27 June, 14.00 – 17.00 RMS for Girls Drinks and afternoon tea will be on offer to Old Girls at Sports Day once again this year. This is a wonderful opportunity to visit the School and catch up with friends. This event is free to attend but you will need to book tickets in advance. Please visit www.rmsforgirls.com/alumnaeevents to book or complete the form enclosed with Masonica and post it to the School.
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South West Reunion Saturday 11 July, 12.00 The Mill on the Exe Bonhay Road, Exeter EX4 3AB All those living in or visiting the South West are invited along with husbands and partners to this annual reunion at the Mill on the Exe, Exeter. For further details and to let her know you will be attending please contact Barbara Jackson (Class of 1970): bejacksonuk@yahoo.co.uk.
Recent Leavers’ Barbecue Friday 4 September, 18.00 – 21.00 The Rose Garden at Hind House Following the success of the first Recent Leavers’ Barbecue in 2019, the classes of 2016 to 2020 are invited to Hind House Rose Garden for drinks, a delicious barbecue and to catch up with friends and teachers. This event is free to attend but please do register on line at: www.rmsforgirls.com/alumnaeevents.
Remembrance Day Sunday 8 November, 09.00 – 15.00 RMS for Girls Alumnae, family and friends are invited to the RMS Remembrance Service led by Reverend John Quill. After the service the 2020 Drill Team will perform in the Great Hall. A two-course lunch in the Dining Hall is on offer followed by tours of the School with current pupils. Tickets for lunch cost just £15 and include wine. To book tickets please visit www.rmsforgirls.com/alumnaeevents, complete the form enclosed and send it to the School or call the Development Office on 01923 725772.
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Masonica Our Alumnae Community
Events Round-up During the past 12 months alumnae have returned to School for reunion events, to speak to pupils about their careers and universities and for traditional RMS events including Sports Day, Remembrance Sunday and the Christmas Concert. Here are a few photos to give you a flavour of all that has been going on.
Recent leavers came back to School to talk to the the Lower Sixth about their universities on 25 April 2019
Rohini Durve (2014), Devika Devani (2010) and Darcy Willison (2012) returned to School to speak to Sixth Form students on the LEAD programme, Thursday 16 May 2019
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Rosie Cresner (2006), Jacqueline Menhinick (1996) nĂŠe Catchick and Pippa Withers (2003) spoke to MedVetDent Society about their careers on 1 May 2019
The fifty year reunion for the classes of 1968-1970, Wednesday 12 June 2019
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Sports Day on the 29 June 2019 marked the official handover from the OMGA to the School. We were delighted to be joined by over fifty Old Girls.
The Recent Leavers’ Barbecue took place on 6 September 2019
Remembrance Sunday, 10 November 2019
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Masonica Our Alumnae Community
Regional Reunions Each year Old Girls organise reunions across the UK and the world. Here are reports from just a few of those that took place in 2019.
Far North West Reunion
Eighty Years Young
Nine of us - Ann Knapper, Margaret Polley, Helen Wilberforce, Paula Ellis, Margaret Strong, Jennifer Rhodes, Claire Syddall, Shirley Hartshorne and Annette Walsh met in time for morning coffee in the lounge of the Midland Hotel, Morecambe, before setting out on a tour of the hotel’s Art Deco features led by Jennifer. As a memento of the visit for each participant, Jennifer had made a booklet summarising the hotel’s features and history, plus plans for Eden Project North on a site adjacent to the Midland.
We were all 80 last year and Margaret Bird invited us to celebrate the occasion in September at her home in Upton St Leonards. We had coffee first at Prinknash Abbey before having a delicious lunch prepared by Meg.
Following the tour, the group assembled for afternoon tea in the seafront Sun Terrace, which gives spectacular views over Morecambe Bay to the majestic sweep of the Lake District mountains. We had chosen a fine warm day and the distant views improved as the afternoon passed.
Christine Jowett brought Shirley Greenslade and Jill Punter by car and Margaret Iball joined us having driven from Tenbury Wells. I came by train from Scotland. It was a great day, thanks to Meg and Barry and needless to say the conversation never stopped. As we left, we were each given a goodie bag – mine included a wonderful packed lunch for my journey home! Heather Bovill, née Dewhurst (1956)
Tea was taken with copious amounts of conversation and amazingly not all of it revolved around memories of Rickmansworth. It is fascinating to reflect that although twenty years separates the leaving dates of the oldest and the youngest among us, it makes absolutely no difference to the kinship resulting from having the shared experience of being Ricky girls. Three of the group had experienced wartime Rickmansworth and the rest of us learned all sorts of things we didn’t know. It became clear that although food was rationed, the girls always felt that they had sufficient to eat. We knew that many of the staff had been at the School ‘for ever’ and this was confirmed when the conversation moved on to Miss Fryer, Miss East, Miss Vickridge and Miss Newnham to name but a few. We propose to repeat the exercise next year at a different venue and hope that more OMGA members might be tempted to join us.
Monica Drake (née Henn) and School friend Penny Cookson (née Pryor) got together at the Baltic in Newcastle. 12
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Masonica Our Alumnae Community
Home Counties South Reunion
Scottish Reunion
Ten Old Girls met on Saturday 11 May 2019 for the Home Counties South Reunion at The Harts Boatyard in Surbiton. It was a very enjoyable lunch with good food and a lot of catching up with a view overlooking the Thames on a nice sunny day.
This year four of us, Ruth Gillott, Olga Woodcock, Veronica Leadbeater and I met in Glasgow at La Bonne Auberge restaurant. Although none of us attended School at the same time, we enjoyed a good chat and always we have many shared values. Unfortunately Jenny Green and Audrey Webster were unable to join us because of being unwell and distance prevented Joyce Williams from being with us because she lives on the east coast.
Those that attended were Monica Drake, Jennifer Yates-Rowe,Vivian Wright, Frances Green, Evelyn Olsen, Mary Chandler Allen, Jenny Newton, Lesley Bakes, Sue Hulme and Annette Coombs. Daphne Bee, Kate Hayward, Cate King, Joyce Rickards were unable to attend.
Heather Bovill
Monica Drake
East Anglian Reunion Melbourne Reunion A sunny autumn day in South Melbourne saw a small group of us gather for lunch at the ‘Rising Sun’ Pub. The venue is a nice change from the hustle of inner-city Carlton, where we often meet and one could be forgiven for imagining we were snug and warm in a country hotel, rather than the reality, which is close to Melbourne City. It is always such a pleasure to catch up with each other’s news and a good few hours fly by too quickly as we chat, converse, debate, exchange news and views, embellish sometimes, speak of both the amazing and the mundane, while enjoying a delicious repast and a convivial atmosphere. It doesn’t mean we don’t have room for any more however. We will always warmly welcome members of the Masonic School community and their partners, who find themselves in Melbourne or Victoria, Australia. In fact, we would love to find others who would like to share lunch and really good company and add new aspects to our effusive and lively discourse. Those that attended were Sally Wrenns (OMGA), David Wrenns, Gael Robinson, Ping Nesbitt, Brian Nesbitt (OMA), David Robinson (OMA), Wendy Chorley (OMGA) and Nikki Cranston (OMGA). Nikki Cranston
Jill Hopkins, Margaret Wainwright, Vivian Wright, Libby Thring, Jennifer Yates-Rowe, Dinah Hawkins, Lesley Bishop, Sue Kistruck and Amanda and Jim Painting met in June for the annual East Anglian Reunion. This year it was held at the home of Amanda Painting née Searle. Amanda kindly provided a lovely lunch followed by the traditional strawberries and cream tea. Jim proved to be the most attentive host and kept us topped up with food, wine and later on tea. He is very brave to have so many women in his home and we extend our thanks to him. We were so lucky with the weather which was sunny and warm. We were able to choose to eat outside or inside in the shade. We did all migrate to sit under the awning for tea and cake where we continued to chat to make the most of the warm sunshine. It is lovely that each year Old Girls are able to gather to share news and catch up with old friends and create new connections. With the increase in social media many Old Girls have connected on Facebook and are sharing virtually but it is still so comforting to be able to meet in person and give someone a hug! May all the regional reunions continue long into the future. Apologies and best wishes were received form Sue Boyce, Rosanne Tempest-Holt, Kate Spencer, Peggy Coupe and Mary Prior. Amanda Painting
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Masonica Our Alumnae Community
Our Growing Alumnae Community Last summer the Development Office sent out a questionnaire for alumnae to complete and return to School to let us know more about what they are up to now. We have had a brilliant response, thank you so much to more than 450 people who have already completed and returned their forms. If you haven’t yet done so, it isn’t too late, you can do so online at rmsforgirls.org.uk/alumnae. It is wonderful to hear from Old Girls who haven’t been in touch with the School since they left, whether that be because they are thinking of sending their own daughters to the school, because they want to come back and show family members where they have such vivid memories, or to watch school productions and concerts. The Whole School photographs from the RMS archive, like the one below, are now on display in the Headmaster’s corridor. These photographs date back to 1948. We would love to hear from as many of the girls in the photographs as possible. If you have school friends who do not receive Masonica please do encourage them to contact the school using the contact details on the inside front cover.
Careers Support We now have a bank of Old Girls who have generously volunteered to offer insights about their own careers to younger alumnae. There is a broad range of industries represented: the Arts, the Third Sector, Law, Medicine, Civil Service, Engineering, Finance, Academia, the Army and many more that do not necessarily fit into a neat category! If you are at the early stages of your career, or are a career changer, and would like to talk to someone to find out more about working in a particular industry, please do get in touch with the Development Office and we will match you up with the most appropriate volunteer. Thank you also to all those who have volunteered to give their time back at RMS. It was wonderful to have alumnae returning to School to speak to a group of Sixth Formers and girls at MedVetDent Society last May. We will be in touch with other opportunities like these as they arise.
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Masonica Our Alumnae Community RMS alumnae around the world
AMERICAS
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1842 35 180
AFRICA EUROPE
ASIA
21 25
54
N. IRELAND
1
connected alumnae
AUSTRALASIA
33
SCOTLAND
9
ENGLAND
1659
countries
WALES
volunteers
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Add a school friend to the network – email
development@rmsforgirls.com
RMS alumnae in the UK
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Masonica Catching up with Old Girls
Pippa Corry
(Class of 2006)
Now living in Sydney and running her own sustainable brand consultancy, Pippa is one of 300 women from around the world to be selected to join eXXpedition - an all-female voyage studying the impact of plastics and toxics in our oceans. We got in touch to find out a bit more about her time at RMS and her career now.
Looking back at your time at School, what are your main impressions of RMS? I loved my time at RMS, I can still remember going to meet Mrs Egan to take the last spot available in Ruspini House. I was fortunate to stay at RMS all the way through to Upper Sixth where it was an emotional goodbye to 12 amazing years. It certainly had its ups and downs but that’s just part of growing up and learning to find your feet in the world and I do feel fortunate that I was able to do that for so long there. What were your favourite subjects and hobbies at School / growing up? I absolutely loved Design and Technology and Geography at School, to the extent I even looked for a combined course at university and fast realised that was never going to be an option! In the end I decided to study Product Design at Bournemouth but my passions for both Design and Geography have come to show. I have always worked in creative industries, equally the natural world and the environmental aspect of Geography has had a huge impact on my work. How has your career evolved since then? I’ve been fortunate to work as some of the world’s leading product and packaging design agencies both in London and Sydney. It has been a great natural evolution from my early career days of designing products to now running a business that works with design agencies to drive sustainability. Over the years, I have realised the overwhelming role that design plays in reducing our impact on the environment and people and how, as an industry, we need to apply creativity to better solve the climate change and waste problems we face, particularly from a packaging perspective. Can you tell us more about what you do now? I recently founded philo & co, a consultancy that works with design teams and consumer brands to help them transition to a circular economy. A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.
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It means that, at the early design stages, we consider the end of life for every product and its packaging, to ensure it can be reused, repurposed or recycled and prevent anything going to landfill. You may have heard of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation - they have worked wonders in helping educate businesses and governments on the abundance of opportunities this model offers. A lot of the environmental and waste challenges we face are down to businesses seeking short term gains, with little to no consideration to where the products go once they’re used and discarded. So, in essence, my job is to help people design better products and services so we’re using renewable resources and reusing what we have. Some of my personal favourites that are working in the circular economy are eCover, IKEA and KeepCup. Were there any important decisions you made that led you to do what you are doing now? I ended up working on a contract basis for a while and this really opened up my eyes to the opportunities of essentially being my own boss, and defining how and where to best utilise my time and knowledge. I genuinely feel that without this period of working with a number of businesses and seeing work opportunities in a different way I would not have set up my own business. What has been the best thing about following the path you are on? Knowing that it’s what I’m passionate about and that it is having a positive impact on people and our planet. Sustainability is a complex, and often overwhelming topic but fundamentally it’s essential that we seek these opportunities to preserve our planet. We can see the effects of climate change and mass consumerism first hand, so for me, I love knowing that I’m investing my time to make even a little impact. What has been the most challenging thing in your career so far? I guess the financial instability of setting up a business and not having the security of a consistent salary but you just get good at saving and it prompts you to be really proactive in reaching out to people and making introductions.
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What are your career highlights to date? I distinctly remember being offered a role in the packaging team at Seymourpowell, a company I’d had my eyes on since learning about them in Design & Technology with Miss Dines. I was overwhelmed and had three great years learning and growing with a super talented team there. It’s also great to see your work out there in the real world on shelves and now inspiring people to become fellow circular economy enthusiasts!
eXXpedition AnaJarc NorthPacific18
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Masonica Catching up with Old Girls Can you tell us more about how you were selected for eXXpedition and the project as a whole? eXXpedition is a not for profit company that runs all female sailing research expeditions to investigate the causes of and solutions to ocean plastic pollution. They look to address knowledge gaps and provide evidence to form effective change to plastic waste. Their mission is to ‘make the unseen seen’. So much of our (often single use) plastic waste, is ending up in our oceans killing marine life. Microplastics have now made their way into the human food chain and have been linked to be having damaging effects on women’s health in particular. I had been following the founder of eXXpedition, Emily Penn, for a while and what she was doing to promote awareness of marine plastic waste. I was consulting with a community event in London called No Planet B and managed to get one of eXXpedition’s mission leaders to come and speak at one of our events. I explained all the work I was doing within the design industry and at that time, they were planning the three year round the world voyage with teams sailing for a week at a time. I applied as soon as I could and am very lucky to be one of 300 women who have been selected to take part from over 10,000 applicants from around the world. from almost 10,000 In 2019 I was selected in @exxpedition_ RTW, an rt pa e age applicants to tak scientific research voy all-female sailing and d toxins in our oceans. to explore plastics an 300 women | 38,000 2 years | 30 voyages | nautical miles
I am really looking forward to spending a week at sea (despite being rather prone to sea sickness!) I will be sailing from Fiji to Vanuatu and I think being out in the Pacific ocean is going to be an incredible experience. It will enable me to meet some inspiring women and for us to work together and help the local communities in dealing with the current impacts of plastic waste.
Are there any ways that your time at RMS has impacted what you do now and how you approach your work? RMS gave me a great education and start to my career and a strong work ethic. Hard work definitely pays off and I think RMS definitely instilled this in me. It also gave me amazing facilities to learn it my own way. Not to mention, it set my lunch expectations VERY high as we were so spoiled! To find out more about Pippa’s extraordinary voyage visit gf.me/u/xapq9q or instagram.com/philo_and_co/
eXXpedition Eleanor Church Lark Rise Pictures Marine Debris North Pacific Gyre 70
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eXXpedition Jen Russell North Pacific leg 1 Hawaii to Vancouver 1393
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Francesca Smyth (centre) and the Senior Pupil Leadership Team 2014-2015
Francesca Smyth
(Class of 2015)
Former Head Girl Francesca Smyth looks back on her time at RMS and talks about recent successes in her Textiles career. When looking back at my time at RMS I think of the opportunities and experiences I was given and think of all the fond memories I made. I attended RMS from 2008-2015 working my way from Year 7 and finishing my time in Sixth Form. During my time at School I felt I was constantly encouraged to follow my path of creativity – I would never be too far from the Textiles department. Although I finished school nearly five years ago I still have vivid memories of learning in a happy and nurturing environment. In particular, being given the chance to try out numerous activities beyond the academic timetable. When reflecting on my time at RMS, the opportunities I was given are always the main reason for making my school years so enjoyable. These experiences gave me such confidence. Going on school trips to develop my language skills, for cultural exchanges and to learn about history beyond the classroom truly made RMS a unique school. I was fortunate that Hind House had been newly refurbished just before I started Sixth Form. I fondly look back at relaxing on the pink sofas in the common room with our daily supply of biscuits and toast! I started off as a shy young girl when I joined RMS in Year 7. With the support of teachers and friends, I immersed myself in school life. My time at RMS culminated in being given the responsibility of Head Girl where I worked closely with pupils and staff. The prefect role allowed me to familiarise myself with students in all year groups, whilst
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remaining compassionate and representing a group of like minded girls. It was pleasure to end my education at School with such a rewarding job, and one for which I will always be grateful for what it taught me and how much I learnt. I went on to study Textile Design at The University of Edinburgh. The four-year course enabled me to utilise the varied skills I learnt from my time at School, particularly when presenting my work where I was able to hone my public speaking skills. From studying at Edinburgh, I became particularly passionate about sustainable textiles and began to develop my creative portfolio by exploring ethical interior design. In my final year of studies, I created a graduate collection which focused on developing textiles for interiors. Each piece of work I produced told a story from the handcrafted fabric which has been fairly sourced from locations globally, honouring the makers whilst ensuring a conscious effort to incorporate ethical production into the collection. Ultimately, a lot of the decisions I made when developing my work came back to the values I learnt during my time at RMS, being conscious and mindful, whilst always questioning and continuing to learn. Since graduating from Edinburgh in July, I have exhibited my textiles at The University of Edinburgh Degree Show (above right), whilst being picked to represent Edinburgh University at New Designers in London. This was the first opportunity I had to showcase my collection
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The Atorkor exchange (below left and below) was the highlight of my time at School. I was given a buddy in Ghana who I still keep in contact with now. We still write to each other and she has now been able to realise her dream of becoming a nurse. Combining my love of teaching and creativity I chose to work at a summer camp in America as Head of Arts and Crafts during one of my university summers. I enjoyed it so much that I returned for a second summer, being given more responsibilities and learning more about myself in three months than I thought possible! It definitely made me appreciate my teachers and tutors more, learning the art of patience and discipline whilst maintaining a smile at all times!
alongside other graduate designers. It was a real ‘pinch me’ moment having gone on a Textile school trip to New Designers back in 2013, which is when I decided I wanted to study Textile Design at degree level. From this exhibition I was handpicked to represent the Design Fresh installation at 100% Design in Olympia, being chosen by the Evening Standard to showcase my work alongside industry professionals. Whilst at university I was also heavily involved in UNICEF on Campus, becoming President in my final two years. Our society raised awareness of campaigns including reuniting refugees with their families and a toxic air campaign where we gained signatures to get these issues spoken about in Parliament. I also founded a charity ball for the University where all profits went to life saving supplies for vulnerable children funded by UNICEF. At School I was always a keen volunteer, working as leader at Girl Guiding, and assisting in the summer school programme in Atorkor during Sixth Form. These opportunities gave me an interest in volunteering with children, whilst giving me confidence in leading diverse groups of people.
To this day I continue to laugh with my RMS friends when we reminisce about our time at School. It will always remain more than a academic environment and somewhere I reflect back on with the fondest memories. I was part of a supportive family of friends and teachers who wanted me to achieve my best academically and beyond the classroom. Utilising the facilities and extra curricular activities meant I found interests I took to university with me which I continue to get involved with now. I remain incredibly close to my RMS friends, recently starting a recreational netball team with some of the girls after work. I continue to develop my love for the creative world, working in a design studio specialising in womenswear textile design where I am the Studio Co-ordinator. I interned at the studio for a month the previous summer, and was asked to return once I finished my studies at Edinburgh. The hard work I put into my degree and the passion I have for design have meant I have been extremely busy since graduating, but enjoying every minute of each new step in my career. I have continued to utilise my degree by developing my design brand and creating products for the home. I have received encouraging feedback as I embark on my new journey, and look forward to seeing how my experiences at School and university shape my future. I am constantly looking to learn through attending exhibitions, workshops and conferences on design, with particular interest in sustainable design in fashion and textiles.
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Stephanie Leung
(Class of 2008)
Stephanie left RMS in 2008 to pursue a career in design. She has worked in her home country, Hong Kong, and is now a designer based in London.
I wanted to work in design and the creative industries ever since I was young. When I joined RMS, I found the Art and Textiles departments there were great - they had equipment that led me to try out different techniques and the art books were always very inspirational when it came to doing research for projects. I was given a lot of guidance and flexibility from the tutors at RMS to develop my own art pieces and designs and took Fine Arts and Textile Design as my A-level subjects. RMS helped me to achieve good results at GCSE and A-level; the exam board even reported that I had achieved one of the top ten marks nationally in both Art and Textile Design. At university, I took my interest further and explored the different aspects and techniques in Textiles at Nottingham Trent. After completing the first year of the bachelor’s programme, I decided to specialise in knitwear and transferred to the Knitwear Design and Knitted Textiles course. Following this, I stayed at Nottingham Trent to do my master’s degree in Fashion Design. Aside from my undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Nottingham Trent University, it was also a fantastic opportunity for me to live and experience the culture in a different part of England, away from London. The campus had a modern and attractive layout with facilities that were particularly beneficial to students in the School of Art and Design. We were constantly showcasing our designs at fashion events. After graduation, I moved back to Hong Kong, where I found my first job working as a garment technician. Although this was not the most glamorous or ideal job, the skills that I gained from this experience, such as measuring garments and resolving technical issues were a step into the industry. It also equipped me with skills that enabled me to produce my own designs in my subsequent role as a designer. In my current position as a designer in London, I have to ensure that all products are ready to launch in time as part of seasonal collections. I keep in touch with factories on a daily basis to check up on sample status, to review sample workmanship, to do fittings on forms, as well as to contact yarn mills for new updates. I have always been inspired by catwalk shows and feel excited seeing glamorous outfits being worn on stage. On the other hand, I am quite a practical person and therefore am interested in designing chic everyday pieces for the modern woman. The challenge is usually to create pieces that have
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Fashion is generally a very fast-paced industry where retailers are striving to meet new trends and keep up with the accelerated business world globally. An American TV series called Project Runway recently said ‘one day you are in, the next day you are out’ and it is absolutely true. I, therefore, always need to be prepared and ready for new challenges.
mass appeal, look equally good sized up or down, and within a reasonable budget too! Each season brings new ideas and keeps my career exciting. One of the best moments at work has definitely been seeing my design concepts turn into reality and seeing them transform from paper into products in shops. I have also been very lucky to have the chance to attend yarn shows, to visit yarn mills and to meet clients around Europe and Asia. So far, I have been on work trips to Paris, Florence, Shanghai, Taiwan and Tokyo where each place has kept me inspired and energised with ideas. I am really enjoying travelling around and experiencing different cultures and food alongside my design work.
Looking back on my time at RMS, some of the memories are unforgettable. I remember the art trip to Barcelona, not only was I able to make a visit to Dalí Universe (my favourite artist!) but also to look around the city with the RMS girls. One of these girls is still my best friend and it is wonderful to be able to share our childhood memories together.
Work-life in Hong Kong was certainly very tough as working hours were constantly very long and demanding. The company I am working for now in London is relatively small and my workload is quite heavy. In this sense, I have found working in London quite similar to working in Hong Kong.
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Jill Hopkins
(Class of 1950)
Jill Hopkins has had a lifetime of involvement at RMS. She joined the School as a pupil in 1942, eventually becoming Head Girl. She returned as a teacher in 1955, joined the Old Girls’ Association committee in 1956, later becoming chairman and then Life President of the OMGA. Jill keeps in close contact with friends and pupils from her time at RMS and visits the School whenever she can, most recently joining us for the opening of the Performing Arts Centre. Lucia Hull visited Jill in the Autumn of 2019 to capture her reminiscences about her time RMS.
Jill Hopkins as an RMS pupil in 1950
My father died in 1941 at the outbreak of war. My mother worked for the Civil Nursing Reserve and I was left in the care of my grandmother. My grandmother lived in Gloucestershire, she also looked after five relatives who had fled the bombing in London as well as a family from Eastbourne, who had also been evacuated.
At that time, I went to the village school where all the children were kept in order by the Headmaster who had a cane. I was nine years old and top of the class. Ordinarily I would have taken the scholarship and gone to the grammar school in my village in Gloucestershire. However, the Masons took me out of my elementary school, and sent me to the Royal Masonic School in Rickmansworth. An RMS Pupil I joined RMS in April 1942, right in the middle of the school year. I really should have gone into the junior department, but as I had been top of my class, I went into the First Form at Rickmansworth. My mother didn’t have to provide a thing for me, only a pound for pocket money, a bible, prayer book, dressing gown and slippers, that was all she was asked for. I did have my own brush, comb, toothpaste, toothbrush and my own soap, but I could have had everything. It was astonishing. When I joined, the trees leading up to the admin block were saplings and Audrey Fryer was the Headmistress. She was a reforming Head; she was determined to bring the School away from being an orphanage, into being a proper public School. I remember she gave a very special
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assembly once. She said ‘when you write your letters home on Sunday you are not to put RMIG (Royal Masonic Institution for Girls) at the top of your letter; this is the Royal Masonic School, the Institution are the offices in London’. She really was a very clever woman. She wore loud lisle stockings, knitted suits, a ‘Marcel’ hair wave and she had played wing for England hockey. She was a strong woman, devout and compassionate and became a good friend later in life. While I was a pupil, 12 men who formed the House Committee, gave up a day every month to come to the School and regulate its affairs, to look at the accounts and to look after the grounds. One of the men, Lord Harris, saw the School as part of his estate, he would shake hands with all of the groundsmen whenever he came to visit. The House Committee and their wives visited the School on a Thursday. They would stay and cut the Committee cake at teatime, they would have their dinner, come in for evening prayers and then some of them would stay and we would do ballroom dancing together. They became friends for life; I exchanged Christmas cards with Lord Harris until he died. These were an amazing, devoted, altruistic group and that was all part of the Masonic tradition. I cannot abide those people who criticise Freemasonry – I see nothing but good in what they did for us and for our mothers. The other girls who attended the School with me were from all over the country and from every background. The war had been an implement of enormous social change. When you were in uniform, your background didn’t come into it. Freemasonry was like that too, members were from every social background. When a mason died, their daughters could come to the School. It was a complete mix and wasn’t it marvellous? There were girls from South Shields, South Wales, Liverpool, Northern Ireland, it was extraordinary, it was so good. We were one of the first comprehensives, the only thing you had to have was that you had to have lost your father. Even more extraordinary was that before we left the School we were entirely kitted out. A complete wardrobe was provided. An overcoat, a dress, a hat, gloves, two pairs of shoes, one walking, one heels, all our underwear and all our handkerchiefs.
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I went on to London University and did a teacher training course. I had a county scholarship and because my fees were paid for, I had to swear that I would teach for one year in the state system. So in 1954 I had finished my teacher training and went on to teach in a secondary modern in Cirencester that was in fact made up of Nissen huts. It had been a USAF air base on the corner of Cirencester Park. I taught there for a year. When the war was over, my mother had decided to become a school sanatorium sister so that our holidays would coincide. At the end of my first term at the school in Cirencester my mother and I went home to my Grandmother’s house for Christmas. The day we arrived, my grandmother died in her sleep. My grandmother had lived in the Manor House in Northleach. It was a big house with two staircases, huge gardens, an orchard and a paddock. Back in 1945, my grandmother had decided to sell the house for £1,350 on the condition that she could continue to rent half of the house from the new owner. We had the dining room, the drawing room, the kitchen, three bedrooms and a bathroom. When my grandmother died, my mother asked the owner if she could continue to rent the house in the same circumstances. The owner refused and said he wanted us out by Lady Day. We could not find anywhere to live, and so, come the summer, we started clearing the house and the attic and we simply started a bonfire and then we were homeless. Over the summer, we made a round of visits to generous friends and family. Coming back to RMS To cut a long story short, Miss Fryer heard that my grandmother had died, and immediately said ‘we need you Jill to come and teach in the School’. She knew that we did not have a home. The holidays were still a problem, but I was ‘fed and watered’ in term time. So really the School were wonderful, they were amazing, I was very fortunate. I continued to teach English, French and Junior Latin at the School and eventually became House Mistress of Zetland. Then, after 13 years at RMS, I went to a friend’s party. She introduced me to a Headmistress of another school who said her Deputy Head was retiring and why didn’t I apply. I did and became the Deputy Head of a girls’ grammar school in Inner London. In my first term, I became Acting Head. It was an absolute eye opener.
Becoming a Governor After retiring, I became a governor at RMS. I used to thoroughly enjoy being a governor. I used to spend time at the School visiting various departments and getting to know the staff. I was able to say to them ‘you are doing such a marvellous job, I have so enjoyed being in your lessons’. I think the teachers appreciated someone coming to say ‘well done’. I thought it was so important that their work was recognised, and the fact that I had been a teacher meant that I knew what I was talking about. RMS today When I have visited the School recently, I see obviously very happy girls. At Sports Day a few years ago a mother came to me and said ‘do you know I just cannot believe how wonderful this school is’. It is such an exceptional School. I was so glad that I was able to donate to the Campaign for Excellence to help with the build of the new Performing Arts Centre in Alexandra House. I was so disappointed when they pulled down the music rooms where the New Mark Hall is today. Music had always been so vital in the School and such an enormous part of our background. We used to have extraordinary concerts in School; that tradition was absolutely at the fore. On Prize Day, there were eight pianos in the Great Hall, with a trio being played on each - 24 girls in total - they were the younger girls, 11-13 year olds. Then there were the duets, solos and the orchestra recitals. I really remember the quality of the works that were played. It is so good that these traditions are kept. When I think of the pupils now, I hope they remember their heritage and just how wonderful it is that we are a girls’ School that was founded in 1788, when women’s education was not regarded, that we were one of the first. Along with Christ’s Hospital, we have very similar foundations; they were both created for foundlings. There is this incredible heritage. It is an amazing School and I will always sing its praises and be thankful for it.
During that time, the government started talking about the Crosland Circular or Circular 10/65. This White Paper would turn grammar schools into comprehensives. It led to four years of absolute turmoil. Almost every night I was writing papers or addressing parents in meetings. Mrs Thatcher, who was Education Secretary at that time, finally made the decision and the girls’ grammar joined with a mixed comprehensive eventually becoming the largest comprehensive school in London. I was Deputy Head for 21 years in the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) but, in 1990, Mrs Thatcher decided to abolish the ILEA. It was about 18 months before I reached my 60th birthday and so I took advantage of early retirement and that’s the story of my career. Jill Hopkins with her pupils Kate Spencer (née Roberts) 1964 and Lesley Bishop (née Paxton) 1962
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Bobbi Duffin
(Class of 2009)
Bobbi Duffin has been teaching at RMS since 2017. Once a pupil at the School, she has now returned to pass on her enthusiasm for Design and Technology (D&T) to the next generation of RMS girls. We caught up with her to find out about her memories of RMS and how things have changed since she was a pupil here.
When did you join RMS? My father was in the army and moved around a lot so I decided to board for Senior School and picked RMS. I joined as a Year 7 pupil in 2002. I am an only child and boarding felt like having siblings and friends that you could be with all the time. I never felt lonely and it was such a lot of fun. You also had people to help you with your homework whenever you needed it.
confidence. I obviously love D&T, but I really enjoyed Textiles too. I was in quite a few sports teams and we were encouraged to get involved as much as we wanted to and to have fun doing it too. By doing that we make confident, happy children and we do that really well. How did you decide to become a teacher?
Diana Rose was my Headmistress. Every evening she would cycle around the Garth, popping into the boarding houses to say hello to us all and ask how we were all doing. When I was a pupil, there were four ‘vertical’ houses for girls in Years 7 to 11 and one for the Sixth Form. In each year group, there were around twenty boarders but we were spread over the four boarding houses so you would get to know girls in different year groups. We did our homework during Prep in our houses in the evenings. Years 7 to 10 were all in a room together and you could always ask someone in the room to help you.
I did Camp America every summer during my university holidays. That experience helped me to decide that I wanted to become a teacher. After I did my degree, I went on to do my PGCE straight away and from there I got a job in a state School. I absolutely loved my job at that time but during my second year, I saw an advert for a Teacher of Design and Technology at RMS. I emailed Mandy Dines who taught me as a pupil and is still Head of D&T now. I asked if she thought I should apply, she said ‘yes!’ Soon afterwards I got an internal promotion at the School I was working in and decided it wasn’t the right time to move. Not long after that, a job at RMS came up again and I thought ‘I can’t not do it’. So I applied and here I am!
How has RMS changed since you were a pupil?
How do you find being a teacher in your old school?
When I was a pupil, day girls belonged to houses in the same way as the boarders did. The four houses were Cumberland, Moira, AthollSussex and Connaught. If you were a day pupil, you would go to the common room in your house which was also a boarding house for break times. We used to go to lunch in houses rather than year groups too. School was very house orientated and the house system was much stronger. Now we have houses for House Day and Sports Day and other events like that but houses don’t form such an important part of your identity and sense of belonging in the School. Now Devonshire is the day house and different year groups have common rooms there so the girls go there during break and lunch times.
Many teachers that taught me are still here now. Rachel BloomfieldProud, who I absolutely loved, was my form tutor in Year 10 and 11, Helen Brooks taught me Textiles, Liz Spendiff was my PE teacher and Lesley Adamson taught me English. One of my favourites was Mr Young, he retired last summer. He is such a knowledgeable person, and so lovely, I was very sad when he left.
Despite the logistical changes like these, the underlying values and principles of RMS have stayed the same. I really like teaching here because it gave me and still gives the girls such a well-rounded education. Whatever you wanted to do, or were good at, you were encouraged to do. RMS is very good at finding out what the girls enjoy and what they are good at and using their strengths to build their
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I don’t actually find it weird at all teaching alongside my former teachers. I imagine it must have been a bit odd for them to start with. When I was in Year 11, my dad got a permanent house so I went to live at home with my mum and dad and attended a day school for Sixth Form. Because I went to a different school for Sixth Form and taught in another school before RMS, coming back to teach didn’t feel too strange. Perhaps it would have done if I had stayed for Sixth Form, gone to university and then come straight back to School. I often tell the girls that they should appreciate RMS, I don’t think they realise how good it is until after they have left! I also encourage them
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to be proud of attending this School. I was in Drill as a pupil and teach Drill now. It is just the most RMS thing. At the school I worked at previously, one of the teachers was a former RMS pupil as well. She was six years older than I was and the first thing she asked me was ‘were you in Drill?’ Whenever the School gets a new head teacher, the first question anyone asks is ‘are they going to get rid of Drill?’ There is real panic that someone new is going to get rid of it. It is such an important tradition.
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RMS in the Architect’s Imagination John Adams has been teaching History at RMS since 2011. He is fascinated by architecture and recently completed a survey of all the School buildings. Here are a few of the highlights from the full survey.
In 1928 John Leopold Denman (1882-1975) won the competition to design a school for the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls. On completion, in 1934, the buildings were fully described and much praised in architectural journals of the day, but there is no record of the reasoning which lies behind his design, so here is an attempt to read his mind by studying the buildings. Freemasonry claims historic links to the work of architects from as far back as the pyramids and the Temple of Solomon but grew as a movement in the 18th century when the dominant architectural style was a development of Graeco-Roman and Renaissance ‘classicism’,
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which in the UK we call ‘Georgian’. This style reflected the rationalism, deism, benevolence, moderation, tolerance and flexibility of enlightened thought of the time, and lends itself to the arrangement of a building’s different parts according to carefully contrived numbers and ratios. It remained the ‘default’ style for public buildings (schools, libraries, swimming pools, waterworks, banks, etc.) until, in the 1950s, ‘modern movement’ architecture replaced it; partly because it was cheaper, partly because it was more stridently ‘fashionable’, partly because many people wanted a clean break from the past. However, active interest in it is now reviving, e.g. the new accommodation being added to Selwyn College, Cambridge and the Sackler library in Oxford.
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Masonica RMS Heritage & Archives The ‘Neo-Georgian’ buildings of the inter-war years are now being reassessed and fully appreciated, the new editions of Pevsner’s The Buildings of England including much more detailed treatments of buildings in this style, including a much fuller entry on RMS and a photograph of the chapel. Indeed, RMS is one of the most notable NeoGeorgian/Art Deco buildings and Denman’s masterpiece. Denman was influenced by Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944), now regarded by many as the greatest 20th century British architect and renowned for his ability to blend structures and motifs seamlessly. Denman was also well-versed in French language and culture so his semi-circular ground plan for the Garth and main teaching block seems to have been inspired by the salt works designed by the French architect, Claude Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806) (a freemason), at Arcet-Senan, near Besancon, in 1775, probably because it was a utopian scheme which resonated with the idea of the RMIG as a self-sufficient community nurturing orphaned girls. To Freemasons, a circle is an even more perfect shape than a semi-circle and if the semi-circle is completed into a circle by an imaginary line it will be found to cut through the chapel and the Dining Hall. Thus the ‘physical shelter’ of the semi-circle of boarding houses is linked to the ‘spiritual nourishment’ of the chapel and the ‘physical nourishment’ of the Dining Hall. The semi-circle is often likened by Freemasons to a radiating rising sun, so the shape of the Garth is taken up by the rising-sun motifs which edge the ceiling of the Dining Hall above panels depicting various foods. Significantly, the 14 rising-suns each have 21 rays, reflecting Denman’s apparent determination to include multiples of seven whenever possible, and the rising-suns above the four windows with bayed sections of 63 (i.e.7x3x3) panes draw attention to these windows by being larger.
Chapel
Why this fascination with the number seven? Denman clearly regarded the chapel as very important and personally donated the carved reredos behind the altar which represents the Good Shepherd surrounded by seven doves representing the seven Spiritual Graces (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, respect for the Lord). The chapel is therefore in some sense the ‘soul’ of the institution, from which he seems to have worked the number seven into the entire structure, thereby linking everything to this idea in the chapel. Many cultures have been fascinated by the number seven because it is a prime number made up from 5+2 or 2x2+3, all of which are themselves prime numbers. Architects like the relationship between odd and even numbers, the most basic example being the odd number of spaces between an even number of columns used in the facade of a Greek temple.
Aerial view of the Garth, 1934
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The Great Hall
Western music shares many numerical ratios with the ‘classical’ tradition of architecture, notably 1:2 (octave), 2:3 (fifth), 3:4 (fourth). This is why it is valid to use the concept of ‘harmony’ in music and architecture. Denman therefore uses these ratios together with 7, 2 and 3 in many different multiples.
2. The upper corners of each boarding house round the garth have 7 quoins (decorative brickwork). 3. The corners of the projecting central section of the main teaching block have 21 quoins (7x3). 4. There are 8 boarding houses (2x2x2).
The purpose of using a consistent set of ratios is to create a sense of unity and harmony throughout a structure but this is not necessarily consciously perceived, any more than a casual listener to a piece of music consciously analyses the ways in which a composer contrived the harmonies. However, these ratios are certainly perceived subconsciously and subliminally, and are easily spoilt by insensitive additions, just as it is easy to spoil the ‘simple complexity’ of the music of Bach or Mozart by a single wrong note. RMS has not been marred in this way, the new main entrance into the New Mark Hall making reference to the shape of the Garth and respecting the pre-existing brickwork.
5. The patterned lino in the chapel forms knots with 7, 21 (3x7) or 28 (2x2x7) loops.
However, the unity and harmony of the architecture of RMS are immediately sensed, and a few moments counting windows and bricks can reveal the consistent use of basic numbers and ratios.
11. The number of small panes in the bayed sections of the Dining Hall windows = 63, i.e. the same number as the principle openings of the ground floor of the long teaching block, making an interesting numerical cross-reference.
The most obvious examples are: 1. The Great Hall, Dining Hall, Chapel and Swimming Pool are all divided into 7 major bays.
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6. In the chapel the brickwork in the tops of the arches of the central transept arches is in 7 bands. 7. The west front of the chapel has 6 windows + a door = 7 openings. 8. The ground floor of the south front of the long teaching block has 62 principle windows + door = 63 = 7x3x3. 9. The upper floor of the south front of the long teaching block has 21 windows = 7x3. 10. Therefore the total number of windows + door of the south front = 63+21 = 84 = 7x3x2x2.
12. The long corridor in the main teaching block is 630 ft long, i.e. 7x3x3x2x(3+2).
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Masonica RMS Heritage & Archives 13. The archway from the Garth into the open vestibule before the double doors staff/pupil entrance into the New Mark Hall corridor is 7ft wide.
The Swimming Pool
14. The corridors are virtually the same size and given the same rhythm by being divided by pilasters and shallow arches (average number of bricks in arches = 28 = 7x2x2). 15. The width ratio between the ground floor and first floor windows in the ‘boarding houses’ round the Garth is 3:2, as is the ratio between the glazing panels within the Crittall windows in the south front of the main teaching block facing the Garth. 16. The total number of arches and colonnaded square spaces in the continuous cloister round the Garth which joins the main teaching block is 126 (i.e. 7x3x3x2). 17. The paving along the edges of the Dining Hall and Chapel Quads outside the corridors flanking the Great Hall consists of 28 (i.e. 7x2x2) brick panels framed by flagstones. 6 of the panels contain 42 (i.e. 7x3x2) bricks and 12 contain 21 (i.e.7x3) bricks. This has involved the cutting of bricks to fit, suggesting that Denman was highly concerned to ensure that even such small details, underfoot and beyond the notice of most people, were consistent with his overall plan and did not conflict with the integrity of his scheme. The careful use of consistent proportion means that Denman could blend the ‘Neo-Georgian’ of most of the School with contemporary artdeco lighting and door furniture, as well as the ‘modernist’ use of bare brick and steel Crittall windows in the corridors, and even with a chapel in ‘Neo-Byzantine’ style. Interestingly, at about the same time, the architect Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) built a Byzantine chapel for the otherwise ‘Neo-Georgian’ Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford. Was Denman competing with one of the most famous architects of the time? There is much, much more to be said on this matter, but attention must also be drawn to the superb quality of the materials used at RMS. Thus,
subtle details in the warm-toned brickwork, set off by cream pointing, link ‘public spaces’ decorated with fine plasterwork, and panelling in Australian walnut and Australian silk oak The sculpture and painting in the public places amount to what is probably the best collection in a single place of the sculpture and painting by members of the Ditchling group of artists and crafts-people, notably Joseph Cribb, Charles Knight and Louis Ginnett. Thus, Denman blended flexibly used traditional architecture with the ‘modernism’ to be seen in the heating and lighting systems and the use of the sloping site to collect rainwater into underground reservoirs south of the Garth, to be used for watering the orchards and market gardens of this masterpiece of 1930s School architecture.
The Dining Hall
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From the Archives Our archives hold many hidden treasures which we want to share. For this issue, we’ve unearthed a witty poem written in 1964 by a Zetland student, about her hair. We also found a couple of beautiful images of Sports Day from that same year. Enjoy!
A COMPLAINT, VOICED BY YOUR HAIR There was once a time when you were young, And I was baby fine; You screamed whenever your feelings were hurt, Though caring little for mine! And then came the time when you went to School, Your satchel weighty and full: Your friends would stop to say, “Hello”, And give me a tug or a pull. And then, of course, you went through a phase When you used to try to annoy me, So with ‘back comb’ and lacquer you set to work Until I thought you’d destroy me. At last you noticed my listless state, And to the hairdressers carried me. Rollers contorted me in rigid grip And the scissors-how they harried me! Then the fashion changed again, No longer the careless crop In came the fine and lanky look. The shine and the languid flop. At last the coiffeurs realised That the hairs can never shine. When dulled by lacquer and back-combing By split ends and city-grime. Inevitably, the time will come, When I’ll turn a silvery grey, And perhaps you’ll dye me blue or green To banish age away. Already you grieve that I’m not red, Nor honey-blonde, nor black. I’m naturally plain mouse-brown, A fact useless to attack. So, please, try to treat me wisely Cherish me in every way; I’ll see that I bring you compliments Until your dying day.
Elizabeth Purdie, Form Lower VI B (Zetland) From the 1964 edition of Machio
The school historian and author of Polished Cornerstones, Lorna Cowburn is always keen to receive items for the school archive. If you have photographs you would like to send her please email lcowburn@rmsforgirls.com. 32
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Memories from Sports Day 1964
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The Grace Robinson Memorial Fund The official handover between the OMGA and the RMS took place at Sports Day 2019
Throughout the history of the Old Masonic Girls’ Association, a Grant Fund has been available to members. Old Girls have been able to request support when experiencing difficult times, if they needed help to meet the costs of retraining or to purchase books and materials for a degree or training course. The fund is also well known for sending cards and flowers to its elderly members and those experiencing ill health. In 1967, the Grant Fund was renamed the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund in honour of a significant RMS Old Girl. Grace Robinson became a pupil at RMS in 1894 and went on to found the OMGA in 1912. She began the tradition of Old Girls attending Sports Day; at one stage she even began an office to help Old Girls help each other find employment. With the handover of the OMGA to the School, very careful consideration was given to how RMS would continue to offer support to Old Girls and how its funds would be stewarded in the future. At Sports Day 2019, the Headmaster and Chair of Governors signed an agreement (a copy is on P58) that the
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Old Girls returning to school for Sports Day in 1912
School will continue to offer support to Old Girls just as the OMGA has always done through the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund. The School will continue the tradition of sending flowers to our elderly Old Girls and supporting Old Girls in difficult times. Grants for retraining, books and resources will also be available. The RMS Bursary Fund At the OMGA AGM in March 2019, it was agreed that the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund, along with the OMGA’s assets, would be added to the RMS Bursary Fund. The Bursary Fund is used to broaden access to the School. When RMS became an independent, fee-paying school in 1978, it continued to offer some scholarships and bursaries to new pupils. However, unlike many independent schools, RMS does not have a large endowment that enables it to offer many bursary places. Instead, it relies on philanthropic support from the wider community. With the addition of the OMGA’s funds, the School is now in a position to offer a 50% bursary to a new Year 7 pupil until she leaves after Alevels every year, in perpetuity. The bursary place will be called the Grace Robinson Bursary and the first one will be awarded in September 2020. This is a fantastic step forward for the School. We know the difference an RMS education makes. The parent of a current bursary recipient writes: “RMS has changed my daughter’s life. She is surrounded by friends in a loving and caring atmosphere. This has enabled her to flourish both academically and socially. The chance that you have given her is not only life changing now, but will enable to her to achieve goals that would have otherwise been unattainable. I cannot thank you enough for the support you have given us”. Looking Ahead
Old Girls have generously supported the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund through gifts and legacy bequests in the past. If you have already made a bequest in your Will to the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund, this will now be recognised as a donation to the RMS Bursary Fund. The RMS Bursary Fund is a registered charity and therefore bequests from UK taxpayers are exempt from Inheritance Tax. Should you wish to leave a bequest in your Will, the following wording should be used: I leave to The Grace Robinson Memorial Fund, held with the Royal Masonic School for Girls Bursary Fund (Charity Registration Number 1106076) EITHER the sum of £ (to be completed) (amount in words) OR a (to be completed) % share of my residuary estate, to be applied to the general purposes of the Fund and I declare that the receipt of the Bursar or the duly authorised officer for the time being at the Royal Masonic School for Girls shall be a good and sufficient discharge to my executors. For further information about leaving a gift to the School in your Will or if you would like a Codicil form to amend an existing Will, please contact the Development Office: development@rmsforgirls.com, 01923 725 772 or write to RMS for Girls, Rickmansworth Park, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, WD3 4HF As all RMS Old Girls are automatically part of the alumnae network and there are no memberships subs to pay, Standing Orders to the Old Masonic Girls’ Association bank account will be treated as contributions to the RMS Bursary Fund going forward. If you would like to make a donation to this fund, cheques should be made payable to the ‘RMS Bursary Fund’ and sent to the Royal Masonic School for Girls, Rickmansworth Park, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, WD3 4HF.
When the School was founded in 1788 it welcomed pupils from all backgrounds; inclusivity has been a hallmark of the School ever since. One of the School’s priorities is to grow the RMS Bursary Fund so that it can offer more bursaries to deserving girls and remain true to its founding principles.
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Re-inventing Alexandra House Maya P playing at the Opening Ceremony in the new Recital Hall
The School has long had an ambition to create a dedicated centre for Drama, Dance and Music. It was not in a position to proceed with this project on its own but alumnae, parents, staff, governors and friends of the School generously gave over ÂŁ1 million and made it possible. In September 2019, the School opened a brand new Performing Arts Centre in Alexandra House. The transformation is stunning; it is modern yet sympathetic to the original design and features of the building. Now rooms that were once dormitories are music practice rooms and common rooms have become studios and classrooms. It was wonderful to have so many of our benefactors including alumnae and former staff with us for the opening ceremony in September. Anne Dudley, award-winning musician, past parent and composer of the School song, cut the ribbon and led guests into the centre. Then followed a showcase by pupils in each of the new spaces.
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The Drinks Reception for the opening of the new Performing Arts Centre
The studios and classrooms are truly world-class and the impact this new development has made on life at RMS is impossible to miss. Whenever you visit the Performing Arts Centre, you will find girls rehearsing and practising together. New student-led projects have already emerged; a Year 12 pupil has started an acappella singing group, in December, a group of Sixth Formers performed a musical that they had put together independently and two new dance groups have begun practising together. Adding to our groups and ensembles, one of our music teachers is now leading a jazz group and we are hosting regular Chamber Concerts in the Recital Hall. One pupil writes: ‘The Performing Arts Centre has had a huge impact on the freedom of my study in School as well as the recreational development of my musical ability. I have really enjoyed exploring the new facilities and using them in both lessons and in my free time. The new facilities have encouraged interaction with other musical and performing arts students and have meant that we can create projects and ideas without the formality of timetabling - there is usually a music practice room available for me to use at any time to develop my musicianship or jam with my friends. In short, I think that the new performing arts block is extraordinary and will have an amazing impact on my academic study of music.’ Rachel Burke, Year 12 Thank you for all your support and we hope you can visit RMS for a recital or performance soon.
The new Peake Drama Studio
One of the first lessons in the new Recital Hall
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From the Art Room Art and Textiles pieces from the 2019 GCSE and A-Level exhibitions.
Sinead M, Linoprint
Isabelle F, Acrylic
Eashani P, Acrylic
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Ellie R, Acrylic
Irina K, Acrylic
Jess D, Etching Print
Lucy M, Acrylic
Amy N, Acrylic
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Lyvia J, Acrylic…
… and String
Molly S, Acrylic
Vicky L, Wire
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Isabelle N, Acrylic Freya J, Pencil
Mia L, Acrylic
Olivia R, Pencil and Paper
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Performing Arts Every year the RMS Performing Arts department put on the most fantastic productions. This year was no exception with The House of Bernarda Alba. This famous Spanish play was performed in The Space by students for three nights from Wednesday 20 November to Friday 22 November.
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Prizegiving ART (Sponsor: St Luke’s Lodge No. 5371) Sixth Form Attainment: Sheren Lai (Sponsor: The Round Table Lodge of Middlesex No. 8301 in Memory of W. Bro D Pigg) GCSE Attainment: Mia Iggulden GCSE Progress: Molly Savage
ENGLISH LITERATURE (Sponsor: Miss W Forrester. In memory of Mr Leslie Jackson Tranquillity Lodge 185) Sixth Form Attainment: Mia Connors GCSE Attainment: Eleanor Glasspoole GCSE Progress: Gursimran Ubhi
BIOLOGY (Sponsor: The Old Globe Lodge No. 200) Sixth Form Attainment: Nicole Yeung
ENGLISH LANGUAGE (In memory of Mr Leslie Jackson, Tranquillity Lodge 185) Sixth Form Attainment: Ibby Gratte GCSE Attainment: Hannah Fitt GCSE Progress: Anais Ayiku-Jugurnauth
BUSINESS STUDIES (Sponsor: Mr J Gould) Sixth Form Attainment: Caitlyn Scott (Sponsor: Orion Lodge No. 4652) GCSE Attainment: Katie Stewart GCSE Progress: Isabella Corless-Fox
FOOD & NUTRITION Margaret Coe Memorial Prize GCSE Attainment: Emma Futcher GCSE Progress: Millie Crane
CHEMISTRY (In memory of Mr Leslie Jackson Tranquillity Lodge 185) Sixth Form Attainment: Nicole Yeung
FRENCH (Sponsor: De Grey & Ripon Lodge No. 905) Sixth Form Attainment: Lauren Walmsley GCSE Attainment: Miranda Conn GCSE Progress: Natasha Jones
CLASSICAL CIVILISATION (Sponsor: The ChevalierLodge of MMM and The Royal Ark Mariner Lodge No. 1505) Sixth Form Attainment: Megan Giandinoto COMPUTER SCIENCE (The Catherine Moore Prize for Computer Science at GCSE (Sponsor: Mr & Mrs I A Moore) GCSE Attainment: Amy Naden GCSE Progress: Evie Ingles
GERMAN (Sponsor: Connaught Army & Navy Lodge of MMM No. 748 in memory of Colonel E Munt) GCSE Attainment: Zoe Peters
DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY Arkwright Scholarship: Charlotte Small (Sponsor: St Luke’s Lodge No. 5371) Sixth Form Attainment: Heather Addison-Prout (Sponsor: Connaught Army & Navy Preceptory & Priory No. 172) GCSE Attainment: Natasha Jones GCSE Progress: Persephone Wojcik
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS Sixth Form Attainment: Mia Connors
DRAMA (Sponsor: The Round Table Lodge of Middlesex No. 8301 in Memory of W. Bro R Hook) GCSE Attainment: Aimee Liu GCSE Progress: Amelia Litchfield ECONOMICS (Sponsor: Lady Leigh Golden Wedding Fund & The Warwickshire Masonic Charitable Association) Sixth Form Attainment: Ellie Wheeler
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GEOGRAPHY The OMGA Prize for Sixth Form Geography (Sponsor: The Old Masonic Girls’ Association) Sixth Form Attainment: Jessica Bosher GCSE Attainment: Jane Williamson GCSE Progress: Sophie Rees
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE Vocational Medal Sixth Form Attainment: Pritika Menon BTEC Attainment: Molly Savage BTEC Progress: Diana Khodurskaya HISTORY The Dennis Machin Sixth Form History Essay Prize (In Memory of Mr D Machin) Sixth Form Attainment: Ella Hall The Dennis Machin Sixth Form Prize for History (In Memory of Mr D Machin) Sixth Form Attainment: Viktoria Wiggins GCSE Attainment: Sasha Kramer GCSE Progress: Jemima Forrest Ratcliffe
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Masonica Our School SOCIOLOGY Sixth Form Attainment: Annabel Gorton
LATIN (Sponsor: De Grey & Ripon Lodge No. 905) GCSE Attainment: Jane Williamson GCSE Progress: Ella Crossley
SPANISH (Sponsor: Señor Sarobe Corominas Piñeiro) Sixth Form Attainment: Megan Jenkins (Sponsor: De Grey & Ripon Lodge No. 905) GCSE Attainment: Lottie Janssen GCSE Progress: Molly Savage
MANDARIN Sixth Form Attainment: Kitty McCarthy GCSE Attainment: Elizabeth Berryman GCSE Progress: Amelia Lotz
TEXTILES Hilda Bailey Prize for Textiles in the Sixth Form & GCSE Prize (Sponsor: The Worshipful Company of Needlemakers) Sixth Form Attainment: Jasmine Lobo GCSE Attainment: Erin Taylor GCSE Progress: Anais Ayiku-Jugurnauth
MATHEMATICS & FURTHER MATHEMATICS (In memory of Bro Nathaniel Wilkinson) Sixth Form Attainment: Iris Yin MATHEMATICS (In memory of Bro Nathaniel Wilkinson) Sixth Form Attainment: Nicole Yeung (Sponsor: University of London Lodge No. 2033) GCSE Attainment: Miranda Conn (Sponsor: The Lodge of Reunion No. 5618) GCSE Progress: Charlotte Cairn
Army Cadet Force (Sponsor: Lt Col MCA Caseman-Jones) Cadet Lottie Janssen Chapel Choir Cup (Sponsor: Mr & Mrs M J Owen) Anna Sophia Montesdeoca Roy
MUSIC (Sponsor: De Grey & Ripon Lodge No. 905) Sixth Form Attainment: Anna Ngan (Sponsor: Henry Nelken of the Lodge of Tranquillity) GCSE Attainment: Isabella Flynn GCSE Progress: Rachel Burke
Mrs Whitbread’s Prize for Commitment to Choirs (Sponsor: Mrs Julia Whitbread) Maria Cowle Chorister of the Year (Sponsor: Bro & Mrs Allan P Simmons) Anna Gould
PERFORMING ARTS (Sponsor: De Gray & Ripon LodgeNo. 905) Sixth Form Attainment: Caitlyn Scott (Sponsor: Broxbourne Lodge No. 2353) BTEC Attainment: Abena Adoma BTEC Progress: Jemima Forrest Ratcliffe
Matt Cup for Achievement in Debate (Sponsor: Dr M Matt) Katie Sowerby and Lottie Jenkins
PHYSICAL EDUCATION (Sponsor: Lady Leigh Golden Wedding Fund & The Warwickshire Masonic Charitable Association) Sixth Form Attainment: Elena Izquierdo-Hall GCSE Attainment: Ella Peters
Prize for School Drill (Sponsor: Lady Leigh Golden Wedding Fund & The Warwickshire Masonic Charitable Association) Ibby Gratte and Katie Boxall
PHYSICS (Sponsor: The Old Globe Lodge No. 200) Sixth Form Attainment: Kelly Wong
Strachan Trophy for Contribution to Music (Sponsor: Mr & Mrs A J Strachan) Elizabeth Berryman
PHOTOGRAPHY (Sponsor: Miss Lisa Hutchinson) Sixth Form Attainment: Sophie Oshry
The Joanna Moss Prize for Musical Composition (Sponsor: Mr & Mrs M Moss) Evie Ingles
PSYCHOLOGY (Sponsor: Mr & Mrs R.T Preedy) Sixth Form Attainment: Annabel Gorton
Silver Fern Award for Outstanding Netball (Sponsor: Miss Tina Duff) Neneh Gardner
RELIGIOUS STUDIES (Sponsor: The Round Table Lodge of Middlesex No. 8301 in Memory of W. Bro Dr F Shepherd) GCSE Attainment: Sophie Rees GCSE Progress: Honey Cahn-Brown
The School Prize for Contribution to Performing Arts (Sponsor: Music Lodge No. 3688) Millie Jamieson-Pond
SCIENCE (In memory of Mr Leslie Jackson Tranquillity Lodge 185) GCSE Attainment: Miranda Conn GCSE Progress: Honey Cahn-Brown ASTRONOMY GCSE Attainment: Jennifer Ferguson GCSE Progress: Yasmin Basit
The Claire A Cooper Cup for Technical Theatre (Sponsor: Miss C Cooper) Samantha Berkoff The Young Enterprise Business Award Hadiya Kamal and Faith Omokhuale
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Masonica Our School Contribution to Boarding (Sponsor: The Provincial Grand Lodge of Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire) Sonya Spiridonova
Governors’ Prize for Personal Achievement at GCSE Charlotte Cairn, Emily Cork, Isabella Flynn, Eleanor Glasspoole, Freya James, Lottie Janssen, Ella Peters, Madeleine Stares, Lucy Thirkettle, Gursimran Ubhi
The Charlotte Easton Challenge for Outstanding Achievement (In memory of Charlotte Easton) Katie Sowerby
Outstanding Attainment at GCSE (Sponsor: Provincial Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of Hertfordshire) Elizabeth Berryman, Charlie Bracegirdle, Rachel Burke, Charlotte Cairn, Jeea Chadha, Emma Clarke, Miranda Conn, Ella Crossley, Amelia Daley, Ella Hall, Laura Hollister, Lottie Janssen, Sasha Kramer, Aimee Liu, Amy Naden, Jasmine Newton, Ella Peters, Lucy Thirkettle, Eleanor Wilkinson, Jane Williamson
The Chadwick Prize for Community Spirit (Sponsor: The Chadwick Family) Millie Jamieson-Pond The Vaughan Cup for Community Service (Sponsor: Mr & Mrs AH Vaughan) Rachel Roger-Lund
The Perfect Ashlar Prize (Sponsor: The Master and Brethren of Ashwell Lodge No. 7903) Emma Clarke
The McGregor Cup for Service to the Sixth Form (Sponsor: Mr & Mrs K McGregor) Charlie Butcher
GCSE Prize for Exceptional Achievement Miranda Conn
The Gallagher Cup for House Spirit (Sponsor: Mr and Mrs Gallagher) Katie Boxall
Sixth Form Progress Prize Heather Addison-Prout, Ellie Ainsley, Ella Baish, Yasmin Basit, Antonia Chan, Megan Giandinoto, Ibby Gratte, Lucy Hewitson, Nada Hussein Mansour, Susanna Khojoyan, Helena Lavrinovica, Jasmine Lobo, Jaime Maxwell, Rachel Roger-Lund, Pippa Scott, Alex Whitehead, Kelly Wong
Prize for Courtesy, Dignity & Kindness Shaan Birk, Jessica Bosher, Georgia Butler, Charlotte Cairn, Ella Hall, Sabrina Ibrahim, Januli Liyanwela, Danielle Mitchell, Roisin Moore, Eva Opoku, Amba-Lily Panchal, Mia Patani, Frankie Saffer, Bene Sodeinde, Isobel Thornton, Diya Varsani Prize for Perseverance & Assiduity Stephanie Bryer, Lucy Cooper, Maria Cowle, Claudia Draper, Isabella Flynn, Jemima Forrest Ratcliffe, Neneh Gardner, Charlotte Glenister, Sienna Hall, Lucy Hong, Aisling Keeney, Sinead McKinstery, Hattie Nicholas, Sophie Oshry, Cara O’Toole, Adam Rose, Hannah Shapiro, Bella Shorten, Anisha Shreesh, Anastasia Swan, Sohini Vora, Madeleine Winder V.I.O.L.A Prize (‘Values in our lives always’) (Sponsor: Comenius Project) Maria Brown and Kitty McCarthy
The Sixth Form Perfect Ashlar Prize (Sponsor: The Master and Brethren of Ashwell Lodge No. 7903) Jasmine Lobo The Judge John Edwards Prize for Outstanding Achievement (In memory of Mrs M Hickey) Heather Addison-Prout, Lucy Hewitson, Alex Whitehead Gold Medal Mia Connors, Annabel Gorton, Caitlyn Scott Kenyon Gold Medal Nicole Yeung
Prefect Leadership Team 2019/20 Deputy Head Girl - Pupil Support: Tallulah Baker Deputy Head Girl - Charities: Katie Sowerby Deputy Head Girl - PR and Logistics: Rachel Roger-Lund Deputy Head Girl - Community and Development: Lucy Hewitson Deputy Head Girl - Boarding: Anna Ngan Head Girl: Charlie Butcher Year 10 Progress Prize (In memory of Mr S E Veronique) Talia Adams, Niamh Barber, Asmi Borase, Charlotte Clarke, Lauren Cliffe, Vicky Cranston, Molly Gallagher, Betsy Godfrey, Amber Hall, Zuhah Jaffri, Libby McNicol, Anna Sophia, Montesdeoca Roy, Alisha Ram, Emily Ross, Alexandra Wilkinson Year 10 Attainment Prize Daliah Allardice, Polly Berryman, Charlotte Clarke, Jessica Harvey, Zuhah Jaffri, Lottie Jenkins, Isabel Mendes Rodrigues, Nia Mercurius-Johnson, Anna Sophia Montesdeoca Roy, Neve Mortimore, Isra Parwez, Rebicca Rai, Abigail Valentine, Francesca Wolff, Michelle Yu
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Destinations of Leavers FIRST NAME
INSTITUTION
COURSE
FIRST NAME
INSTITUTION
COURSE
Lizzie
Royal Veterinary College
Bioveterinary Sciences
Lucy
Nottingham
Nursing (Children)
Keila
East London
Social and Community Work
Christina
Oxford Brookes
Business and Management
Talia
GAP Year
Sofia
Nottingham
Modern Languages with Business
Harriet
Falmouth
Sustainable Product Design
Jessica
Liverpool
Medicine
Rachel
Exeter
Psychology
Lucy
Drama School
Camilla
Nottingham Trent
Regan
GAP Year
Business Management and Marketing
Daniella
Newcastle
Business Management
Isabell
Bristol
Childhood Studies with Quantitative Research Methods
Alexandra
Nottingham Trent
Sport and Exercise Science
Katie
East Anglia
International Development with Anthropology
Mia
Swansea
Applied Medical Sciences with a Foundation Year
Eashani
Southampton
Fashion Marketing with Management
Emily
York
Spanish and Linguistics
Lillie
University of the Arts London
Journalism
Maria
Surrey
Nursing Studies with Foundation Year
Natasha
Nottingham
American Studies and English
Bo Kiu
Glasgow
Aeronautical Engineering
Ellie
Birmingham
Lucy
Durham
Criminology
Business Management with Marketing
Molly
Arts University Bournemouth
Acting
Virali
City University
Computer Science with Cyber Security
Juliette
Bolton
Special Make-up Effects for Film and TV
Isabel
Essex University
Sociology
East Anglia
Medicine
Araminta
Nottingham Trent
Criminology
India
Celine
Liverpool
Environmental Science
Hok Yau
GAP Year
Emily
London School of Economics
History
Amelia
Lincoln
Accountancy and Finance
Kirsten
Brunel
Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence)
Kirsty
Cardiff
Physiotherapy
Lauren
Writtle
Veterinary Physiotherapy
Bronte
Exeter
Computer Science
Jiayan
Durham
Business and Management
Poppy
Staffordshire
Paramedic Science
Annabel
Hertfordshire
Animal Management Foundation Degree
Grace
Birmingham
Accounting and Finance
Emma
Durham
Sociology
Ella
Royal Holloway
Psychology
Yiwen
St George’s
Clinical Pharmacology
Kareena
Nottingham Trent
Foundation Year in Engineering and Mathematics
Ishika
GAP Year
Rhiannon
Nottingham Trent
Real Estate
Uliana
Brighton
Education
Gurur
Sussex
Psychology
Loughborough
Psychology
Elana
Birmingham
Geography
Uma
Amanpreet
St George’s
Clinical Pharmacology
Manayka
St Mary’s
Sport Science
Geography with Study Abroad
Nia
Loughborough
Business Psychology
Lucie
Hertfordshire
Business Management with Marketing Foundation Degree
Emma
Bristol
Arianne
Lincoln
Architecture
Charlotte
Bangor
English Literature and Criminology and Criminal Justice
Isabelle
Manchester Metropolitan
Fashion Business and Management
Fangfei
Durham
Accounting and Finance
Cassie
Nottingham Trent
Fashion Marketing and Branding
Cheryl
Royal Holloway
Physics with Music
Olivia
Southampton
Pharmacology
Florence
Exeter
Modern Languages
Charlotte
Kent
Criminology
Nicole
Liverpool
Criminology
Erin
Exeter
Medical Sciences
Molly
Warwick
Classical Civilisation
Melanie
Leeds
Fashion Marketing
Safia
St George’s
Medicine
Angela
Lancaster
Law
Sheung
Surrey
Psychology
Wing
Bath
Psychology
Yvonne
Durham
Economics
Yuhan
Portsmouth
Business Management
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AGM Minutes and Accounts Minutes of the 107th Annual General Meeting of the Old Masonic Girls’ Association Held on Saturday 16 March 2019 at Mark Masons’ Hall, 86 St James’s Street, London SW1A 1PL
The following people attended: Kate Sullivan (Elgood) (Chairman), Lesley Bakes (Jones), Daphne Bee (Blackledge), Marjorie Caygill, Eve Clements (Barber), Sharon Copeman, Audrey d’Oliveira (Hargreaves), Nicola Downs, Monica Drake (Henn), Lizzie Elgood, Kate Goodwin (Lowe), Jill Hopkins, Peta Hoyle (Peacock), Sara Moss, Jenny Newton (Longland), Anne PalmerHall (Brewis), Richard Poppleston, Jacky Protheroe (Barkus), Gillian Reckitt (Nobbs), Margie Richings (Boyer), Diana Rose, Libby Thring (Holton), Frances Townley (Andrews), Rosemary Turney (Davies), Audrey Ward (Hunter), Jane Wenlock (McKeag), Vivian Wright, Jennifer Yates Rowe (Yates). In her opening remarks, the Chairman noted that Kevin Carson had tendered his apologies as he was abroad on RMS business. She was pleased to welcome to the meeting Rachel Bailey, RMS Senior Deputy Head (Academic) and Lucia Hull, RMS Development Manager.
and Monica Drake seconded that the minutes be taken as a true record of the meeting. The minutes were duly adopted and signed by the Chairman.
3 Matters arising from the minutes There were no matters arising from the minutes.
4 Correspondence The Secretary reported that Lorna Cowburn had contacted her in February to pass on the news of the death of Colonel Hind, one of the Association’s Honorary Members and someone who had played an important role in the life of the School over a number of years. She also passed on messages of good wishes received from a number of Members who had tendered their apologies.
1 Apologies for absence
5 Report of the Chairman
The Secretary noted that apologies had been received from:
Madam President and fellow Members.
Irene Andrews, Brenda Barnes (Isitt), Lesley Bishop (Paxton), Heather Bovill (Dewhurst), Mary Chandler-Allen (Chandler), Merle Cook, Lauren Dixon, June Donovan, Janet Egan (MacDonald), Elaine Frier (Broomfield), Janice Gale (Keale), Jill Gesseau (Doucy), Heather Gibbs (Butcher), Marion Hankey (Blackstock), Pamela Hobson (Will), Barbara Jackson (Briscoe), Sue Jones (Browne), Angela Kingston (Leadley), Felicity Morris (Martin), Ann Penty (Purkis), Valerie Potter (Cranswick), Kate Raphael (Greaves), Jennifer Rhodes (Walsh), Shirley Rogers (Hannaford), Elizabeth Salem (Allen), Christine Shellard (Jowett), Peggie Shields (Robinson), Margaret Stanbridge (Hyde), Kay Walker (Greenwell), Margaret Weston (Naismith) and Pat Whelpton (Surman).
Today, I stand in front of you with very mixed emotions; I feel some sadness but, thanks to School and in particular the Head, Kevin Carson and his team, I also feel very happy and positive about the next chapter in the history of the Old Masonic Girls’ Association. The Royal Masonic School for Girls played a massive part in all our lives and I feel very privileged to be the Chairman of its Old Girls’ Association. As you will see, today’s agenda includes an item on the future of the Association, when we will be asking you to vote on a number of important resolutions. I would like to take this opportunity to put that item in context.
2 Minutes of the meeting held on 17 March 2018 The minutes of the 2018 Annual General Meeting had been published in Masonica 2018 and were taken as read. Jennifer Yates-Rowe proposed
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The Committee, as always, has met twice since the last AGM and, at our September meeting, it was decided that we could no longer function with the Association being run entirely by volunteers. We had to recognise that we were getting nowhere in encouraging others to help with the roles we desperately needed filling. As you will be aware, our Treasurer, Richard Poppleston, tendered his
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resignation last summer but kindly offered to stay on until today’s AGM. In view of the proposed changes regarding the future of the Association, which we will be asking you to vote on later in this meeting, he has very kindly agreed to serve as our Treasurer until the proposed handover to RMS is completed on 29 June 2019. I have to say that Richard has been amazing; as the only man amidst a sea of us Old Girls, he has managed to steer us through the world of finance, as well as put up with a few women’s gossiping sessions. For all his help and advice I am truly grateful. We also say farewell to Margie Richings, who has been an excellent Membership Secretary for the last nine years, having got to grips with the world of Access and Excel in a very short space of time. We wish you both all the best for whatever comes your way after your time with us. Thank you. Last year, we lost our Editor, Vivian Wright, who kindly stayed on the Committee but left the editing of Masonica to Pippa Hopkins who stepped into this role while still doing her current job as Marketing and Communications Manager at School. So this leaves Jenny Newton, our Secretary, and myself as your Officers. Not a great position to be in. Hence the Committee’s decision to approach School for help. Fortunately for us, Kevin Carson’s response was very positive and, following a couple of meetings with Jenny and myself, he has offered that the School will take on the responsibility of delivering the aims of the Association. I know this will raise lots of questions; many of which we hope to answer during the course of this meeting. But, the crunch of it is that, without School taking on this responsibility, there will be no mechanism for keeping Old Girls in touch with each other and with the School, as we simply do not have enough Members willing to take on the task of running the Association. Having dealt with the news about our future, I would like to report on other happenings and events over the past year. We have received invitations to School and some great days have been organised. Sports Day was a sunny day as it always seems to be and although few Old Girls attended, we thank School for our invitation and appreciate all the effort that goes into the day. Remembrance Sunday was another sunny but cold day and a huge thank you to School for allowing us to combine this with Old Girls’ Day. I would also like to thank the History Department for their video compilation and poetry reading, marking 100 years since the Armistice. Drill was another fantastic performance. The attendance was higher than usual with nearly 100 adults and seven children joining us that day. Our thanks to Lauren Dixon for processing all those applications – no small task! Reunions seem to have been a great success and my thanks go to all the organisers of these and for sharing your photos and stories, do please keep them coming. As you will hear in the Editorial report, Pippa Hopkins would welcome reports, memories and articles for the next edition of Masonica. In a Facebook survey she conducted last year, Old Girls said they would like to see more news about Old Girls in Masonica – this will only be achieved if we take the time to provide that news.
in organising this. Finally, a massive thank you to my Committee for all their hard work and support this year; even when hard decisions had to be made, your commitment to the Association has been amazing and I thank each and every one of you. It was proposed by Sara Moss and seconded by Lesley Bakes that the report be accepted.
6 Report of the Treasurer and Statement of Accounts Madam President, Madam Chairman, fellow Members. I have pleasure in presenting my Report and the 2018 OMGA accounts.
2018 OMGA Accounts These are attached, and consist of: • Balance Sheet • Income and Expenditure Account • Statement of Funds Balance Sheet Basis of preparation As noted in the Chairman’s report, School and the Association are in discussions with the intention for School to take over the running of OMGA later this year. School have indicated that going forward, subscription fees would no longer be levied. Although such discussions are not yet final, these accounts have been drawn up on the assumption such changes will take effect. This has the following impacts: 1. The accounts are drawn up assuming such changes will occur in 2019 as it is considered more likely than not to happen. 2. As there will no longer be membership fees, OMGA members are entitled to a refund. 20-year membership fees are refundable as per the following schedule: • In years one and two – 75% of subscription • In years two to five – 50% of subscription • Years six to ten – 25% of subscription • After 10 years – no refund. 3. The long-term liability for 20-year subscriptions income that will be released to the Income and expenditure account in future years is therefore extinguished, to be replaced with a current liability for refunds, calculated in line with the above schedule, with the balance added to the General Fund.
Cards and flowers have been sent to many Old Girls who needed some cheer and their thanks are always appreciated and interesting as they share their stories. Our thanks go to Sara Moss for her excellent work
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Assets The movement in the Association’s investment portfolio (on a Cost and Market Value basis) and the returns are summarised below:
Amounts b/f Dividends Charges Net change in MV Paid out to OMGA Amount c/f Return Estimated income (1) Gross income Net income
Cost
MV
£
£
128,471.00 5,668.24 -1,802.84
163,169.00
-13,575.00 -3,865.40 128,471.00
149,594.00
£ 5,661.00 5,668.24 3,865.40
Yield 3.62% 3.64% 2.47%
(1) includes all assets, whether interest, dividend paying or not - per Investec
The yield of 3.62% was slightly ahead of the target return of 3.5% and an improvement on the yield of 3.47% in 2017, though this was partly due to the decline in the market value of the investments (as yield is inversely correlated with price). Markets in 2018 were depressed by worries on global trade and the slowdown in China, and our portfolio recorded an 8.3% decline in market value, in contrast to a 3.6% increase in 2017. By way of comparison, the FTSE all share index recorded a 13.0% fall in 2018. We have a long-term investment time horizon and medium risk profile, so the investment performance is satisfactory. Although Brexit dominates headlines and impacts investor sentiment, a considerable proportion of the portfolio is in foreign equities and UK multinationals, so Brexit investment risk is mitigated to a reasonable extent. We maintain a watching brief on the investment performance and allocation. I had a phone call with Investec in January 2019 and no changes to the portfolio were considered necessary. Cash balances were £33,162 at year end (2017: £30,912), the increase driven by healthy levels of subscriptions in the year. The cash held with Secure Trust Bank combined with the Barclays deposit account provides sufficient liquidity to deal with any cash payments, so our funding position remains broadly conservative with a long-term outlook. The remainder of the assets consist of investment income due from Investec (received just after year-end) and the Centenary stock, which is slightly lower than 2017 following sales in the year.
Liabilities The bulk of current liabilities relates to the subscriptions eligible for a refund, as noted above. Subscriptions received in advance were lower in than prior year, so the liability accordingly decreased. The other current liabilities principally relate to Masonica costs (Hobbs fees) and the cost of the Remembrance service lunch from School. The long-term liabilities – 20-year subscriptions income released to the Income and expenditure account in future years – have been extinguished and replaced with subscriptions eligible for a refund and a net transfer to the General Fund, as explained above.
Funds Net assets increased by £37,188 to stand at £116,124 at year-end. This large increase is the consequence of ceasing membership subscriptions; the longterm liability for 20-year subscriptions income is removed and only partly replaced by the refund liability. It should be noted, however, this apparent benefit is offset by the fact that membership income in future years must be replaced by other means, such as sponsorships and fund-raising activities, if income levels are to be maintained. The income and expenditure was apportioned between the funds as follows: • Dividends and interest are allocated between the General Fund, the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund and the M Vickridge Fund in proportion to their size • Donations, assistance, gifts and prizes are allocated to the fund to which they relate • Other income and expense items are allocated to the General Fund. The overall movements are detailed in the Statement of Funds.
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Income and Expenditure Account Income Income was £16,873 (2017: £16,215), driven by higher subscription income (due to annual subscription fees increasing in the year), partially offset by lower donations. Investment income was slightly down on 2018, a partial consequence of the declines in the investment portfolio in the year. OGD was well attended, so revenues were ahead of 2017, and the 20-year reunion increased ‘Other income’ levels.
Expenditure Expenditure was £17,238, very similar to 2017 (£17,292). As a result, we reported a small £365 deficit in the year (2017: £1,077 deficit). Whilst this is close to break-even, it is important to generally report a surplus to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Association – whomever is in control of the finances. As in prior years, the majority of the spend relates to the publication and distribution of Masonica and the Newsletter. A full analysis of expenditure is shown below: 2018
2017
£
£
476
138
25 2,193
25 1,462
0 0
15 67
Masonica Costs
9,891
9,132
Newsletter Costs
1,994
3,778
Old Girls’ Day Costs Postage and Stationery
1,316 391
1,087 237
852
1,146
100 17,238
204 17,292
General Expenses Prizes - GF Gifts and Assistance - GRMF Prizes MVF Marketing
Travel and Meeting Costs Website Costs
Comment
Website archive fees; 20-year reunion refreshments Geography and Chorister prizes £600 grants awarded to Y13 leavers for study materials; flowers costs No prize awarded in 2018 Nothing in the year. 2017 was OMGA bunting Hobbs quote slightly higher than prior year; net accrual release in 2017 Guy Moultrie - lower than prior year, which included address book Includes donation to School staff fund Higher postage costs; stationery replenishment AGM & Committee meetings: 2017 had more meetings with School 1&1 fees; 2017 included Wix
Statement of Funds As noted above, net assets were £116,124, compared to £78,936 at 31 December 2017, the increase due to the proposed ceasing of membership subscriptions. The increase in net assets principally accrued to the General Fund which increased by £35,374 to £41,128. The Vickridge Fund was almost unchanged at £1,511. The Grace Robinson Memorial Fund reported a surplus of £1,740 in 2018, with a year-end balance of £73,485, due to the allocation methodology for unearned income as noted above. It was proposed by Audrey Ward and seconded by Libby Thring that the report, together with the accounts for 2018, be accepted.
7 Report of the Membership Secretary Madam President, Madam Chairman and fellow Members. At 31 December 2018 the OMGA had 1,633 active Members, an increase of 14 from the same date last year. We gained 61 new Members in total, of whom 55 were School leavers and six were Old Girls who had not been Members for a number of years. Each of them received a Welcome Letter which, for those who were not School leavers, was accompanied by a copy of Masonica 2017 – the School leavers had
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received their copies when it was published in February last year. The number of School leavers joining was fewer than in 2017 when 72 joined. Unfortunately, I had to remove the names of 20 Members from the Current Membership list, all of whom had moved on without informing me and their mail was returned. The names of all of these people will have appeared in the “Where are they now” section of the Newsletter or Masonica 2018. Following the January 2018 subscription increase, a number of Members failed to update their Standing Orders and, therefore, paid at the old rate. Reminder letters were sent to these people requesting the additional £3. They were advised that failure to respond would result in their being removed from the Current Membership list and their initial payment being treated as a donation.
features, from any member of the OMGA community – please get in touch with me via the dedicated email address (masonica@royalmasonic.herts.sch.uk) with your ideas, articles, memories, or photos – it is hard to believe we are thinking about Masonica 2019 already! I hope you enjoy reading the magazine – any feedback (positive or negative!) would be greatly appreciated. It was proposed by Jane Wenlock and seconded by Vivian Wright that the report be accepted. 9 Future of the Association
It is with some sadness that I have to report that a further 12 Members were removed following their deaths.
The Chairman noted that those attending the meeting had been provided with copies of the six resolutions to be voted on at the end of this item, together with a copy of the Q&A document, circulated with her letter to Members at the end of February 2019. She then addressed the meeting as follows:
Finally, as I stand down from the role of Membership Secretary, I would like to thank all the officers and members of the Committee for their support over the last nine years. I would also express my thanks to the many Members of the Association who have been in touch via letters, emails and Christmas cards.
I would first like to thank everyone who has contacted me since receiving the papers addressing the future of the Association, some of whom are here today. I have been inundated with letters, calls and emails thanking me and the Committee for all our hard work and it has been lovely to hear about your memories of School.
It was proposed by Daphne Bee and seconded by Monica Drake that the report be accepted.
The majority of those who contacted me understand our proposals and fully agree with them however, for the others, I would like to add some more information and background and I hope remove the concerns and reservations.
8 Report of the Editor The Editorial report was presented by the Chairman. Madam President and fellow Members In her report to this meeting last year, Vivian Wright noted that, in the absence of anyone to take on the role of Editor, we had made an approach to School for assistance. Having received a very positive response from the Head, Kevin Carson, we were delighted to be able to announce in our last Newsletter that Pippa Hopkins, the RMS Marketing and Communications Manager, was taking on responsibility for producing and editing Masonica. While Masonica 2018 has a very different ‘look’, it still contains many of the regular items, together with interesting sections on RMS looking back and RMS looking forward. We hope that you enjoyed reading it. Pippa reports as follows: It was always going to be difficult to try to “fill” Vivian’s shoes as Editor of Masonica 2018 and I am exceptionally grateful for the support I have received from the OMGA since taking on the role. From a survey published on Facebook, I learnt that Masonica readers were keen to hear more about what former students have got up to since they left the School, news from the staffroom, and an update on new developments at the School. I hope that readers will be happy with what we have put together, and that we have struck the right balance between “old” and “new”. The publication of the magazine is very much a collaborative effort; without contributions from Old Girls, there is no magazine; I would therefore be delighted to welcome contributions, or suggestions for
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The OMGA cannot function as it stands today. We will have no Treasurer soon; as of today we won’t have a Membership Secretary and have been without an Editor for the past year. If you do not accept these proposals then the Association will be wound up and there will be no communication, no access to any grants, no awards to current girls and no flowers or cards at Christmas or in time of sadness. If you do accept these proposals, then School will continue the support we currently offer, they are not going to charge for this membership and they will continue with Masonica for the next two years; after this time there will be a publication and you will be consulted regarding any changes they propose. Many of you have already expressed your wishes that any subscriptions we currently hold should be added to the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund which will be incorporated into the RMS Bursary Fund, where grants and tokens will be paid from. Thank you for this, however, we will still need to contact you regarding other information – ignore the letter if you are happy for the outstanding money to be added to the fund. As regards legacies left to the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund, School has confirmed that the Fund will be held within the RMS Bursary Fund as a named, designated fund and any legacies and donations will be credited accordingly. Bursaries from the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund will be awarded to recipients as such so that the name is properly honoured and preserved. I would also add that the stated objective of the RMS Bursary Fund includes reference to providing bursaries “for the benefit of any pupil, former pupil and/or potential pupil” and goes on
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to refer to that person requiring “financial assistance to assist in the furtherance or completion of their education”. I hope this helps further your understanding of the proposals and now I would like to ask if you have any questions before I ask you to vote on the resolutions.
• Agree that responsibility for delivering the aims of the Old Masonic Girls’ Association be passed to the Royal Masonic School for Girls and that the Association will, thereby, cease to exist. This was approved unanimously by a show of hands. • Agree that subscriptions already paid will be refunded as follows:
A number of issues were raised during the subsequent discussion:
Annual subscriptions already paid for 2019 – 75% of amount paid.
Rosemary Turney sought reassurance regarding elderly people requiring assistance and asked whether Members with knowledge of those people would have any input to the decision making. The Chairman said that applications for assistance would be made to the School, rather than the Association, and noted that there were plans to establish an Advisory Committee to provide input from Old Girls.
20-year subscriptions paid in:
Jennifer Yates-Rowe queried how Masonica could continue beyond the two years currently promised if there was no subscription income. Lucia Hull confirmed that there would still be a magazine each year, the content would be similar to the current magazine and any changes were more likely to be presentational. Richard Poppleston noted that all fee-paying schools had an active alumni section, it was part of the marketing costs and seen as money well spent. Diana Rose supported this statement and said that it was in the interests of all schools to maintain links with their former pupils. She believed that RMS was very determined to foster relations with the alumni body. Vivian Wright was of the view that the OMGA was moving towards what was already standard practice for many other schools. In response to a question as to why there would be no membership subscription, the Chairman said this was a School decision. Lucia Hull said that the School wanted everyone to be included, hence there was no charge. Another Member felt that the School was being very generous; she noted that the bursary fund would receive over £100k from the Association and was of the view that this should be seen as the Association’s ‘thank you’. In response to a question from Eve Clements as to whether the School would be proactive in catering for older Members, the Chairman said she had received reassurance that support would continue. Eve suggested the School should be proactive in keeping in touch with this group of Members. The Chairman noted that this wasn’t the current approach, the Association could only respond to any requests it received. She suggested this was something that could be raised with the Advisory Committee. In response to a question regarding existing Members and new leavers, the Chairman said that, if the resolutions were passed, the Association would be contacting all existing Members regarding the passing of their personal information to the School; all new leavers would automatically be added to the new database. A Member commented that it was a positive move and a win/win for the Association. Asked what the new group would be called, the Chairman said this would be for the School to decide, the name of the Grace Robinson Memorial Fund would be retained in relation to the Association’s funds that would be handed over. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Chairman asked the meeting to:
2018 or 2017 – 75% of amount paid 2016, 2015 or 2014 – 50% of amount paid 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 or 2009 – 25% of amount paid 2008 or earlier – no refund. This was approved unanimously by a show of hands. • Agree that responsibility for administering the Association’s Grace Robinson Memorial Fund be passed to The Royal Masonic School for Girls Bursary Fund. This was approved unanimously by a show of hands. • Agree that ownership of the Old Masonic Girls’ Association’s accounts with Barclays Bank be passed to The Royal Masonic School for Girls Bursary Fund. This was approved unanimously by a show of hands. • Agree that ownership of the Old Masonic Girls’ Association’s investment account with Investec be passed to The Royal Masonic School for Girls Bursary Fund. This was approved unanimously by a show of hands. • Agree that responsibility for delivering the handover to the Royal Masonic School for Girls be delegated to the Chair of the Association, together with such other Committee members as may be identified by her. This was approved unanimously by a show of hands. The Chairman declared that all six resolutions had been passed unanimously.
10 Election of Officers Jill Hopkins, Life President, took the Chair for this item. She reported that Kate Sullivan had completed her four-year term as Chairman of the Association and noted that she had been an excellent Chair. Kate had indicated that she was willing to stand for re-election. Having been nominated by Jennifer Yates-Rowe and seconded by Audrey Ward, Kate Sullivan was duly elected as Chairman to serve until such time as the agreed handover to RMS had been completed.
11 Election of Committee The Chairman resumed the Chair. She reported that Sharon Copeman had completed her four-year term as a Committee member and had indicated that she was willing to stand for re-election. Having been nominated by Sara Moss and seconded by Nicola Downs, Sharon Copeman was duly elected to the Committee to serve until such time as the agreed handover to RMS had been completed.
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12 School News At the invitation of the Chairman, Rachel Bailey updated the meeting with news about School. She said that the School continued to flourish under the headship of Kevin Carson who has now been in post for two years. He was determined to continue the focus on strong pastoral care while helping girls to achieve their very best in all areas including academic and cocurricular. She noted that the amazing sporting achievements of the girls reflected the broad curriculum which the School supports and listed some of the recent accolades: • For the first time ever the Year 9–10 trampoline team earned a place to represent RMS at the National Trampoline Finals. • A Year 7 pupil had won eight medals at the recent Hertfordshire County Swim Championships. • A Year 7 pupil had received a gold medal in a regional Shot Put and Long Jump competition and was is now ranked 4th in the country. Another athlete won two golds in the London and Southern championships. • Two Year 11 pupils, who perform modern, contemporary and commercial dance, have been called to represent England at a Dance World Cup. • In gymnastics, six different age teams had qualified to compete in the National Championships this year and returned with bronze and silver medals. Many individual gymnasts ranked in the top ten out of almost 100 gymnasts in each category. Academic success was most visible in the School’s exam results which were excellent again this year. RMS was also doing very well in national competitions, for example, a team of four Year 8 students has been selected as one of just 10 teams from 3,389 who entered the competition to compete in the National Final the National Cyber Security Centre’s “CyberFirst” Competition. The School continues to develop while maintaining many of its traditions. Images of how Alexandra House (previously Ruspini) will look when it becomes the Performing Arts Centre had been published in Masonica 2018. Rachel had also brought some images to the meeting - she thought Members might be interested in how a boarding room becomes a drama studio. Communication and presentation are key to success and it was hoped that the new music, drama and dance facilities would help RMS girls develop these important skills. School Drill continued to flourish, it was very popular with the girls and selection for places was very competitive. In November 2018, the BBC had filmed the dress rehearsal of School Drill, since when over 1 million people had viewed it on the BBC website. As a result of the film, RMS had been contacted by a School in the USA – Notre Dame Prep has a similar tradition (albeit not going back as far as the RMS tradition - a mere 90 years!). The similarities are remarkable - from the uniform (blue tunics, white blouses, French braids, socks and pumps) to the girls marching in height order and moving around the floor creating shapes and patterns. RMS girls have since had a Skype call with the USA pupils - it was lovely to make a connection with their transatlantic counterparts. 54
In recent weeks RMS had entertained girls from Harrow School in Bangkok. RMS pupils had visited them earlier in the year and thoroughly enjoyed immersing themselves in the culture there, trying their hand at traditional crafts and cooking, as well as snorkelling and sightseeing at some ancient historical sites. Two of the boarding houses, Connaught and Zetland, had recently been renovated; the boarding girls had been involved in the design of the new rooms. Rachel had brought along some images to show Members how the boarding houses were now looking. In relation to the future of the Association, discussed earlier in the meeting, Rachel noted that RMS had appointed a Development Manager, Lucia Hull, and Administrator, Sereen Aley. Both had been in post for six months and had been getting to know Committee members and other Old Girls and planning how best they can ensure that alumnae are kept in touch with School and each other. They hope to work closely with Old Girls to support Remembrance Sunday, Sports Day, Prize Day and the Regional Reunions and to develop a programme of events for alumnae. They would also be working alongside Pippa Hopkins, the RMS Marketing Manager, to produce Masonica, and Lorna Cowburn, the School Archivist, to preserve the RMS archives and make them more accessible. Rachel concluded by expressing her hope of seeing those present back at the School in the not too distant future. The Chairman thanked Rachel for her interesting presentation. In response to questions, Rachel said there were currently just under 100 boarders, about 10% of the pupils; the numbers were increasing and there would be three boarding houses next year. Diana Rose noted that the School was faithful to its history and the commitment to helping children who needed support was very strong. Rachel said the School was supporting two pupils who were in care. There were currently eight petitioners.
13 Any other business There being no other business, the Chairman noted that, as this would be the last Annual General Meeting of the Association, there needed to be a mechanism for approving the minutes. She proposed that the draft minutes be made available in the News and Notices section of the website; anyone wishing to be notified when they became available was asked to provide the Secretary with an email address. In addition to this, the draft would be circulated to all the Committee members present at the meeting. Once any comments and amendments received had been dealt with, it would be assumed that the minutes had been approved and the final version would be published in Masonica 2019. This was agreed. The Chairman thanked those present and closed the meeting at 13:05.
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Old Masonic Girls’ Association Balance Sheet As at 30 June 2019
As at 30/06/19 £
As at 31/12/18 £
As at 31/12/17 £
128,471 0 16,590 0 145,061
128,471 14,521 2,819 15,822 161,633
128,471 10,506 4,779 15,627 159,383
1,246 0 1,246
1,463 700 2,163
1,435 734 2,169
146,308
163,796
161,552
0 0 0 0 0
38,118 394 8,114 1,046 47,672
0 1,051 4,800 2,425 8,276
Long-term liabilities Deferred income - 20-year subscriptions
0
0
74,340
TOTAL LIABILITIES
0
47,672
82,616
146,308
116,124
78,936
146,308 0 0 0 146,308
0 41,128 73,485 1,511 116,124
0 5,754 71,745 1,437 78,936
ASSETS Bank and investments Investec portfolio at cost Active Saver account Bank Current account Secure Trust Bank 120-day notice
Current assets Debtors Centenary stock
TOTAL ASSETS LIABILITIES Current liabilities Subscriptions eligible for refund Annual subscriptions received in advance Provision for Masonica Accruals
NET ASSETS REPRESENTED BY Funds OMGA Fund General Fund Grace Robinson Memorial Fund M. Vickridge Fund
CHAIRMAN: KATE SULLIVAN
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Old Masonic Girls’ Association Income and Expenditure Account For the Year Ended 31 December 2018
2018 £ Income Bank interest Donations Investment income Old Girls’ Day income Other income Subscriptions - 20-year Subscriptions - annual
Expenses General expenses Prizes - GF Prizes - MVF Gifts and assistance - GRMF Marketing Masonica costs Newsletter and address book costs Old Girls’ Day costs Postage and stationery Travel and meeting costs Website costs
Deficit for the year
209 229 3,865 1,418 385 7,219 3,547
221 1,213 4,101 1,080 48 6,711 2,842
16,873
16,215
476 25 0 2,193 0 9,891 1,994 1,316 391 852 100
138 25 15 1,462 67 9,132 3,778 1,087 237 1,146 204
17,238
17,292
(365)
(1,077)
Report of the Independent Examiner to the Members of the Old Masonic Girls’ Association I have examined the annexed accounts for the Year Ended 31 December 2018 which are in accordance with the records of the Association and with the explanations received from its Officers
Diana Robinson, ACA
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2017 £
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Old Masonic Girls’ Association Statement of Funds For the Year Ended 31 December 2018
GF £
GRMF £
VF £
Total £
Capital movements Balance b/f from prior year 20-year subscriptions transferred Other movements
5,754 37,554
71,744
1,438
78,936 37,554 0
Balance prior to I&E allocation
43,308
71,744
1,438
116,489
3,704 229
74
I&E movements Subscriptions income - 20-year Asset income Donations Other income Gifts and prizes Other expenses
7,219 297
7,219 4,075 229 5,350 (2,218) (15,020)
5,350 (25) (15,020)
(2,193)
(Deficit)/surplus for year
(2,180)
1,741
74
(365)
Balance c/f at 31/12/18
41,128
73,485
1,511
116,124
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A copy of the official handover letter between the OMGA and the RMS which took place at Sports Day 2019
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Masonica Obituaries
Obituaries
Girls, a position he held until 2004. When the School became independent, and the RMIG Endowment Trust was formed to provide support for the School, he was appointed a Trustee and a Governor of the School, positions held until his retirement in 2013. Colonel Hind was a regular visitor to the School over the years, and in 2012 officially opened the new Sixth Form Centre, Hind House, named in his honour. ‘He was always so kind and concerned about the girls and the School’ and this is what the School most remembers him for. Over the years, he attended many formal occasions, such as Prize Days and Sports Days and had a huge interest in its general operations, giving his time and advice willingly. He was a figure of great significance in the School’s history.
Colonel Robert Keith Hind, Trustee and Governor (1926-2019)
But he was also a father, grandfather and friend. His son wrote of him: ‘No child could have asked more for all of the love, sacrifice and support [given]’ whilst a friend commented that ‘Keith was a good and close friend and confidant over very many years. He always had time to listen and give such sound and considered advice’.
‘A gentleman and a gentle man’
In 1978 he was also appointed as the Company Secretary of The Royal Masonic School for
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Patricia Williams, née Lillywhite (Atholl 1939) In April 2019 the School received news that Patricia Williams, née Lillywhite, had died in January. Born in Warwickshire in 1923, she was one of a dwindling number of very senior Old Girls. Her father had died when Patricia was only six. He had been a Navy man and the family had lived in many places, including London, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. In 1931, Patricia’s mother died and it seems likely that at this point Patricia became a pupil. The School records are rather sparse but she was perhaps a sporty girl because in 1935 she was a competitor in the 100 yards race, and in the high jump, and in throwing the rounders ball. The prizes for these events were a hockey stick, tennis balls and, astonishingly, a camera! In 1939, she played Right Wing in the 1st Hockey XI.
In 2019, the School received the news that Col. Hind had ‘passed away peacefully at home on 9 February 2019, aged 92’. He had been Company Secretary to the School following a long service career with the RAOC (1946-1978), serving both in the UK and overseas in Asia and the Persian Gulf, including being decorated for bravery in Korea. Keith Hind was born in 1926, which is also the year in which the School purchased Rickmansworth Park. During his long association with the School, he had a great love of its history as well as trying to help as many people as possible through his work. He was appointed Secretary of the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls (RMIG) on the 1 November 1978, a few months after retiring from the Army. In 1985 he was appointed Secretary of the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys (RMTGB) which had been set up to take over as the new central Masonic Charity responsible for both girls and boys, a position he held until retiring on the 31 October 1993.
As non-identical twins, Gwendoline was blond and Madeleine brunette, and they were known for the entirety of their lives as Fairy and Darkie. Gwendoline and Madeline became hairdressers and ran a salon together in Worcestershire called the Twins’ Parlour! In 1941 Gwen married Frank Jarratt and settled in Huddersfield and later Amersham. They had three children and later six grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, all of whom she adored. Gwen died peacefully at Brockhampton in February 2019 just four days after her 101st birthday.
Gwendoline Lane-Hall (1933) Gwendoline, seen above on her 95th birthday, was 101 when she died. The last surviving of three sisters, Gwendoline and her twin, Madeline, were just a few months old when their father was killed in action in 1918, leaving his widow with four children under four. He saw his twin girls once when he was home on leave. The children were brought up on the family farm outside Hereford. All three sisters became pupils at the School: Patience left in 1932 and Madeline and Gwendoline in 1933. Their brother went to the Boys’ School.
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Leaving the School in 1939, Patricia proceeded, as so many others before and after her, to attend Denson College in London and started a secretarial course. But 1939 of course was also the start of the war and Patricia like so many young women wanted to do her bit so she joined the WAAF. In 1942, we are told that she had reached the rank of Leading Aircraftswoman (LACW). Perhaps the Forces life introduced her to her future husband. On 21st March 1946 at St Luke’s Church, Cannock, she married Griffith Williams, an event recorded in Machio 1947. With such a Welsh-sounding name, it is not surprising to discover that she then moved to live in Wales - Llandudno to be precise. She remained a member of OMGA throughout her post-School career but one of the quiet ones who never think we are interested in their lives.
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Masonica Obituaries Audrey Helen Dennis née Beech (Connaught 1941) One of Audrey’s sons contacted Masonica with news of his mother’s death on 29 December 2018, aged 94. She had become a pupil in 1934 after her father’s death having previously been a pupil at Thurgarton C of E School where, later, her mother was to be the Headmistress. She gained a prize for general form work in 1940. Her son recalled that Audrey spoke of watching London burning after the air raids in 1940. By all accounts, the red glow in the sky could be seen clearly when looking east as the girls went to the air raid shelters. In 1941, Audrey accepted a post in the County Offices in Nottingham and did not return to School in the September. Machio 1943 recorded that she had a post in the Finance Department of the Notts Agricultural Executive Committee. In 1948, she married Frank Dennis in her home county of Nottinghamshire. Audrey maintained her contact with the School through her OMGA membership, attending Old Girls’ Days when she was able. In 2016, her son brought her to Remembrance Sunday and Old Girls’ Day. The drill, the corridors, chapel and hall all evoked many fond memories of her time at the School. Photo shows Audrey with Jenny Newton and Marie McColl.
Thurza Glasson, née Martin (1941) In May, Thurza’s nephew sent the information that her life had reached its end just short of her 95th birthday. Her very long life was not always an easy one and she developed Alzheimer’s in her last few years. Fortunately, this did not prevent her recognising and communicating with her two daughters Sheila and Barbara. Thurza was born above the family shop, Mutton & Martin in East Looe, on 24 May 1924. Her father died when she was six years old and, aged nine, she began at the Masonic School. In all probability, she went first to Weybridge and then later to Rickmansworth. In 1933, the Senior School was still in Clapham with the Juniors in Weybridge. Then in 1934, Queen Mary opened the new Senior School in Rickmansworth. Thurza’s own memories include a recollection that, with other girls, she played the piano on that occasion. This would probably have been in a performance of Duos or Trios with up to 24 girls playing at the same time across eight pianos. In 1941 she left clutching a School certificate and music qualifications and emerged from the relative safety of Rickmansworth into a world at war. As Thurza went to Denson College in London, she would have gone straight into potential danger in the London Blitz. After secretarial college, Thurza joined the WRNS and by 1944 was based at Southwick House near Portsmouth. This featured in the 2019 commemorations of the D-day landings. ‘The large, specially produced, wall map on which the progress of the Operation was plotted still remains’ https://www.southwickrevival.co.uk/d-day/. It is interesting to hear that one of our Old Girls was right there at the time. The photograph of Thurza shows her as a ‘Wren’. Southwick House had a strategic role in the D-Day landings as the centre of Operation Overlord. It was here that General Dwight D Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, with the simple words ‘Ok let’s go’, initiated a military action that brought a beginning to the end of WWII. Thurza’s photo collection includes pictures of Eisenhower, Montgomery and of the D Day landings and, no doubt, the map on the wall would have been a familiar sight to her. Towards the end of the war (February 1945), Thurza received a letter from the Office of the Commander in Chief, signed by V M S Kingham pp Superintendent WRNS: “I have been informed of the commendation you have received from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, regarding your good services in connection with operations for the invasion of Normandy … I am very glad that your good work has been recognised, and congratulate you on bringing credit to the Service to which you belong.” The previous month Thurza had received a letter from the Lords Commissioners. Whilst we don’t know what work she undertook in connection to the invasion of Normandy, it was clearly regarded as important enough for her to have been noted by High Office. Following the war, Thurza continued her work as a secretary and had posts in oil companies: in 1947 with an Anglo American company and in 1953 with Esso Petroleum Co in London. After marriage and the birth of her two daughters, she returned to her birth town of Looe, Cornwall where she had various secretarial jobs before eventually becoming Postmistress. She remained a member of OMGA all her post-School life.
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Audrey Evans née Cooke (Connaught 1942) In March 2019, we received news of the death of ‘the oldest Old Masonic girl living in New Zealand’. Audrey had been living with her daughter Mary in Matakana very near to Joyce Davis (Bourne) who writes, ‘I have been able to see Audrey in her last days’. During this time, Audrey’s ‘remarkable mind remained intact’. Indeed, during her last years in Matakana she ‘built up a fan base as people dropped in to hear her thoughts on the latest world events as well as her wisdom and insights into everyday life.’ (1) Audrey’s story is a remarkable one but actually not an uncommon tale of determination to make the best of what she had and one echoed in the lives of any number of our stalwart Old Girls. Born in London in 1926, both Audrey and her sister Beryl became pupils after their father died. There being then no welfare state and as the country’s economy was still recovering from WWI, family life was difficult. Audrey followed her older sister to RMIG in 1936 (Beryl had been a pupil while the School was still in Clapham) where she showed she had inherited her mother’s intelligence. She was noted as someone with an independent mind. Declining confirmation,
Audrey was asked by the Headmistress if she were Pacifist or Communist! She was neither but was ‘a socialist who has faith in the goodness of human beings’ (2). Emerging in 1942 with a good ‘School Cert’, she worked for a local newspaper in Bournemouth where the family had moved to escape the London Blitz. During this time she became politically active in the Common Wealth Party formed in 1942 which ‘came into being partly as an expression of the dissatisfaction and impatience [felt by] many of the left-wing intellectuals with the policies of the existing parties’ (3) and which remained a pressure group until the 1990s. During this time, she also met ‘the love of her life’ Derek Lewis Evans even though the path of true love had its hurdles as both mothers objected to the marriage, albeit for different reasons. Nonetheless, the couple married in 1945, their clothes bought with ration coupons. Post-war life in Britain was as hard as it had been post-WWI and Audrey’s mother and sisters emigrated to Australia. Audrey and Derek also emigrated but headed for New Zealand. The voyage was tough with both of their children becoming ill but Audrey ‘was characteristically stoic’ (1): “We shared the deck with a large number of Glaswegian boilermakers [who] were pretty rough … but not dangerous” Audrey recalled. After a time in New Zealand, the family moved to the Rift Valley, Kenya for three years before returning to New Zealand, to Rotorua. By this time, there were five daughters and, later, a son. Both Audrey and Derek continued their interest in politics and, as if she didn’t have enough to do bringing up a large family, Audrey decided to do a degree by correspondence from Massey
University, followed by a year’s course at university in Hamilton. She obtained employment as a social worker and adopted a boy into an already large family so that her own son had a companion nearer his age. Joyce made the comment that this was ‘typical Audrey, always so thoughtful’. Audrey was also part of a citizen panel ‘commenting on issues of the day for the New Zealand Herald.’ (1) She was a JP and member of Citizen’s Advice Bureau, Peace Foundation and Grey Power and was nominated successfully by neighbours for a Good Citizen Award. In 2014, a newspaper article (2) revealed that an inherited degenerative condition affecting her balance was forcing her to leave her own home in Ponsonby to live with one of her daughters in Matakana. Ponsonby was a place that had attracted Audrey because it’s ‘always been pretty unconventional’ and that had appealed to her. In the funeral eulogy for Audrey, her daughter used these words: ‘Shining integrity, mental and physical courage, wisdom, balanced judgement, compassionate kindness and a wonderful sense of humour.’ Audrey died surrounded by her family, including fifteen grandchildren and seven greatgrandchildren. Asked what she felt was the most important thing in a life full of adventure, she replied “Love.” Sources 1. Audrey’s life story, written by one of her daughters, and sent by Joyce 2. Sandra Goodwin, Legacy of a generous spirit; Aug 14 2014, Herald Homes 3. D. L. Prynn, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Jan. - Apr., 1972), pp. 169-179
Gillian Dorothy Hilliker, née Luke (Atholl 1943) On Old Girls’ Day 1970. Gillian signed in the visitors’ book ‘G Hilliker and daughter’ and it was perhaps this daughter that had the sad duty of informing Masonica of her mother’s death in December 2018, just short of her 92nd birthday, Like so many pupils before and after her, Gillian became a pupil following her father’s death. She joined Weybridge in 1934 and then moved up to the Senior School in 1935. By this time, the smell of new paint may have faded a little and RMIG (as it was then) had begun to settle into its new home in Rickmansworth. When Gillian left in 1943, as ‘a very good’ Head of House, the War was sapping everyone’s energies. The School made a valiant effort to keep ‘business as usual’ and people like Gillian, ‘reliable and self-reliant’, were no doubt a significant factor in this. Gillian was granted funds for a secretarial course at Denson’s and presumably went on to undertake secretarial work. However, by 1970 she was coproprietor of a specialised stationery firm and greetings card business in her home town of Southampton. On 19th June 1950 at St James church, Southampton, Gillian married Donald Hilliker and daughter Jane was born a few years later. Gillian maintained her interest in the School and attended a number of Old Girls’ Days, including in the Bicentenary year 1988, a special occasion indeed.
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Masonica Obituaries her time at School, all that is recorded is that she passed the Cambridge School Certificate but she did so with eight credits so a commendable result.
Marjorie became a pupil at Weybridge in 1934 and progressed to the Senior School in 1936. Of
She left in 1943 and took a post as a junior clerk in the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada in Bromley, Kent. It was intended to transfer her to the Mathematical Department later. Whether this happened is not recorded but in July 1948 she was awarded a B.Sc. This was followed by a post as a Demonstrator in the Physiology Department at the Royal Free Hospital. Her daughter, in contacting Masonica with the news of her mother’s death, indicated that she went on to become a physiology lecturer at the same hospital after studying medicine at Kings
Kathleen Jean Dennis-Jones, née Nelson (Sussex 1944)
so many Old Girls, friendships from School became friendships for life.
Kathleen’s daughter contacted OMGA to say that Kathleen, known as Kitty or Kitten at School, had died in 2019. ‘She had been receiving excellent palliative care’, wrote her daughter and this had enabled her to remain at home until the very last weeks of her life. ‘She died peacefully at the Hospice in the Weald on 9 July.’
On leaving School, Kathleen received a grant for a course of Institutional Management but by January 1945 had changed direction towards nursing. She began a nurse-training course in 1946 at Middlesex Hospital, Stoke Mandeville. By 1950, she was qualified SRN and attended Old Girls’ Day in that year.
Kathleen had joined the School and gone first to Weybridge and then onto the Seniors in 1939. At this stage, Weybridge pupils were on the Rickmansworth site, so there was no change in venue for her.
Kathleen maintained many friendships, from School, from her nursing days and she also had French friends and took French conversation classes. Later, Kathleen became hard of hearing and learned to lip read. She ran exercise classes for other flat-dwellers and was interested in Judo. In retirement, she was a member of U3A and enjoyed many trips and activities with them.
Marjorie Winifred Duckworth, née Kidd (Alexandra 1943)
Described by her friend, Sylvia Hedges née Bolt, Kathleen was ‘a very vibrant being’, in later life ‘continually out and about helping and joining clubs and travelling’. Sylvia and Kathleen had kept in touch since they left School in 1944, occasionally meeting or staying in contact by telephone when this was not an option. As with
In 2009, she paid another visit to the School. ‘How intriguing and delightful to receive an invitation to the 75th Anniversary Event, 1934
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College. In 1950, Marjorie married Gerald Duckworth and they had three daughters. The photograph was supplied by her daughter and taken on holiday in Malta, a place Marjorie loved to visit. Although Marjorie was not a member of OMGA, she clearly retained fond memories of her time at School and, after her death in October 2018, her daughter found memorabilia amongst her papers which she duly returned to the School in 2019.
Day’ she wrote in a piece for Masonica 2009. ‘It was a strange feeling to realise that we were history personified!’ 1934 Day, for those who don’t know, was a special day (see above photo) in which we metaphorically turned the clock back to that year to celebrate the transition of the School to Rickmansworth 75 years earlier. ‘We learned that much research had been undertaken to uncover life in the School at that time. The senior girls had made their own pinafores. Lunch, too, was a menu from the1930s, very tasty mince, boiled potatoes and green vegetables, followed by a choice of rice pudding and jam or tinned fruit salad.’ It enabled Kathleen, and other former pupils as guests, to recall their own days at School and compare the School they knew with what the modern School had become. ‘It was a very happy day!’
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Masonica Obituaries Audree Morgan Trimmer, née Prior (Ruspini 1944) Audree’s son contacted the School to say she had died in November 2018 in Canada, the day before her 91st birthday. ‘Rickmansworth was with Audree all of her adult life,’ he wrote. ‘… her School experience provided great perspective especially during the more difficult stages of her life.’ Joining Weybridge in 1938, Audree then moved to the Senior School in January 1939. By the time she left, she had passed School Cert very creditably and been appointed a prefect. ‘Audree has been a responsible prefect this term’ was the valedictory comment. She went from School to a secretarial college in Southampton and then had a clerical post in the Midland Bank. Throughout her post-School life, she remained in contact with the School (through OMGA) and attended several Old Girls’ events, including the Bicentenary one in 1988.
She married in 1953 and had two sons but was widowed in 1981, at which point her contacts with the School became all the more important to her as it was when one of her sons died. In 2000, Audree left her home town of Portsmouth and emigrated to Canada to be near her other son and his family, her two granddaughters. ‘ … as soon as the girls were old enough she would talk to them about her School days. From the difficulties of being away from home, to the life friends that she made, and the occasional funny stories (such as hiding in the vaulting horse in gym class!?), she referred to ‘Ricky’ often.’ Even though so far away from her alma mater, Masonica was her ongoing connection, with its stories of both the past and present. Arguably, she had two families – the one in Canada and the wider School family, ongoing from her time in Rickmansworth.
Georgine Perkins, née Passfield, (Cumberland 1947) Georgine Rosina Nora Passfield attended the School with her sister, Helen, in the 1940s. Their father at the time was a prisoner of war in Germany and then, in 1943, their mother was killed in an air raid. Georgine and Helen both left the School in 1947 and in 2019, Georgine (via her daughter’s email) wrote to me asking if I could possibly find any photographs of either of them at School as they had none. Through the sterling services of two other Old Girls of the era, Shirley Beard (née Lawson) and Sheila Side (née Whittington), I managed to get two photographs of Cumberland house to Georgine in early February. Sadly, she died just a few weeks later but her daughter, in telling me of her mother’s death, said: “Mum loved the pictures” and that the contact brightened her last few weeks. Georgine became a nurse after leaving the School.
Patricia Dawn Reynolds, née Base (Cumberland 1947)
Melba Coombs née Westoby (Connaught 1948)
Patricia was born in 1929 in Great Yarmouth. She joined the School in 1939 but as the Weybridge girls were moved to Rickmansworth during the war, it seems likely that she would have been one of those known (often to their own confusion!) as the Weybridge Girls without anyone really explaining why. She was known as Paddy at School - less as a nickname for ‘Patricia’ as much as she had a temper! She expended her energy running for miles around the School grounds.
Melba arrived at the School in 1939 having been orphaned by the age of seven. Although a Weybridge girl in 1939, Melba was actually at Rickmansworth as the Juniors had already been moved from Weybridge for the duration of WWII. Remembered as having golden hair and blue eyes, and a lovely husky laugh, Melba left in 1948 to do nurse training at Barts, eventually becoming a theatre nurse. She also trained in midwifery at Queen Charlotte’s.
In 1947, having passed her ‘School Cert’, she went to train as a dental nurse in Coventry. Here she met, and married, Neville Reynolds. They moved to Norfolk to run a boarding house providing bed and breakfast accommodation for 25 guests. As the summer season in Great Yarmouth runs from April to October, this was hard work but it served to supplement the family income.
Two of her Masonic friends remained of whom she wrote, ‘Our friendship has endured all these years’. They were Barbara Hurlock (née Sanders) ‘now dearly departed’ and Doreen Hunt (née Scott ‘Scottie’) in New Zealand. No doubt they shared Pat’s philosophy of life – when it’s difficult you just have to place one foot in front of the other and keep going. Perhaps all the running she did at School was the inspiration!
Melba – rather like Chevalier Ruspini two centuries before her – was a facilitator in that she had the ability to motivate others and get things done and she had amazing organisational skills. She became the Chairman of the Kent NADFAS (now The Art Society) and later the National Chairman. Following a 1990s report of redundant London churches, she was approached to form the church watchers group by Friends of City Churches (FCC). This was designed to save the churches and keep them open to the public, even if only on one or two days a week and her work over fifteen years did much to save and reopen important churches in the City. In March 2009, the Bishop of London spoke publicly of Melba’s work and presented her with the St Mellitus medal, an award rarely given. The editor of the FCC’s newsletter, commenting on Melba’s decision to step down as co-ordinator, said “she has done so much for us … encouraging us when we became dispirited with progress, tenderly restraining us in our madder ideas … always there, unflappable, competent, caring.” Melba herself expressed great ‘pride in having been part of the development’.
She was known as Pat to her friends, Paddy at School and Patricia to the community nurses but, as her daughter says “I just called her Mum” - in that simple statement is a summary of all the love you need.
She died of leukaemia in July 2018 and her memorial service, led by the Archdeacon of London, took place in October in the church that is the centre of FCC activities, St Mary Abchurch.
In 1971, Pat’s husband died and life changed completely. Pat re-trained as a physiotherapy helper and worked at Northgate hospital until she was 57.
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Masonica Obituaries Janet Suzannah Hunter née Wiles (Cumberland 1949) The Internet alerted the School to the death of a former pupil in Sarasota, Florida on July 12 2019. Cars and the armed forces bracket Janet’s life as her father was a car salesman who joined the RAF on the outbreak of WWII, and her husband was a US marine, later General Manager of Toyota. After her father’s early death, Janet became a pupil at Weybridge (1942) and then on to the Senior School. During that time she played in the 1st Netball VII team and the 2nd Lacrosse XII. On leaving in March 1949, she took a two year course at Clark’s Secretarial School and then a position working for a solicitor before emigrating in 1955, becoming a US citizen in 1958. In Cincinatti, she met her husband who was stationed there and they married in 1960. North Carolina, Virginia and then Florida became successively the family’s home. Being interested in the Performing Arts ultimately led to Janet becoming an events planner and organizer for many of the non-profits and arts organizations in Sarasota such as Breast Health Sarasota, Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation, Poodle Rescue, Circus Sarasota, La Musica International Chamber Music Festival and many others. She planned countless fashion shows, galas and parties in the community. Despite being an American citizen longer than she had been British, it was said “You knew immediately it was Janet Hunter calling as soon as you heard her unmistakable British accent - with that dash of North Carolina twang.” Janet is survived by a son and daughter, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren and is buried alongside her beloved husband at Sarasota National Cemetery. (Image of Janet is reproduced with kind permission of YourObserver.com of Sarasota.)
Eileen Linden, née Burgon (Ruspini 1949) Eileen’s son Adrian informed the School of his mother’s death in 2019. Born in Brighton in 1933, Eileen had been living in Liverpool at the time she came to the School. Her father had been in the Royal Navy (and had survived the Battle of Jutland in WWI) but had died in 1944. Eileen, at this time, was at Queen Mary High School, Liverpool and she joined the School in April 1947. She left again a brief two years later from what was called the Commercial Form. Interestingly, although she did not master typing, she had success in shorthand, that mysterious language, in which she achieved 70 wpm. Her final report wished her every success in her career which, initially, was that of a clerical post with Lloyd’s bank. In 1950, however, Eileen wrote to Masonica that she had passed a Civil Service Commercial exam classed Grade I. Then in 1957, she married Nicholas Linden and settled to family life. She remained a member of OMGA throughout her life. In 1950 she left to begin a teacher training course at Weymouth with the valedictory comment: ‘Anne’s steadiness and firmness of purpose has been a great asset’. After training, she became geography mistress at Bexley Westwood Girls’ School. A member of OMGA since she left School, Anne returned to visit on many occasions including the Golden Jubilee year 1984 and the Bicentenary year 1988.
Anne Catherine Davis, MBE (Cumberland 1950) Anne came to the School in 1944 age 12 after the death of her father, a schoolmaster, the previous year. In 1948 she was a prefect and had passed her ‘School Cert’ and by 1950, she had added to these an Instructor’s Certificate, a prize for needlework and being Vice-Captain of the swimming team and a member of the 1st Hockey XI. She was a member of several School societies which reflects a wide range of interests carried through into her adult life.
In December 2005, she was presented with an MBE for Services to the Community by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. Having travelled from her home in Gorleston the day before, Anne recalled for Masonica: “At 10am, my new hat firmly in place, the police at the gates checked our passports and directed us into the inner quadrangle. The footman greeted us with great courtesy as we stepped onto the red carpet.” Anne commented that the impression given by the staff at the palace was that she, and her fellow ‘investees’, were the first, and only, recipients of an award, not that this happened regularly. At the end of the ceremony,
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with the award safely in its presentation box, everyone went outside to meet the photographers. In Anne’s case, it turned out that her photographer had spent his family holidays in Gorleston as a child. Mary Pryor (Hicks), Anne’s long-time friend, gave the information to Masonica that ‘Service to the Community’ included being church warden in Lound for many years; being involved in the Great Yarmouth Soroptimists International (an organisation for women in management and the professions which works through service projects to advance human rights and the status of women) in which she served two separate terms as President and two terms as Secretary; running the Great Yarmouth Muscular Dystrophy Campaign branch from 1959; being involved in Meals on Wheels and also with a support group for women with breast cancer. Quietly modest about her achievements, it was said of Anne that she was ‘a very charming and interesting lady … and an enthusiastic voluntary community supporter.’
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Masonica Obituaries Ann Kay Field, née Toogood (Ruspini 1956) Ann’s son, David, contacted the School to give the information that his mother had died in July 2019. She had become a pupil after her father’s death in 1948 (Weybridge Juniors) and then at the Senior School from 1950 in Ruspini house. Awarded a prize for Writing in 1955, she later became a sub-prefect and was described in School records as being ‘helpful and reliable’. She left on 27 July 1956 embarking on a domestic science course at Brooklands College, Weybridge. Having gained a City & Guilds qualification in 1957, Ann then worked at Kingston Hospital although by 1960 she had a post with Woman magazine. She kept in touch with the School via her membership of OMGA and attending reunions and maintained her friendship with School friends, including Aileen Cockshut, and Gillian Moss (née Wallbank), both of whom she was still in touch with until her death.
Morwen Mary Dawn Murray, née Woodcock (Sussex 1956) Dawn’s sister, Teleri, informed us that she passed away on the 15 April 2019. She had had multiple sclerosis (MS) for more than forty five years. Dawn went to Weybridge in 1946 and Rickmansworth in 1949, which she left in 1956 to go (back) to Weybridge as a pupil teacher for a year, before undertaking teacher training in Bristol. In 1959 she met Daniel Murray and they married in 1961. They had three children, Amanda, David and James, twelve grandchildren and five great grandchildren, with two more on the way. Dawn lived for her family and cared and supported them all the way and she will be very sadly missed by all who knew her.
Felicity Anne Morris, née Martin (Atholl 1959) Jacqueline Protheroe, nee Barkus (Connaught, 1960), Felicity’s friend writes: Fizz arrived at Ricky aged 13 and joined Atholl House in 1954. She came from Fulham in London where she was from a close knit Jewish community. She left School in 1959 and trained as a secretary at a college near her home. Some may remember the ‘Expresso Bongo’ theatre trip with some Lower Sixth arranged by our forward – looking young English teacher at the start of the holidays in 1959? Fizz and I were there and I stayed at her home. Together with her husband David, they managed the family property business and lived in Surrey where I visited them. After the death of her husband she moved to Brighton and became the centre of her family aiding her son and daughter and her six grandchildren whom she supported tirelessly.
She was a talented artist exhibiting her paintings in Brighton and her book illustrations were a delight. Her interests were in the Arts, community work, theatre and ballet. We enjoyed seaside lunches together and trips to the Brighton Pavilion where she was a member. Fizz held a number of memorable lunches at the RAC club in Pall Mall for her close friends aided by Margaret Polley (Stephenson). They were great fun and a great treat. She was a caring, gentle and kind friend whose shocking, sudden and unexpected death has been a difficult happening with which to come to terms. She is sadly missed but her thoughtful spirit lives on. Always a keen communicator in both English and Spanish, she travelled to support her RMS friends right to the end, particularly admiring, as she herself said ‘the indomitable spirit of her Royal Masonic School contemporaries’.
Wendy Rosemary Martin née Banks (Alexandra 1960) News of Wendy’s death only reached us when her copy of Masonica was returned. She had been a resident of a nursing home from whom was ascertained the information that she died in June 2017. Born in Ilford in 1943, Wendy arrived at the School in 1956 following the death of her father. Four years later, she left with commercial subjects to her name, including a distinction in shorthand, and the valedictory comment: ‘Wendy has made good use of her comparatively short time at School. She has always been helpful and friendly.’ She had a post with Lombard bank. In 1968 she married and had a son. She always kept in touch with OMGA but, as with many of our former pupils, in an understated way. She attended some reunion events later in her life by which time she was living in Cinderford, Gloucestershire. In 2003, she was still working as a secretary, this time to a funeral director. In 2017 her address was given as the nursing home but sadly not as a long term resident. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to contact her family for this tribute to garner more details.
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Masonica Obituaries Diana Rosemary Brooker, née Hopkinson (Zetland 1962) Denise Jameson (Robbins) writes of her friend: Diana’s father died as the result of a car accident leaving two young children. Diana described her mother as a very determined and resourceful lady, a trait passed down to her daughter. The family went to live near Chatsworth House where her mother was a guide and then later to Wroxham in Norfolk. Her Masonic School life began at Weybridge where she formed a close friendship with Rosemary Randall, now in Melbourne. Diana’s daughter and family moved there in 2018 and when Diana visited them last Christmas, she was delighted to meet her old friend again. From Weybridge Diana moved up to Zetland House at Ricky until leaving in 1962. She never regarded herself as academic or sporty but had great practical ability and a thirst for general knowledge. She had a sewing ability and she made many of her own outfits or saw the potential in charity shop finds.
messing about in boats and she met and married the boss’s son, Peter, who was a lawyer in London. They had two children, Rupert and Henrietta, and Diana maintained a lovely garden in their home in Weybridge. Peter had a great love of opera and I think Diana’s violin tuition from Miss Rees and the strong music tradition at RMS probably helped her to share his passion. Following Peter’s retirement, they both felt the pull of Norfolk and took on the major task of rebuilding a derelict windmill in Cromer. From just the empty brick base of the old mill it became a delightful home. By this time they were grandparents – can you imagine having grandparents who lived in a windmill by the sea? After being widowed, Diana decided to move to a cottage close to her son. She spent much of her time helping to look after the grandchildren and caring for their garden in Great Chesterford, Saffron Walden. She seemed very happy there but her sudden illness meant her new life did not last very long. Carolyn Figgett (Shaw) and I attended her funeral. She had chosen to have Julie Andrews singing “My Favourite Things” and I think that described her very well. [The windmill has its own Wikipedia entry or you can read it about it on http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/east-runton-towermill.html]
After School she stayed in Wroxham and eventually became P.A. to the Managing Director of Blake’s boats. This was fortuitous as she enjoyed
Susan Elizabeth Jenkins, née Loweth, formerly Husdan (Connaught 1971) Susan was one of three sisters who attended the School and it was one of those sisters (Christene) who informed us of Susan’s death in June 2018 of pancreatic cancer. The three Loweth girls (Susan, Brenda and Christene), pictured above, came to RMS after the death of their parents. ‘We were in Connaught house with initially Miss Cameron, whom we all loved,’ Christene wrote.
was to do secretarial training. In 1974, she married and subsequently had four children, one of whom was later killed in a road accident in Spain. In 1992, Susan informed Masonica that she was running an outdoor market stall selling menswear and in 2001, she re-married to become Mrs Jenkins. Clearly a close family, Susan’s three surviving children gave her six grandchildren and her two step-children added five more. Susan was described by Christene as ‘vibrant and a rebel’. Her sister Brenda in Warrington was already near to Susan’s home in Handforth and Christene, a life coach in New Zealand, was able to return to UK to spend some time with her sister before she died. Photograph sent by Christene, labelled ‘Sue, me Brenda and Elaine 2017’
Susan left the School in 1971, the Headmistress’ Report stating that this
Felicité Tomlinson-Deakin (2019) Felecité died aged just 18 having left the School only relatively recently. It was a shock to everyone at School and in the wider community as she had thousands of followers on social media. A sudden death is shocking at whatever age but seems particularly cruel for a young woman about to make her way in the world. Nicknamed Fizzy, she was an aspiring fashion designer and had moved to London to further her career.
Sadly, 2019 saw the death of two ex-Atholl-Sussex housemistresses. Liz Berdinner, Housemistress in the 1990s, died on 7 June. Attendees at Liz’s funeral in the Lady Chapel of St Alban’s Abbey were asked, by her own request, to wear ‘gentle’ colours. Afterwards, at the home of her friends, guests were invited to peruse some of the photographs Liz took during her lifetime and to take home any that may have meaning to them. Jenny Scholes, Liz’s successor as Housemistress, went into palliative care in June at the Florence
Nightingale Hospice at Stoke Mandeville hospital and died on 26 August of motor neurone disease. Her funeral, delayed because her granddaughter was in India, took place in October in Tring. The flowers on her coffin were a floral depiction of the world reflecting Jenny’s travels to more than 80 countries. The Recessional music was Soul Limbo, the Test Match Special signature tune, as Jenny had been a cricketer in her youth and a keen follower of cricket throughout her life.
Libby Thring (1962) Sadly, we have just learned of Libby’s death. Long a member of OMGA and stalwart Committee member for many years. A full tribute will follow in the next Masonica.
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