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Edition 14 - Autumn 2020

Welcome from the HeadI write this on the one year anniversary of news breaking in the UK of a new virus in the Far East. I was in the final days of my headship at a school in Dorset and looking forward to the exciting if somewhat daunting prospect of two of our children’s birthdays, two house moves, the minor matter of Christmas and starting a brand new job – all in the space of three weeks.

I arrived at Royal High School Bath to the long-awaited opening of the new Music School with our inaugural uplifting concert coinciding with my first School Governors Board meeting and my birthday. My husband and I marked the end of a long day with a celebratory meal out in the centre of Bath little imagining that two weeks later the country would go into lockdown.

The whole school closed on the Friday leaving a few boarders still in their Houses awaiting news of plans for iGCSEs and IB exams in the summer. On the Monday we transferred fully to on-line learning, one of my proudest days as the new Head of this wonderful school. Not one day of learning had been missed by our pupils. Within a few weeks, with all exams cancelled, the buildings were empty apart from those staff who live on site.

It was not a conventional start to a year that has been far from conventional yet the

Welcome to the Autumn 2020 edition of the Royal High School

Alumnae Newsletter.

As ever, we love to receive word from you, so if you have anything you’d like to share, be it

memories, opinion or news and updates, please don’t hesitate to get in touch:

[email protected]

one constant that has shone through for us all has been the girls and their infectiously positive attitudes and determination to live life to the full. The pages that follow give you a snap shot into this joyous world that we are privileged to share.

Covid-19 has put paid to so many plans this year but we have contrived to be resourceful and been astounded at how adaptable everyone is. Leading the way has been the RHBA Committee who have persevered with technology and mastered on-line meetings. Please do join the ranks and volunteer as a Decade Representative and help us bring alumnae from our pre-1998 schools as well as more recent RHS alumnae together.

Similar resourcefulness was apparent in the remarkable achievements of many of our current girls during lockdown. Whilst maintaining their lessons online they also undertook challenges within the limitations laid down by ever changing lockdown regulations.

Equally powerful this year has been the School’s response to the unsettling Black Lives Matters events of the summer. The creation of GDST Undivided, committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, resulted in our own RHS Undivided student group who are working with staff to consider unconscious bias and inclusivity in our community. We are blessed at RHS to have boarders from 17 different countries, each sharing their culture and diverse experiences. What better preparation can there be for the global world of work awaiting our girls?

The power of the GDST was also harnessed with a Trust wide initiative to fill the gap created by the cancellation of GCSEs, A Levels and IB. A record number of our staff volunteered to lead ‘Limitless Learning’ courses many of them supported by experts at Trust Office in London. This is a truly unique offering that once more conveys the power of the family of 25 GDST schools.

Similar power was unleashed in the Hardship

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Fund created to support girls across the GDST schools whose parents were suffering financially due to the pandemic. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who donated to this worthy cause including helping a significant number of girls remain at RHS during the economic downturn.

This October Half Term saw the retirement of two RHS stalwarts who will be known to many of you with their combined service to the School of 51 years: Ali Mottram and Lynda Bevan. Their valedictory speeches, delivered to a socially distanced audience in the Sports Hall brought warmth, laughter and a great sense of pride that we have all had the honour to work at such a special

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school. We are thrilled that Lynda Bevan has agreed to join the Governing Board.

On a sad note, the death of Graeme Preedy our esteemed Director of Art and Aesthetics has left a large hole in the RHS community. His influence was felt throughout the School and girls, alumnae and staff are collating a Book of Remembrance as a fitting commemoration of his years at the School.

I close with this extract from the School Record during the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918: ‘On October 13th the school had a clean bill of health. By the 20th we had 130 cases of influenza. There were 148 cases in all and the entire school became a hospital – staff, girls, maids and even nurses succumbing in quick succession. By Armistice Day only three weeks later, all were well and the cloud of anxiety and trouble seemed to have cleared miraculously. We can look back now on this time with great thankfulness and not a little amusement.’

Whilst this pandemic has lasted much longer than three weeks, the incidence of cases here has been almost negligible and with the first vaccine being rolled out, we are optimistic that it will not be too long before school returns to normal. I look forward then to meeting as many of you as possible at events and functions and welcoming you back to RHS.

Kate ReynoldsHead

From the Alumnae

Office

Francesca Orr was delighted to return as Alumnae and Community Liaison Officer in the summer following Anna Robertson’s departure last September.

Francesca can be contacted by email: [email protected] or telephone: 01225 313877 and works three days a week, usually Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

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School News

Over recent months, despite the challenges of the current ‘normal’ we all face we are proud that the students continue to demonstrate those wonderful attributes of commitment, kindness, determination and service to others that constitute true RHS spirit.

This summer, Ruby, Year 9 and her father took up the challenge of cycling from coast to coast in the north of England - a famous cycle route that runs from Whitehaven to Tynemouth, and goes through the Lake District and Pennines, eventually reaching the coast along the Tyne.

As Ruby explains: “The scenery was really memorable, as was the weather! Storm Ellen hit whilst we were on our trip which forced us to take a rest day due to the 60mph winds. The route was 140 miles long which we completed over 3 days, and the greatest distance we travelled in one day was 63 miles. It was my favourite day though because we had lots of nice scenery and plenty of downhill too! The toughest climb was Hartside which is 7km long and takes in 400m of climb - this was one of 4 climbs we completed that day. The feeling of finishing was great, knowing I had completed the challenge.”

Ellie, Year 13, ran a marathon on her treadmill at home during the first lockdown raising over £1,300 for British Heart Foundation. Since the start of the first Covid-19 lockdown, Ellie’s volunteer work at a local care home had temporarily stopped and eager to continue her philanthropic ways, Ellie donned her running gear and completed a full marathon on the treadmill. Ellie said: “I am an 800m runner but have never run more than 5k in one go!’’ and wanted to challenge herself during lockdown.


Girls making their mark

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‘’My grandpa had his first heart attack at age 48 followed by a triple bypass two years later. He had further heart attacks during the following years. Without the research of charities such as BHF he couldn’t possibly have lived a fulfilling life into old age.

The BHF has helped halve the number of people dying from heart and circulatory disease in the UK, but sadly every day hundreds of people lose their lives. It’s only thanks to support from people like us that the BHF can create new treatments and discover new cures.’’

Meanwhile, Darcy, Year 13, has achieved second place in the ASA Somerset Young Volunteer of the Year 2020. As a volunteer swim coach taking two weekly sessions and working with younger volunteers assisting with their Duke of Edinburgh activities.

Darcy also ran various online activities with junior and Senior squads through lockdown and is considered by Bath Dolphins as ‘the glue that glue that is holding the squads together’.

Well done girls, we’re proud of you all!

Posy Stars in Lionsgate Feature FilmEarlier this term the Drama Department was finally able to share the exciting news that our Year 7 Drama scholar, Posy, had returned from Bulgaria, where she spent the summer filming a Feature with Lionsgate and Gold Circle Films.

The Casting Director scoured the UK looking for the right girl for the central role. Posy was one of 24 Royal High students from Years 6, 7 and 8 that recorded self-tapes. Posy was subsequently invited to take part in recall auditions at The Actors Centre, London and after numerous Skype calls to LA Director, Daniel Stamm, she was chosen to play the lead role in ‘A Devil’s Light’.

The film, which is set to be released early next year, stars Nichloas Ralph, Jacqueline Byers, Virginia Madsen and Colin Salmon and will mark Posy’s Feature film debut!

We, along with the cast and crew, are thoroughly impressed with Posy and incredibly proud of her achievement!


Darcy

Ruby

Ellie

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As our staff prepared for the start of term in September, they took part in their annual equality and inclusion training and were joined by Josiah Chudleigh and Mariya Akhtar from SARI (Standing Against Racism and Inequality), who led an insightful and challenging session. Their presentation was delivered to a socially distanced audience in the sports hall and live streamed to those who couldn’t attend because of limited space.

The group discussed unconscious bias versus conscious discrimination, the difference between these terms and the need to recognise them in ourselves and others. The session touched on the curriculum often being Eurocentric and the challenges of stereotypes in a school environment. Those present were invited to talk about the importance of understanding and respecting other cultures – and questioning our own prejudices and decision-making process all the time. There’s diversity within cultures and within families and the group asked,

‘what can I do to mitigate against culture clashes and make everyone feel included?’

Josiah and Mariya discussed the nine protected characteristics and delivered a ‘terminology workshop’ for the audience to evaluate which words they thought were appropriate and which they were unsure of. This evolved into part of the session on children using offensive language without knowing its true meaning and the impact this can have. Josiah gave a helpful process to use for deciding whether terms are appropriate or not. ROC:

• Relationship: what’s the relationship like between people using the terms?

• Origin: where does the term originally come from?

• Context: what’s the wider situation the term is being used in?

The session was rounded off by discussing microaggressions and how small comments or questions might not seem offensive in isolation, but when experienced every day they can build up into something very unpleasant.

Deputy Head for Academic, Hadrian Briggs explained: “This was an invaluable first step in what will become a longer-term relationship with SARI. We have further workshops and groups planned for students as well as staff, and this follows our determination to stamp out racism and ensure equality, respect and opportunity for all.”

Undivided: Our commitment to equality and staff training

The first ever Anne Frank Creative Writing Awards were launched last May and invited young people across the country to take Anne Frank as their inspiration and create a piece of writing that called for a world free from prejudice.

During the first lockdown, some of our Year 8s (now Year 9) discussed, explored, and wrote about prejudice and discrimination and how we can help mould a future free from divisions.

Caitlin wrote a sensitive, thoughtful and thought-provoking piece titled ‘It’s Called Being a Girl’ and we are thrilled to share that, amongst the 937 entries received from across the UK, it has been recognised and commended by the judging panel!

Anne Frank Creative Writing

Award 2020

It’s Called Being a Girl Caitlin, Year 8

We are scared to leave the house at nightWe are scared to wear short shorts or low topsIf we wear makeup we’re called fakeIf we don’t we’re called uglyWe are scared to leave the house at nightWe are scared to a tight dress or a sports braIf we’re a size four we’re told we’re too skinnyIf we aren’t we’re told we’re too fat

We are scared to leave the house at night

We are scared to wear ripped jeans or short topsIf we wear shorts to school we’re told it will distract the boysIf they don’t wear a shirt it’s because they’re too warm

We are scared to leave the house at nightWe are scared to wear heels or off-the-shoulder topsIf we have a child we lose 4% of our salaryIf a man does they gain 6% of their salary

We are scared to leave the house at nightWe are scared to wear joggers or an oversized hoodieIf we are pale we are called a ghostIf we are tanned we’re called an orange

But the worst part is that when a man asks why, They only thing we have to say is…‘It’s called being a girl.


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This year, the Royal High School has been selected to be part of the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education Beacon School Programme. The History department is honoured to have been selected for this programme, which is heavily oversubscribed every year, and is excited to work with the Centre for Holocaust Education to enhance our disciplinary specialism and develop sensitive and innovative ways to help our students explore the complex history of the Holocaust. The Department will engage in research and participate in a rich programme of guest and expert speakers.

Following on from last year, when the History Department partnered with the Historical Association and the University of Oxford Department for Education in conducting action research on new resources created for the teaching of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in Bath and Bristol, we are continuing to partner and work with world-leading universities to develop our subject teaching and provide the most dynamic and innovative curriculum for our students. As a UCL Beacon School, Royal High School Bath will strive to build a community of practice. We will be supporting local schools and colleagues to share innovative

approaches to teaching and learning about the Holocaust and its contemporary relevance in combatting anti-Semitism and racism. We believe strongly in the wider contribution that quality, researched informed, Holocaust teaching and learning can make to challenging prejudice and hate in all forms but also championing rights, respect, empathy and inclusion for all.

Since 2012, the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education’s Beacon Schools Programme has worked directly with 165 secondary schools and impacted upwards of 160,000 young people. It is part of University College London’s Institute of Education, which is Britain’s leading centre for educational research and teacher training.

Beacon Schools become dynamic hubs serving a network of local schools and in partnership with the Centre, improve teaching standards, raise pupil achievement, strengthen SMSC provision, support wider school policies on safeguarding and inclusion, and encourage community and social cohesion.

Our participation in the programme is testament to our commitment to the GDST’s Undivided Charter of Diversity, Inclusion

and Real Change. We are constantly striving to refine our curriculum to ensure it is diverse and inclusive for all, we hope our involvement in the programme will complement the fantastic work already underway by students and staff across the GDST.

As the Holocaust moves further into the past, our connection to it risks diminishing. During the last five years, almost half the remaining survivors of the Holocaust have passed way. The horrors of this event will soon be lost to living memory. This is supported by evidence from recent studies, showing that fewer than half of American adults know how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust, similarly in Europe a third of respondents knew little or nothing about the Holocaust.

We would like to think that the attitudes and actions that led to these horrific events are consigned to the past. Sadly, anti-Semitism and hate crimes are on the rise across Europe. Increasing and developing education on the Holocaust is therefore paramount and imperative.

Royal High Beacon School Programme

Last month the Sixth Form began a politics group collaboration with the Baldwin School, Philadelphia, USA. Having sent videos introducing themselves and our political systems, the students then merged classrooms via Zoom across the Atlantic to discuss the similarities and differences and the relative strength of their democracies.

It was fantastic to put all our lockdown skills of video conferencing into use and to see the girls chatting animatedly to their contemporaries in the USA. This gave

our students the opportunity to make connections and gain insight into American politics.

They were also challenged to explain our own uncodified system including the role of the monarchy and House of Lords – all of which bemused the Baldwin students!

A weekly exchange of political news with transatlantic pen-pals has ensued with subsequent Zoom calls discussing the outcomes of the US presidential election.

Transatlantic Politics


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With so much sports competition curtailed by Covid-19, we are very happy to share that our girls continue to experience some success on the sports field. A number of our girls have taken part in trials at Team Bath Netball over the last few weekends and to our delight, many of them have been successful.

In particular Tilly, Year 8, has not only been selected for the development squad for Team Bath Netball but has also been selected for the U14 Girls A squad at Team Bath Buccaneers Hockey Club.

Well done Tilly!

Sporting SuccessWhat’s in a Name?House names in the Prep School have this term been updated to align with those in the Senior School to strengthen the link between the Prep and Senior Schools and help the girls as they transition into Year 7. We hope this change will deepen our sense of community and unity across both schools.

Northfields has become Austen

Charlcombe has become Bronte

Grosvenor has become Du Pre

Lansdown has become Wollstonecraft

Science In ActionIn mid-November Year 10 were invited to attend the Science in Action enrichment day, which was a series of 5 online lectures delivered by scientists from across the fields of Chemistry, Biology and Physics.

The girls were treated to talks by Tom Warrender of the Medical Mavericks about the different careers available in medicine, Becky Smethurst an astrophysicist from the University of Oxford talking about Galaxy zoo and her passion for all things astronomical, Lucy Eckersley from the Royal Veterinary College talking about conservation and, Dr Marty Jopson, the BBC

One Show’s resident scientist, who showed them how electricity was developed using lots of exciting demonstrations, including two tesla coils playing the Dr Who theme tune at the same time.

As well as the talks, there was also a session from Primrose Kitten on exam success, and a slot compered by Greg Foot looking at the scientific innovations and research powering our futures.

Holly, Year 10 says ‘’It was a terrific day all round and as a year we covered so much content and heard from such incredible

scientists. We listened to 4 speakers of varying ages and areas of studies across the board, from ones studying sound acoustics to students currently at university. 3 out of the 4 innovators were also women giving us an extra edge!

Not only did we learn about science but also gained an insight into exam techniques and were given online resources and tips to give us the best possible opportunities to reach our full potential.

Overall, it really was an incredible event to help us expand on our horizons.‘’


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International Mindedness: A photography exhibition of Tanzania and 6,000 face masks

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‘’Central to my tenure as a lifelong student of the International Baccalaureate (IB) is the concept of “International Mindedness” which cultivated within me an interdisciplinary ethos, crucial for a degree in International Relations (IR).

The desire to make a change in the world has been a goal for me. For instance, for my personal project in Grade 10, I created a website and documentary.

I interviewed a diverse group of Tanzanians from local fruit vendors to the first lady, Mama Maria Nyerere, and was able to not only challenge the Western gaze of East Africa, but also deepen my peers’ knowledge of my country and Africa in general.

This year, I continued my passion in promoting my country and my photo exhibition Watu Wa Tanzania (People of

Tanzania in Swahili) – was accepted and showcased on 6-8 August 2020, at the prestigious Alliance Française supported by the French Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The keynote speakers at the exhibition were, His Excellency Dr Ndumbaro, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Ambassador Frederic Clavier, Ms. Devotha Mdachi, Managing Director of Tanzania Tourist Board and the Alliance Française management.

The exhibition captured the ethnic diversity, complexity and spirit of Tanzania in a sensitive, emphatic and thought-provoking way. I donated the exhibit photographs to the Tanzania Tourist Board to help promote the country as a unique destination and to help boost tourism.’’ - Rania, Year 13

On top of her commitment to international mindedness, Rania has been working hard throughout the Covid-19 pandemic to help others by making over 6,000 masks with the help of volunteers and donors.

As reported in our last e-newsletter, Rania first started making masks in April as a response to the nearby police station’s short supply. Within weeks, demands for her beautiful masks had increased rapidly and her organisation, Barakoa Tz (http://www.barakoa.co.tz/), made and donated thousands of masks to essential workers, medical professionals, law enforcements, first responders and those most in need.

Rania’s exhibition and mask organisation has had national media coverage. You can see some of her fantastic photography by visiting the news section on the RHS website.


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Earlier this term, GDST Life went live putting alumnae of both RHS and the wider GDST family online and enabling them to access all the GDST Alumnae’s activities at the touch of a screen or the click of a mouse.

GDST Life gives its members access to unrivalled personal and professional connections, a host of new networking opportunities, mentoring support, events, news and resources, groups and societies and much, much more – for life.

As an alumna you are able to tap in at any time to access a wealth of contacts and opportunities whenever you like, whether it be to find old friends, get involved in

mentoring, join a network group, sign up to an event, join a discussion or access online resources. Whilst we will always continue to keep in touch with our alumnae over email, there is also a group page specifically for alumnae of the Royal School, Bath High and the Royal High School Bath.

This resource has also been opened up to our sixth formers who through GDST Life will be able to connect with students from across the GDST, get involved with new groups and societies, join GDST-wide events, learn new things on topics that matter to them and link through to Rungway the GDST mentoring app.

This is undoubtedly an exciting step towards bringing the 70,000-strong network of GDST alumnae not only even closer together but more accessible to our students.

Don’t miss out, join GDST Life today: https://www.gdstlife.aluminate.net/

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GDST News

GDST Life is live!

And the winners are...The GDST has announced this year's winners of the 2020 Alumna of the Year, Trailblazer and Exceptional Contribution Awards.

Launched in 2011, the annual GDST Alumna of the Year Awards recognise and reward the many varied achievements of GDST alumnae. All staff and students are encouraged to submit nominations from which a shortlist is drawn up, and then voting by all GDST staff, students and alumnae begins. Winners are interviewed for the alumnae magazine, GDST Girl for Life, and receive £500 to donate to a charity of their choice.

2020 Alumna of the Year: Louisa Blake, alumna of Birkenhead High School Academy and founder of social initiative, Looby Lou’s Lovely Lunches.

Assistant head teacher at a primary school in the Wirral, Louisa set up Looby Lou’s Lovely Lunches to deliver lunches during school holidays to children who would otherwise be going hungry. She noticed how some pupils’ behaviours changed before holiday-time, as they faced the uncertainty of not having a regular meal each day. And having had difficult times in her own early childhood, she understood this only too well.

Louisa was already a volunteer for the Wirral’s Homeless CIC, and this in part is what inspired her to set up Looby Lou’s Lovely Lunches. She started by delivering packed lunches to 150 children who would normally receive free school meals, and has built it to the point where now, for six weeks in the summer, two at Christmas and two at Easter, she and her team make over 250 lunches a day throughout the holiday periods. Looby Lou does not receive any formal funding, relying on the kindness of friends, family and volunteers.

2020 Alumna of the Year Trailblazer Award: Chloe Smith, Howell’s alumna, and co-founder of the Bigmoose coffee shop, a Cardiff-based charity helping to

train, mentor and employ vulnerable people in the city.

The idea for the coffee shop came after Chloe had spent two years supporting the homeless in Cardiff. Having volunteered at a soup kitchen, persuaded local restaurants to deliver hot meals, asked barbers and hairdressers to give haircuts to rough sleepers, and rallied the South Wales community to collect warm clothes and bedding, Chloe still wanted to do more. And so Bigmoose was born.

After Kickstarter fundraising campaign raised £30,000 in a week, Bigmoose opened its doors in March 2018, with all profits going to help homeless and other disadvantaged people get back into work and society. Bigmoose became a registered charity last year, with a

GDST Alumnae of the Year


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focus on homelessness, mental health and prevention of suicide, and currently employs 22 people.

2020 Alumna of the Year Award for Exceptional Contribution: Dame Rosemary Squire OBE, Nottingham Girls’ High School alumna in recognition of the truly outstanding support she has given to NGHS and the GDST, as well as her wider philanthropic work across the arts.

Dame Rosemary Squire is one of the most prominent women in British theatre, having co-founded the Ambassador Theatre Group in 1992, which has gone on to become the world’s leading live-theatre company with venues across Britain, the US and Australia.

Recently, Rosemary and her business partner have founded and now run Trafalgar Entertainment Group – a live entertainment business that owns and operates distinctive cultural buildings, as well as creating, distributing and live-streaming innovative content.

She is a National Member of the Arts Council England Board, Chair of South West Area Council, and together her husband/business partner, Sir Howard Panter, has topped The Stage 100 for seven consecutive, record-breaking years.

She was also the first ever woman to win the prestigious EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year (2014).

Dame Rosemary was awarded a DBE (Damehood) in the 2018 New Year’s Honours List for services to theatre and philanthropy.

Her philosophy of giving back to the next generation runs through all she does, with her active charity and fundraising work and her inspirational message to young entrepreneurs that they can succeed in the arts.

The 2021 Alumna of the Year campaign will launch in January/February – please keep an eye on social media.

One of the positive outcomes of the first Covid-19 lockdown was the establishment of the Limitless Learning programme across all GDST schools.

When this year’s public examinations were cancelled and study leave lost its purpose, the GDST jumped at the opportunity to present students with something else.

The programme joins up GDST pupils across the UK through an innovative programme of enrichment activities.

Each girl gains access to a whole world of opportunities and resources beyond their own school.

Limitless Learning builds skills beyond the curriculum and is about ensuring a GDST Sixth Former is ready for the world, whether the world is ready or not.

The programme really is one of a kind as only GDST schools can provide:

• Regular contact with a huge network of expert teachers who are leaders in their subject

• Collaboration and connection with 3,000 Sixth Form students from GDST schools across the UK

• At-your-fingertips-access to 70,000 illustrious alumnae via GDST Life to ask any question under the sun from ‘What were the Oxbridge interviews really like?’ to ‘Top tips to becoming an Architect?’

Limitless Learning offers access to a range of initiatives, designed to enhance our girls’ studies in Sixth Form and help them prepare for university.

Our initiative allows you go for the A* grade, learn from mentors, make new friends and let GDST alumnae guide you.

This manifests itself in the following opportunities open to all GDST students:

• A level Taster Lessons (Year 10)

• ‘Be Who You see’ Careers forums (Years 10 to 13)

• Real World Ready modules (Year 12)

• Oxbridge preparation sessions (Year 12)

• Gifted and Talented conference May 2021 (Year 10)

• Aspire to A* at A level (Year 12)

• University Bridging Seminars (Year 13)

• GDST City Socials (Year 13)

• GDST University and Apprenticeship Subject Forum (Sixth Form)

• GDST Academic Book Clubs (Years 10 to 12)

The GDST is delighted to have received very positive feedback from students about the initiative such as “It was very insightful to meet other pupils doing the same course, with the same passion for my subject!”

Learning Unleashed


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GDST Charter for ActionIn the summer, the GDST announced its Undivided commitment to diversity, inclusion and real change across the GDST family of schools, in response to feedback from the GDST community of alumnae, staff, parents and students and the challenge set by the Black Lives Matter movement.

Since then, the GDST Undivided steering group has prepared a Charter for Action; this sets out specific commitments, focusing on what the GDST (as an organisation) will deliver.

The GDST promised to consult on these proposals before they were finalised, which

is why we’re seeking your views. The Charter for Action is available on the GDST website.

Please do read it and share any comments you may have, via the feedback form, for the steering group to consider at this stage. We are also consulting with parents, staff and senior school students.

The Charter for Action will be firmed up

early next year. That said, the GDST has already started with important work in this area, including training, student and staff surveys, and data collection to help establish baselines and set stretching and challenging targets.

If you have any questions about this please contact Martin Pilkington at [email protected].

Thank you for your help and support in making the GDST an even more inclusive organisation. Take a look at page 4 for details of some of the activities taking place at RHS.

Trust-wide Philanthropy and Alumnae staff, otherwise known as ‘pandas’, are keenly anticipating the launch of a new CRM database to replace ThankQ in early January 2021.

Named ‘Bamboo’, the new web-based Microsoft platform will integrate with Outlook, LinkedIn and schools’ SIMS databases creating a one stop shop with event management and report building features. It will vastly improve the accuracy of the details we hold for our alumnae by use of a trust-wide uniform alumnae registration form that automatically syncs with the database removing the need for data to be manually input.

Bamboo is due to go live on Wednesday 14th January and as part of the transition between old and new systems, ThankQ will be shut down and unavailable from Monday 4th to Tuesday 13th January inclusive.

During this period, should you have any data related enquiries or updates please direct them as usual to [email protected] and I will endeavour to handle them as soon as I can once Bamboo is up and running.

Thank you.

Bamboo for PandAs!

On Saturday 3 October alumnae from all over the globe came together to recreate the spirit of the GDST family over a cup of tea: 160 retweets and almost 670 likes on Twitter and GDST tweets during the day alone generated more than 30,000 impressions and 2,600 engagements.

Huge thanks to all those RHS alumnae who took part and thank you for sharing your photos – we had alumnae from last year’s leavers to 80 years of age taking part!GDSTEA


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Alumnae News

This term we have been thrilled to ‘virtually’ welcome back some of our alumnae to give help and advice to students about applying for and living at university.

In September Year 13 was delighted to be joined via the big screen by Alice Ponder (RHS 2018, History at Oxford), Aleksandra Kovaleva (RHS 2019, Computer Science Foundation Year at Sheffield) and Ursula Perry (RHS 2019, English at University College London). Sadly Anna Butler (RHS of 2019, Psychology with Integrated Year in Industry at Aberystwyth) was unable to join us at the last minute but sent her warmest wishes to all.

Having all recently finished their first year at university, they were in the best possible position to advise the girls on everything from choosing a course and university to Freshers’ Week, making friends and joining clubs and societies to budgeting, cooking and of course studying. With representatives from such a wide range of courses and universities our students were able to learn about the importance of being self-motivated with regards to independent study and the benefits of fully utilising the help on offer from tutors and lecturers.

A couple of weeks later, we were joined by a selection of alumnae to speak specifically about life at Oxbridge universities to our Aspire Group. This gave those interested in following this path the chance to speak directly to members of our alumnae who have experience not only of life at Oxbridge but more specifically the application process itself, which differs from that of other universities.

We were delighted to be joined on screen by Caroline Lear (RHS 2015, French and Spanish), Daniela Alvarez Garcia (RHS 2015, Philosophy Politics and Economics), Lizzie Dunn (RHS 2016, French and Spanish), Sarah Haynes (RHS 2017, Classics/Literae Humaniores) and Lana Firth (RHS 2017, Classics II and English). The girls all gave their personal insights into the application process, describing their interviews as being akin to a mini tutorial and explaining how these vary from subject to subject.

Our guests advised the students to be ‘interested’ and ‘interesting’, explaining that the interviewers wish to understand how their mind works and are looking for independent thinkers. The students also heard about life at Oxbridge in general, the college system, the huge array of clubs, societies and activities on offer and were reassured that alongside the hard work it is a huge amount of fun!

Head Girl Mathura Kathirgamanathan said afterwards ‘It was a brilliant opportunity for them to reflect on the application process and to give us words of advice and reassurance. It was good to hear from them,

and the virtual aspect of the event didn’t make a difference at all!’

Our sincere thanks go to our amazing alumnae, who were willing to give up their time to support our current students. It was fantastic to hear how happy and settled our alumnae are at their chosen universities and how much they are enjoying not only their studies but also the other activities and opportunities on offer, despite the current challenges. We look forward to welcoming back the current Year 13s in a couple of years’ time to pass on their own wisdom to the years below!

Alumnae Prepare Students Alumnae Prepare Students for life at University


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Alumnae Awards Alumnae Awards Presentation Assembly

On Monday 19th October, through their annual awards, our alumnae inspired in current Senior School students the wonderful attributes and characteristics that make up our alumnae community.

This year the four very special awards were presented to girls from the senior school at an online assembly by alumna Jane-Anne Hodgson (BHS 1982), alumna Sarah Dix (RHS 2006), Chair of the Royal High School Bath Alumnae Committee, Mr Richard Hall, Chair of Governors and Mrs Kate Reynolds, Head.

The virtual event began with Francesca Orr speaking briefly about the importance of our alumnae network and the many ways the alumnae continue to support us and to be actively involved in the life of our school. We also heard about the inspiring achievements of some our alumnae themselves over the past year or so, and about some of the

exciting things members of our alumnae network have recently been doing. This all brought back to the forefront of everyone’s minds what an impressive group of women they are of whom we should be very proud.

Jane-Anne Hodgson, friend of late alumna Sarah Williams, spoke about the origins of the Sarah Williams Red Squirrel Award and reminded the girls of the importance of kindness and friendship. Sarah Dix then spoke about the inspirational Hilary Williams, alumna and former chair of the Alumnae Committee, telling us all about her remarkable life, her commitment to equal rights for women and her dedication to our school.

Many thanks to all those who attended and contributed to this special occasion, and huge congratulations to our very well deserving winners:

The Sarah Williams Red Squirrel Award Eloise Evans, Year 12

The Hilary Williams Award for DedicationEllie Webster, Year 13, and Eva Helly-Osborne, Year 9, jointly

The Alumnae Network Award for Continued Academic Endeavour:

Kashuf Rehman, Year 9

The Alumnae Network Junior Cup for Services to the School

Katy Lohner-Benson, Year 12

The GS Blackburn Travel Award is offered to girls in Years 12 and 13 as well as alumnae up to 25 years old every two years. Applications for this year’s award would usually be invited in early 2021.

Due to the current Covid-19 situation which curtails travel, however, the RHBA Committee have elected to run the 2021 awards in due course once travel restrictions have been lifted.

Please note that the 2021 awards will be offered to the same age group as and when they take place.

We will be in touch with further details as plans develop and please be assured that we will do all we can to ensure that nobody misses out on this wonderful opportunity.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy hearing how one of our 2019 GS Blackburn Award winners got on. In July 2019

Beccy Waters (RHS 2014) participated in the Transcontinental Race. Continue overleaf to read about Beccy’s incredible adventure...

GS Blackburn Travel AwardTravel Award


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How I came last at the Transcontinental.

The Transcontinental describes itself as “the definitive bicycle race across Europe” and I can only agree. It is an annual event of approximately 4,000km with different start and finish points each year, the route from beginning to end is yours to design in advance with four checkpoints on route that you must pass through. All riders start together and the first one to the finish is the winner. It is simple in design but complicated in execution.

I write this six months since I finished in Brest, France and the past half a year has done nothing to cement the memories of the hardships, only the highlights. However, if this blog reads like a highlights reel from a summer holiday then I apologise for deceiving you. It was in fact a two-week journey of countless self-inflicted mistakes, heaps of failures with a good helping of frustration, a dollop of disappointment and garnished with a handful of rewarding moments.

The flag dropped in Burgas, Bulgaria at the end of July, however the race really started months before this. For me, this moment was in a little cafe in Kathmandu in November 2018, where I was interning for an NGO having completed a ride from London to Kathmandu in order to raise money for the NGO; Street Child. I was faced with the prospect of going back to the world of road racing I had happily left behind the year before or entering 2019 without a goal in sight. I was aware of the Transcontinental as it had grown in popularity during the previous years but I had pushed it to the

back of my mind as something reserved for the middle aged men who enjoyed extensive levels of solitude and spent hours trawling over maps in their spare time with their unkempt beards and bushy eyebrows. I now found myself entering their world as I sent off my application on a whim without giving much thought to exactly what it was I was entering, which, I should add, is highly discouraged by the organisers!

Having been accepted into the race, I spent the succeeding seven months leading up to the race plotting and replotting a 4,000km route, struggling to strike the perfect balance between well-paved roads, avoiding traffic-heavy routes, minimising elevation climbed and distance travelled with enough cities on route to find enough resupply points but not too many as to constantly slow down progress. The importance of good route planning cannot be over-stated, it is in the comfort of home with a laptop and every route-planning, road-viewing, elevation-analysing resource available to us that we are investing in our sanity later down the line. Another major part of preparation for this race is choosing the kit to take. We are fortunate to have access to a wealth of information online and I was able to design my kit list around the lists of racers from years before. This element of preparation requires another balancing act: pack too lightly and you will find yourself cold and wet on the roadside wishing you had packed some extra equipment, but over-packing brings with it the risk of carrying an item you may never use.

I found that the training leading up to the race was in fact the easiest part of preparation. I live only ten miles North of Bath and spent many a weekend doing return journeys to the Brecons, the Cambrian Mountains, London and Devon which allowed me to tick off plenty of family visits. Weekday training was mostly commuting to and from work with some strength training and HIIT sessions to spice things up and keep me injury free.

When I arrived in Burgas three days before the start, I was met with a frenzy of fellow racers at the airport, all building up their bikes and dumping their cardboard boxes, all wearing a set of clothes they would later leave in Burgas. Needless to say, this made for some fashion disasters. Cyclists are not

a fashion savvy bunch at the best of times, but when wearing clothes even we would deem worthy of disposing of, there were some serious faux pas.

The race started at 6am on a sleepy Saturday morning from this little city on the Black Sea and marked the start of a journey across a continent. Each rider carries a tracker which sends its location to a website every 10 minutes and allows friends and family to follow their loved one’s progress, racers to track other racers and the organisers to ensure each rider follows the rules and avoids any prohibited roads for safety reasons.

This meant I was able to see the fastest racers pulling away from the pack and splintering out at the front of the race. This year’s Transcontinental was the seventh edition of the race and was the first year in which a woman won the overall. Fiona Kolbinger has received enormous media attention following her victory due, not only to her race winning performance, but also to the fact this was her first ever ultra-endurance race. She arrived at the finish only 3 hours shy of the coveted sub-10 days performance. I however, finished over 6 days later, coming in 13 minutes shy of closing time and officially last place. With 265 racers at the start, only 115 made it to Brest within the 17-day limit and I was 115th.

Fiona is only one year my senior, had just graduated from a medicine degree in Germany and was about to start her first year training to be a surgeon, which left


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me with zero excuses as to why I was so slow. It is hard to overstate the impact her performance has left not only on the ultra-endurance community but the wider world of female sport. She totally debunked any preconceptions of male superiority in this discipline. Ultra-endurance is not simply a race of leg strength, but a race of the best prepared, the most resilient, the one with the most mental fortitude and perseverance and she gave no reason why a woman cannot compete against the men in these regards. Simply put, the raised the bar for an entire sex.

A massive highlight for me was summiting the first pass of the third parcours in the Dolomites at sunset where I was treated to the most phenomenal of views where I allowed myself a couple of minutes to take in the splendour of Northern Italy. I knew what was to come in the next 150km, much of which would be done in the dark, and I was happy to enjoy the final few minutes of daylight.

A massive low was one night in Croatia when I hadn’t been organised enough to book a hotel and found myself in a storm at midnight in a bus shelter. I had lucked out because the storm came so suddenly, and a bus shelter had appeared just at the perfect moment. Unfortunately, it was on the outskirts of a town and was fully lit by the street lighting which didn’t allow me to fall asleep easily. The bench in the bus shelter was as wide as my ankles made sleeping impossible. The final straw was a local woman who decided to chain smoke her cigarettes in the shelter at 1am for an hour, meaning I had a terrible sleep. The

next morning was dry and sunny which allowed me to take a quick nap behind a petrol station before entering Slovenia, but I was at the point in the race where only a full night’s sleep in my own bed could bring me back to function again.

I found a perfect negative correlation between my fatigue and self-discipline. I progressively took too many coffee stops, too many Lidl and Aldi breaks and woke up later and later. When I reached the final parcours in the French Alps I knew I was up against it to make it to Brest on time. This didn’t stop me being laissez-faire with my time management and it wasn’t until the lunchtime of the Saturday that I estimated I had 500km to do with only 40hours left before the finish closed. This was totally doable with my 20km/h average but with the relentless headwind I was facing and the prospect of riding through two nights and one day, I wasn’t excited. I made it to the final parcours, which would end at the final checkpoint in Brest, at 1am with 4

hours to go and 73km to complete. I knew the parcours was somewhat rolling and I would have put my foot down to make it in time. However, my head was bobbing with fatigue and I was falling asleep as I rode. This is a phenomenon I had read about before the race, but I hadn’t believed it possible. I pulled over onto a soft grassy verge, set a timer for 10 minutes and fell asleep for just over 9 minutes with my helmet and shoes still on. When I woke up, I felt like a completely new woman, had I hacked sleep? One look in the mirror later would confirm I definitely had not.

After 15 days, 23 hours and 47 minutes, I made it to Brest with only 13 minutes to spare before the checkpoint closed to a big welcome from my parents who had driven down from Bath with the dogs. The arrival at the end of the TCR is the biggest anti-climax! There are no spectators, fellow racers or camera crew. It was just me, my parents and the volunteers who officiate each checkpoint. Within 15 minutes I was on my way to our hotel for a three-hour sleep before we needed to leave in order to catch the ferry.

Solo adventures like this are seldom a discovery of our physical limits and are much better described as a discovery of our mental limits. They are often referred to as “journeys of self-discovery”, while I find this a total cliché, it’s not an inaccurate description.

This level of solitude inevitably leads to a deep introspection and we have no choice but to face the places of our mind that we only ever see in our darkest moments; it’s rarely pretty but totally addictive.


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RHBA Committee From the RHBA Committee

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Thanks to technology the Committee have been delighted to be able to continue their meetings on screen despite current challenges and removing geographical boundaries has

certainly presented new possibilities.

With this in mind - the Committee needs your help!

We would like to appoint two reps per decade, and pre-1998 per school, plus two additional reps covering the period of the merger as follows:

RHBA Committee Decade Representatives

RHS

2019-2028 TBC

2009-2018 TBC

1999-2008 Sarah Dix and TBC

1996-2001

Former BHS and RS TBC

BHS1989-1998

Anna Lewis and Paula Marsh

1979-1988 TBC

1969-1978 Annie Coleman and TBC

1959-1968

Alix Adams and Judith Marsham

1939-1958 Pam Gooding and TBC

RS1989-1998

TBC

1979-1988 Sallie Taylor and TBC

1969-1978 TBC

1959-1968

TBC

1939-1958 TBC

The existing committee numbers just 8 alumnae and we would love to see this number expand to ensure true representation of all generations of our school.

What does being a Decade Rep involve?

• Decade Reps are simply representatives of your year group and the year groups close in age to you, giving your generation at our school a voice and to help encourage attendance at reunions.

• There is no set time commitment – give as much or as little time as you are able. We hold one meeting each term plus an Annual Review open to all alumnae, which forms part of the main summer annual reunion. These meetings can be attended either in person (when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted) or remotely.

• After each meeting, minutes will be

sent round with some key questions to feedback on or vote on, allowing everyone to have a say.

With no official positions, other than the Chair, the committee is run on an entirely voluntary and informal basis. Here are pen profiles for some of our current committee members:

Sarah Dix (RHS 2006)

I attended RHS as a boarder from 1999 to 2006 and have a great fondness for

the school as my home for 7 years. I went on to study Veterinary Science with an intercalation in Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Bristol University. I have since been developing my role as a small animal veterinary surgeon in Somerset and have just completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Feline Practice as I have a passion for all things cat! I joined the RHBA committee in 2014 and became Chair in 2016.

Paula Marsh (neé Wade, BH 1997)

I joined Bath High School in 3 upper (soon


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to become year 7F) in 1990 and stayed until I finished Sixth Form in 1997.

Miss Winfield was my headmistress and I still remember my first meeting in her study when I came for interview and not really believing that someone that smiley could be a head teacher!

At that time the school was based on the Hope House site, with lunchtimes spent playing around the bomb crater (little did we know that there was another bomb right beneath our feet!) although by the time I reached 6th form this was based in Numbers 1&2 Lansdown Crescent which meant a hike up the hill for the teachers who often missed the start of class and arrived hot and out of breath!

The 90’s was a decade of significant change for the school - from the uniform (I started in a wool jumper and blazer, but they introduced comfortable sweatshirts when I was in Year 8 or 9), buying and selling a hotel - which we used for an art exhibition for our year’s Young Enterprise project, and culminating in the news that the year after I left (1998) we would be merging with the Royal School.

I went on to study Psychology at Warwick University, followed by an MSc in Management at Bath University and then have a career in HR mainly within the public sector but I have loved staying in touch with the school’s development through the Committee.

It is amazing to hear about some of the new opportunities and advances open to current students, but also nice to realise that some things never change.

As well as attending reunions with others from my year group I have been involved with interviews for awarding the GS Blackburn travel scholarship and can vouch

for the fact that Committee Members are warmly welcomed to the school (often with tea and cookies) and our contributions are valued.

Since the pandemic we have been getting used to being a virtual committee and this is working well - which means we can welcome decade reps who live anywhere in the world!

I still live fairly locally and get a little thrill whenever I drive up Lansdown Hill past my old school (even if it is now luxury flats) and I love feeling connected to it through my role on the committee.

Sallie Taylor (RS 1981) Poacher turned Gamekeeper

Sallie Taylor, our Director of Admissions and Marketing joined the Royal High School Bath in October 2019; but it was not for the first time. Sallie is also a Royal School alumna who joined RS in 1976.

Sallie started her RS life in Newland, and remembers that Mrs Bell was Housemistress, and Miss Funstone (who became Mrs Floyd) was Form III tutor. Her senior house was Havelock with its laundry lift, coffin (an enormous linen cupboard on which Mrs Maw the matron played patience every evening) and cubies (now dorms) with horrendous curtains.

As Sallie explains:

“There are plenty of reminders of a younger me in the building itself, for example; memories of English Lessons with the wonderful Mr Jenkins reminding us how to spell ‘argument’ by remembering that the whole point is to ‘gum up’ other people’s points of view.

Miss Jenkins (Lawrence Housemistress) who walked her cat Josie on a lead made of a pair of tights. Hours spent watching Dallas and a particular pang when thinking about sneaking down to the little TV room – now the Year 10 Common room – to watch Simple Minds on the Old Grey Whistle Test.

I pinch myself that I work in Mrs Lethbridge’s Office, and the Head’s PA now works in Miss Campbells old study … the scene of one or two motivational conversations.

Boarding schools in the seventies were unrecognisable to those of the 21st century but what never changes are the enduring friendships made. My oldest friends are RS girls – sadly we don’t see each other as much as we would like, but our connection is always there and I’m looking forward to arranging a reunion for the RS ’75-85 alumna group as soon as we are able to.

I really wasn’t sure about coming full circle and returning to the scene of the crime when I took up my new post, but can say that the joining of two forces – Bath High and RS has led to an amazing School.

Our ties with GDST make us quite unique and able to access resources and support across a network of schools who really understand the value of girls’ education and today’s school – whilst retaining so much of our shared history – is forward thinking, adaptable and a fantastic launchpad for young women of the future.”

Could this be you? Please contact [email protected] to help keep the

RHBA Committee alive and kicking!


Alumna’s eBookAlumna’s eBook Published!‘Are you ready to embark on a journey? Enter a world steeped in legend... A moon rising from a shimmering lake, A woman turned into corn by the sun, A cave that gives birth to a civilisation, A boy who cries tears of blood, A girl whose icy body is preserved for hundreds of years, A man who regularly asked his dead mother for advice And Mother Nature, whose influence reaches over everyone...’

Alumna Helen Pugh (RHS 2006) has recently published her first e-book: Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire Part 1. Telling fascinating true stories and legends about Inca goddesses and women who lived before the Spanish Conquest, many of whom lived

through challenging times, we learn that these are all women who made history but have subsequently been side-lined.

Having started Spanish at RHS in Year 7 with Ms Side, who Helen recalls really inspired her in the language, Helen went on to read Spanish at university. Helen then went to live in in Ecuador for 7 years and two half-Ecuadorian children later Helen was soon a fluent speaker. It’s clear to Helen that without this in-depth knowledge of the language, the research needed for her book just wouldn’t have been possible.

It was not however until hearing about Quispe Sisa, sister of Atahualpa, the 13th and last emperor of the Inca, that Helen became intrigued with Inca women. Atahualpa gave Quispe Sisa in marriage to the conquistador Francisco Pizarro who was ultimately Atahualpa’s downfall. Helen recounts that ‘Whilst I had heard of the two men countless times, I had only recently heard about her. The idea that the Inca emperor’s sister was forced to marry a conquistador fascinated me. I couldn’t believe that she wasn’t really famous, considering what a life she must have led.’

When then reading ‘The Incredible Incas’ by Terry Deary, Helen found herself asking ‘Where are the women?’ Whilst she found it a really good book, Helen felt Inca women and Inca goddesses deserved to have their story told as well, and so her book began.

Clearly passionate about the subject, Helen has found great joy in writing because her work is historical. She describes the

excitement of finding new information about one of the women she is researching, perhaps uncovering a juicy bit of information that sheds a lot of light onto her life. Or there is the excitement of coming up with an interesting angle or insight into one of the women in the book or the theme as a whole. When asked, however, if she herself would like to have lived in the past, Helen answers ‘No not at all, reading historical books for me is partly to practice gratitude. I am so grateful for having modern medicine, modern commodities, birth control, social progress, the list goes on and on.

The women in my book had really difficult lives and most of them weren’t impoverished, so imagine how much worse it was for those that went hungry, did back breaking work every day all day, had to go down the mines and so on, especially after the Spanish conquest. Incas had a rule that people weren’t allowed to starve, so after the conquest things did get really hard for women, especially the ones that were living in poverty.’

So, what next? Part 2 of Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire is in the pipeline which is set to tell the story of Quispe Sisa with inspiring stories of other Inca women who lived during and after the Spanish conquest.

In the meantime, Part 1 is available for download at Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and Apple Books. It can also be read online at scribd.com. Helen can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/intrepid.dudettes/

Over half term Senior School students were delighted to have the opportunity to join a three-day online poetry workshop with The Company of Poets.

The virtual camp was open to any budding writers in Year 9 and above, from those new to flexing their creative muscles, to committed poets looking to hone their art. The workshops were designed exclusively

for RHS students by alumnae Jane-Anne Hodgson (BH 1982) and Anne Holloway (BH 1982) and their colleague Chris McLoughlin.

Collectively these three comprise The

Company of Poets: professional writers who have been delivering workshops and creative writing sessions individually for over a decade and have joined forces to devise a series of workshops which offer a ‘tool kit’

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Poetry Camp


for young people wanting to develop their poetry craft.

Boasting between them an extraordinary array of writing, performing, publishing and editing experience across the creative arts, this was a fabulous opportunity for the girls. Here, Amelia, Year 10, tells us about the online Poetry Camp:

We experimented with many different forms of poetry, and learned lots of new ways to express ourselves through our writing. The amazing Company of Poets, Jane-Anne Hodgson , Anne Holloway and Chris Mcloughlin – taught us a lot of valuable poetry skills, from how to live the life of a poet, to how to get your work seen and heard.

They were incredibly friendly and helpful and we all benefited so much from the personalised advice and feedback from the three poets, each with their own individual expertise and experiences in the world of words and publishing.

The course gave us all a lot of confidence to write more and to share our ideas and poems with others. It was a brilliant three days and I have learned so much from them, including tips and comments which I will always remember!

Jane-Anne adds: We condensed a 5 day course into a 3 day ‘boot camp’ over half-term – it required a lot of energy and focus from the girls who took part: they were full of enthusiasm and clearly, they all had a genuine commitment to their writing.

We were delighted by their hard-working attitude and their willingness to dig deep within themselves to explore and share emotions, memories and the thoughts and feelings we all usually keep hidden!

They boldly experimented with new ways of writing and produced some very interesting poetry – full of original ideas and arresting imagery. It was a huge pleasure to work with them.

Many thanks to Jane and Anne for inviting RHS students to take part in The Company of Poets’ pilot initiative; we wish you every success with it.

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This year has been like no other, full of uncertainty and change, and girls of Royal High School Bath joined students across the UK in facing many challenges during lockdown – none more so than the Year 13 students.

During lockdown, RHS Sixth Formers recognised the uncertainty surrounding their exam results and almost everyone took part in the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) Limitless Learning courses.

In addition, a remarkable 50% of A Level students also completed an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) which involved research skills and high levels of independent learning – ideal preparation for university life.

We are very proud of the girls examination results with over 55% of this year’s IB cohort achieving over 40 points out of a possible 45 with an average point score of 37 points compared to the global average of 30

points. At A-level 95.7% achieved A*-C and 61.7% of the cohort gained all A*-As.

77% of 2020’s Year 13 leavers have gone on to attend UK Universities with two thirds of these girls attending Russell Group institutions and just shy of 40% of the cohort are studying STEM subjects; this rises to 45% when medical courses are included.

Meanwhile others have embarked on art foundation courses and gap year

adventures/employment to expand their horizons and one student has undertaken a Marine Cadetship.

We all wish each and every one of you the best of luck in the next stage of your journey and extend to you a very warm welcome to our Alumnae Network.

Keep in touch and we look forward to seeing you for your Leavers’ Celebrations in June 2021.

Welcome to the Class of 2020

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2020: An Extraordinary Year but a chance to reflect

There is no doubt that the global COVID-19 pandemic has affected everybody one way or another. Whilst everybody’s personal experiences seem to differ so greatly, one common thread, however, has been that of reflection as demonstrated by Jayne Webb who recently contacted the school.

Jayne is neither former parent, former staff nor alumna but the generosity of spirit and community-mindedness exhibited by the fund-raising efforts of Royal School girls in the 80s, led by RS alumna Josie Seydel, for her son, David, has clearly left a lasting impression. Jayne writes:

“Lockdown has had its difficult times and its oddly interesting times; it’s enabled me to reconnect with things I have not had a chance to think about for a while but have never forgotten. So finding this cutting and letter from The Royal School Bath was a joy to come across.

Josie Seydel, a student at the Royal School in 1988, nominated my son, David Webb, for the students to raise money for, to help send him to Hungary to attend the Peto Institute in Budapest for therapy. David has

a condition called Cerebral Palsy, which affects all four of his limbs. We were invited to the school to meet all the students and teachers and he had such a lovely time meeting every one that he actually told me on the way home before he fell asleep in the car, ‘I want to go to school there’!

With apologies to all the students he can’t remember the names of besides Josie; David is very grateful and he does remember the day, the gift and that you raised a lot of money to help fund his treatment, and that goes for me too.

The gift of a wooden toy of three pecking hens has to have been one of the most considerate, well thought about and appropriate presents he has ever received, and he still has it.

It is amazing how something you do today, has an impact and is valued highly for many years thereafter.

David had to endure separation from his Dad, brother, Nan and his schoolteachers and friends for between 16 and 20 weeks a year for nearly five years. Unfortunately, although David tried extremely hard the therapy did not work for him.

In England, he had an operation that did not go as planned and he lost the ability to weight bare, which was very sad and difficult.

However, all through his treatment we kept up with his schoolwork and encouraged him as much as possible. David did well in his exams (except in Maths which he frequently reminds me) and chose to attend Swansea University (after having me tour the UK!) to do his BA Degree, which he passed.

So then we toured the UK again looking at different Universities for David’s MA, which he went on to pass at Swansea University. You are going to guess the next bit; yes, we went touring yet again for his PhD and where did he pass that? At Swansea!

I would not have wanted it any other way;

you have to be sure and follow your dreams. I know David would have liked to go to an American University but logistically it was not possible, although as you can imagine I did try all the avenues as they say.

Out of the 12 Universities he applied to, to do the three courses, only two did not offer him a place. So now, he is a Dr of Philosophy and trying to get a book published. Routledge, the publishers, have shown an interest so fingers crossed!

An enormous thank you to everybody involved at the time and I hope you all have succeeded in what you have worked for. For the staff and students at the Royal High School now, work hard and enjoy it because now is the start of your future. I wish you all well.

Kindest regards and a big hug, Jayne and Doc D who has his head in a book.

We talk a lot about RHS spirit and it’s lovely to think that all the students do today to help others, whether it be making face masks for their local community or running marathons on treadmills to raise money for charity, they do in the footsteps of the Royal School and Bath High girls who went before them.


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Alumnae News

Ali Mottram and Lynda Bevan retire Ali Mottram and Lynda Bevan retire with a combined service of 51 years!

School communities are so much more than the buildings they are housed in, the facilities shared and even the subjects studied – our RHS community in particular is rich and diverse and entirely unique because of all the people who are part of it. The girls, their parents, our neighbours, governors and of course our staff – each of whom contributes in their own way.

At the end of the last half of term, we said farewell to two really special individuals – Lynda Bevan latterly our Registrar, and former Head of Bath High Junior School who has been with the School for 23 years,

and Ali Mottram who has been the Head’s PA, Clerk to the Governors and friend to so many of us for 28 years.

A socially distant Staff Meeting was held in the Sports Hall, also streamed and recorded for those not able to be present, and all present listened to both Ali and Lynda talk of their careers and the special place that RHS is. Students, fellow staff, former Heads and so many alumnae sent video messages and tributes – an edited highlights reel was shown at the time and the Director’s Cut with every message was sent to both ‘retirees’ after the presentation.

Ali is looking forward to painting and tending to her garden – a constant passion, but something she now has the time and energy to develop - and Lynda will retain her ties with the School as she becomes a Governor.

Kate Reynolds, Head said of both Ali and Lynda: “These two astonishing individuals really exemplify service and have given so generously of their time and energy to Royal High School Bath, and we value the opportunity to be able to follow their example. Both have promised to remain in

touch with the School, and Lynda’s new role as Governor ensures her inimitable spirit and enthusiasm for the School will continue.”

Ali is succeeded in her post by Becca Prutton who has been at RHS for three years as Curriculum Admin Assistant, and Emma Symonds joined the School in August to take over the reins as Registrar from Lynda.

Huge thanks to all those alumnae and former staff who despite current restrictions helped give Lynda and Ali a right Royal send off!

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Events

Whilst we are very sadly unable to welcome you to school for reunions, tours and visits, we are working on a varied calendar of

events for when we are!

The calendar will include school events, to which all alumnae are welcome, as well as alumnae events built around three annual

reunions:

• December Pre Christmas Drinks for our younger alumnae

• A Spring event to be held in London at the Steinway Hall for different decade reunion groups on a rotational basis

• The main annual alumnae reunion and Summer Music Festival held at RHS towards the end of the summer term

We also look forward to again being able to welcome small groups to school, by appointment, for a tour of old haunts as part of any

smaller class reunions you wish to arrange.

We were delighted to catch up online with alumnae from the 2019 and 2020 cohorts. It wasn’t quite the same as meeting for our usual glass of prosecco, but lovely to re-connect, reminisce and hear how everybody has fared in this most extraordinary of years.

We were joined Mr Hayward, Mrs Taylor, Lu Scott, Mme Daguenet, M White, Mrs Bolan, Mrs Williams, Mr Treacher and Christian who caught up with the alumnae following a warm welcome and introduction from the Head, Mrs Reynolds.

Huge thanks to the alumnae who joined us and thank you for being our online reunion Guinea pigs! In the absence of face to face reunions we look forward to arranging another online reunion soon for other cohorts – watch this space for further details!

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It will come as no surprise that families not only of RHS students but also of students across the GDST have had very differing experiences throughout what will undoubtedly be remembered as an extraordinary year.

For some this had meant financial hardship as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The GDST has always reinvested all of its income into advancing the education of its students and therefore decided to transfer any operational savings they are able to make – and more – into the Centenary hardship fund to make more provision for those who need it most.

The scheme has proved successful in helping a significant number of families over the 2020 summer and autumn terms.

The intention is to continue it into the spring term 2021.

If you would like to donate any amount to the fund please visit:

www.bit.ly/GDSTbursary

Thank you for helping GDST achieve its charitable aim

of reaching as many students as possible.

Our Friendship Fund remains to provide a little TLC to any alumnae or former staff who may need a little cheering up. For example, flowers and cards are sent to those who have experienced a bereavement or have gone through a period of illness, offering a hand of friendship at difficult times.

If you feel that someone would be an appropriate recipient, you can let us now at any time of the year. To do please simply email Francesca Orr: [email protected]

The Fund is entirely dependent on donations from our old girls and many have been very generous over the years. If you would like to

donate to the Friendship Fund, please send a cheque made payable to The Royal High School to the school address, clearly marked that it is specifically for the Friendship Fund.

Alternatively email Francesca Orr: [email protected] to obtain online banking details.

The The FriendshipFriendship

FundFund

Giving

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GDST Hardship Fund

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Dress it Forward is backThis year’s collection for ‘prom’ dresses and suits for students in disadvantaged communities around Cape Town has begun.

In a part of the world where poverty is rife, few teens reach their final year of High School and for those that do the graduation ball is the most important day of their lives.

With the assistance of one of our Year 13 students, Molly Williams, alumna Claire Short (neé Titley, RS 1998) is again collecting unwanted evening dresses to take out to South Africa in 2021 so that those who can’t afford a dress can go to their own prom.

If you feel inspired to look in your wardrobe and find something to donate, please simply post or deliver your dresses and suits to:

Dress It Forward, Royal High School Bath, Lansdown Road, Bath BA1 5SZ.

Please could all donations be received no later than Friday 8th January 2021.

If you don’t have a dress or suit to donate, you can also donate and these donations can be used to pay for transport costs to South Africa.

Any funds raised over and above transport costs will go towards funding hairdressing and make-up for students who would otherwise not be able to afford it.

For further information and news about Dress It Forward

or to donate please visit: Dress It Forward.

Friends of RHS are registered with www.easyfundraising.org.uk

This is an entirely free service that allows you to shop directly at your favourite online stores via the links on the www.easyfundraising.org.uk and, at the same time, raise a donation for our school without costing you a penny more!

With Christmas not far away and online shopping on the rise, together we could raise a huge amount of money. Other schools have raised anything from £100 to over £1000 in just a year, and all it takes you is just one extra click!

Getting started is so easy, simply follow the following instructions:

1. Visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk and search for ‘Friends of the Royal High School Bath’

2. Set up an account and choose the Friends as the charity you want to donate to.

3. Next time you want to buy something online, remember to visit the www.easyfundraising.org.uk and search for the name of the store you’re interested in (e.g. Amazon)

4. Click on the link for that store and continue shopping as normal

5. The store you purchase from will give a

commission to easyfundraising, which is then passed on to us as a donation. The commission and subsequent donation can be up to 15% of the purchase price!

To make it even easier to remember to use this tool, you can do the following:

• Download the Donation Reminder on your laptop or PC so you will never forget to collect a FREE donation.

• Use the easyfundraising App on your mobile phone, iPad or tablet.

Please do use this tool as much as you can - thank you so much in advance!


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Mary Mason Jones (née Moffatt, RS c.1936-1942)Dr Mary Mason Jones, who has died at 96, was a medical officer whose work on the menopause inspired the creation of the hormone

replacement therapy clinic at the Leeds General Infirmary.

Born on Christmas Day in 1923 in Bareilly, India, while her father was serving with the Indian Army, she won a scholarship to the Royal School, Bath, where she captained the hockey and cricket teams and played Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

She grew up separated for long periods from her parents, who were still in India, and lost her brother, David, an RAF pilot, on Malta during the war.

After service with the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the Army, she studied at the London School of Economics, and placed second in her first-year exams out of 400 students. She spent her 1946 summer holiday as a volunteer on the Yugoslav Youth

Railway project, and left LSE after a year to pursue a career in medicine, starting at the Medical School of the London Hospital (now the Royal London) in 1947.

After qualifying in 1952, she moved North to take up her first house appointment at St James’s Hospital, and married Denis, a Leeds architect, in 1954. They were together for 56 years.

In 1958 she was awarded the Diploma of Psychological Medicine, sitting the exam while her week-old daughter was in the care of the St James’s maternity ward. She was subsequently appointed medical officer to the children’s home at Bramhope.

In 1972 Professor Christopher Nordin invited her to join the menopause research unit at the Leeds Infirmary, and her work there was the inspiration for her long-running – and for many women, life-changing – hormone clinic.

It sparked her interest in osteoporosis and her membership of the National Osteoporosis Society, and for many years she raised money for bone scanners, shaking tins at the entrance to Sainsbury’s and Morrisons. She was vice-president of the Leeds branch from 1989 and its

chair from 1995 until she retired in 2002.

She is survived by four children, nine grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

(from The Yorkshire Post, July 2020)

Anthony “Tony” Stickler (former Head of MFL, RS)Dearly beloved husband of Valerie, wonderful father to Andrew and Jane and special grampy to Alex, Elly and Poppy. Passed away

peacefully on 18 July 2020, aged 86 years. Formerly head of modern languages at Royal School in Bath. Will be greatly missed. A private funeral was held on Monday, 3 August at Haycombe Crematorium.

Rosemarie Philipps (née Evans, BH 1938-1952)Rosemarie Philipps (née Evans, BH 1938-1952). It is with sadness that we report that Rosemarie died peacefully after a short illness

(not Covid-19) at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon in April 2020. Following her time at school, she qualified as a teacher in Home Economics. She married John in 1958 and they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2018.

After a spell living abroad in the 1960s, she and John moved to Swindon where she became head of Home Economics at a local school as well as a Chief Examiner in the 1980s. She retired in 1996 and as well as travelling she continued her involvement with the local

community, in particular the Great Western Hospital where she was an elected governor.

She suddenly became blind in 2004 and she was an active campaigner for the RNIB in the South West. Following a series of successful treatments, she regained her sight. She always spoke up for those who were blind or partially sighted and recently she devised a ‘white

board’ for behind hospital beds.

This ‘white board’ shows clearly whether someone had eye problems, hearing problems, frequently fell or and memory problems. It has been adopted throughout the Great Western Hospital and she appeared on Points West (the local BBC new programme) in February this

year to raise awareness.

She will be missed by all who knew her. She is survived by her husband and daughter.

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Obituaries

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Sheila J Hill (née Moore, BH 1945-1955)On 29th December 2019 from a ruptured aorta. Sheila was born on the 31st March 1937 in Bath and lived at the time at 1, Old Newbridge Hill, Bath attending Bath High School form the ages of 7 to 18 years. She then went on to Bristol University where she met her husband, Dr

Graham Hill. They were married in Bath in 1962 and would have had their 58th anniversary on the 24th March.

Marion Campbell (née Rawdon, BH 1959)Died on 20 June 2019 after a diagnosis of bile duct cancer just 5 weeks before. As she

wished, she died in her own bed at her home in Wandsworth where she had lived for 40 years. Following a sudden diagnosis and despite the onset of Alzheimers, Marion was able to opt out of surgery and treatment preferring instead to go home. She received pallative care

from Royal Trinity Hospice nurses during her last fortnight.

A funeral was on 2 July 2019 in Putney after which alumna Sally Campbell (neé Chiveres, BH 1950-1960) and her husband scattered Marion’s ashes in the sea from Arran.

Gillian Sunderland (née Bishop, BH 1950)Died from cancer in Spring 2019. After leaving Bath High School, Gillian then qualified as a music teacher at the Surrey School of Music and

gained the ASRCM diploma. During the 1950s she taught music at schools in Llanfairfechan and Keswick. She then moved to Kent where she helped to start the Medway Youth Orchestra and ran an orchestra in Maidstone prison. In 1969 she moved to Coventry where she taught

instrumental music in various schools until retirement.

Alison Braithwaite (née Burly, BH 1951-1957) Died 2019. Alison was a Boarder, who attended Bath High with her younger sister and cousins, Patricia and Madeline Robertson, and was also a hockey player and was the goal keeper for the 1st XI. On leaving school, Burly trained as an infant teacher and worked in London

for a number of years. Later she bought a house in Kendal, Cumbria where she lived for the rest of her life. She was very good at keeping in touch with people and returned to Bath High on many occasions and was also a very good godmother counting at least 2 Old Girl’s

daughters amongst her numerous god children.

Though Alison never married or had children of her own she was very close to her wider family and several Bath high OGs were able to attend her funeral in Kendal which was a splendid celebration of her life.

Anne Boulton (née Rayner, BH 1948-1955)Died October 2018. Anne travelled in to school every day on the service bus from Keynsham and belonged to the School Guide Company

enjoying the summer camps at Charmouth. She was a Prefect in the VI form and was an excellent sportswoman representing the School in hockey, netball and tennis. It therefore came as no surprise that she followed this by training at a PE college and became a PE teacher. She married Tony in the 1960’s and they moved to Bitton. They had two children, David and Rachel, and Rachel attended Bath High when Miss

Chapman was the Head. Sadly, Anne developed Alzheimer’s and had to move to a care home where Tony visited her every day.

Margaret de Jong (née Taylor, BH 1950). Died August 2019. Margaret was Head Girl and lived in Saltford. When her mother sadly died, she endowed a prize in her memory – the Lily Sarah Taylor Prize for Domestic Science. Margaret became a teacher and went to New Zealand.

Widowed young, she later returning to the family home in Saltford.

Juliet Brooks (neé Prior, BH 1946-1953)Died August 2019. Juliet was very active until only a few months before her death from an unexpected diagnosis of a brain tumour. She was living in Abingdon and continued to read with the children at the local primary school until May 2019. Juliet was an active member of many local choirs in Oxford and Abingdon, and the singing at her funeral was breath-taking as the congregation was filled with singers. Juliet was

very proud of her studies in Biology at Homerton and with the Open University and continued to take an interest in plants all her life. An avid tennis player, her tennis racquet found a new lease of life after their move to Abingdon in 2010, where she played twice a week until 2018.

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Graeme Preedy (Director of Art and Aesthetics at RHS)It was with great sadness that we heard in early September that Mr Graeme Preedy had died. He had been unwell for a short time; his death was not Covid related. Graeme had worked at Royal High School for twenty years and was a hugely popular and inspirational Head of

Department as well as a much loved Sixth Form Tutor.

There are so many students and staff who will remember him with fondness, and particularly those who kept in touch with the Art Department and attended the annual Art Shows each summer. A small private funeral was held in late September at Haycombe Crematrium and a

memorial for Graeme is planned for a later date.

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Social Media

Join Our Join Our ONLINE Community!ONLINE Community!We use social media to send out news, event information, post photos and help connect friends throughout the year.

Please do join our ever-growing social media community by:

• ‘liking’ the ‘Royal High School Alumnae’ page on Facebook

• Connecting with us on LinkedIn – search for ‘Royal High Bath Alumnae’. There are over 800 RHS alumnae are

members of the RHS alumnae LinkedIn network!

Contact DetailsContact Details

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Susan Paterson (née May, BH 1957)I still live with my husband Neil in Leicestershire where we have been

in the same house for 47 years. Though long retired we are still active, travel widely and spend a lot of time gardening. We have 4

children and 8 grandchildren and last year we celebrated our Golden Wedding. I look back with gratitude and pleasure to my days at Bath

High School. I have always regarded Miss Blackburn as a very fine woman. One of her legacies for which I have always been grateful is

the sense that nothing was closed to me because I was a woman.

Chloe Pinder (RHS 2015)I have been studying for an MSc in Human Nutrition since last

September, up in Sheffield, which has been fantastic. This coming September I’m due to start on a placement/internship with the

British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association, who are based at the University of Bath - so I’ll be back down South then. I’m just working towards building my professional portfolio in order to apply for full registration as a nutritionist, hopefully specialising in the sports side

of things as soon as possible.

Charlotte Laurent (RHS 2018)I’m just about to enter my final year of Biochemistry at Imperial

College London and have been doing a remote summer internship at UCL looking at the mechanisms of gene expression during

neuronal development in mice! I am applying for Masters degrees in Biochemistry and/or structural biology fields at Imperial and UCL and hope to do a PhD thereafter. I really miss Royal High and I still think

of all my teachers often!

Anastasia Zakharova (RHS 2018)I am currently in my final year of a Law degree at the University of Leeds. I intend to start my postgraduate degree with a Corporate

Law specialism in September 2021 and am hopeful about securing a training contract with an international city law firm this summer.

This October I co-founded an online platform – Sustainability Speaks (sustainabilityspeaks.co.uk) – and in the space of 6-weeks we have grown to a team of eight content creators! On this platform we aim to spread awareness about sustainability through collaborations with

university societies, other universities such as UCL and local SMEs.

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Catch up Corner

Email [email protected]

Tel 01225 313877

Post Francesca Orr, Alumnae and Community Liaison Officer,

Royal High School Bath, Lansdown Road, Bath, BA1 5SZ, UK

Welcome from the Head - Login - Royal High School Bath

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