connect july 2015

CONNECTFriends of NGHS Magazine

Issue 8 July 2015

Cover image: The school from the Arboretum in 1935

Inside cover: The school from the fi eld in 1984

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for our up to date news, full events calendar and much more. Join our online groups on Facebook and Twitt er:

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happy occasion. In the Autumn term, we begin celebrati ons for our 140th anniversary. The fi rst event will be our reunion on Saturday 7 November, so we hope to see you then.

I do hope that you enjoy reading this issue of Connect - huge thanks to all who contributed their stories. If you would be interested in writi ng a piece for a future editi on, please do get in touch with us as we’d love to hear from you.

Yours sincerely

Sue GorhamHead

Keep in touchThere are many ways in which you can keep in touch with us.Email: [email protected]: 0115 941 7663See the website at notti nghamgirlshigh.gdst.net

WelcomeWelcome to the eighth editi on of Connect, our Friends of NGHS magazine. It is hard to believe that we are now into our Summer term and it has certainly been a busy few months since our last issue.

We’ve seen fabulous producti ons of both ‘Dracula’ and ‘Wizard of Oz’, which saw all of the cast and crew put in countless hours of hard work - perhaps a very fi tti ng reminder of why we have worked so hard on the campaign for our new Performing Arts Centre. We welcomed the contractors, Balfour Beatt y, on site in March and we are extremely excited to see the building progress. I’m also delighted to tell you that the new centre will be named The Squire Performing Arts Centre (The SPACe). This is in recogniti on of the support of Rosemary Squire, OBE, who is the Chair of the Development Board of our ‘Raise the Curtain’ campaign. Rosemary is co-founder and joint CEO of the Ambassador Theatre Group, and as an alumna of the school she is proud of her Notti ngham roots and has been unswerving in her support.

Earlier this year we also held our third Careers Fair, and it was encouraging to see so many of our students in att endance with their parents. We welcomed over 40 exhibitors representi ng many and varied career opportuniti es, training prospects and Higher Educati on insti tuti ons. There were even a few NGHS ‘old girls’ here as exhibitors, and it was great to see them passing on their experience and knowledge to the current girls! Thank you to everyone involved.

In April we welcomed back over 130 of our alumnae and former staff to the school for the Spring Lunch reunion, which was a lovely and

for our up to date news, full events calendar Keep in touch

4

School NewsDRACULA Our Drama department put on a spectacular and atmospheric showing of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ over three nights in January. The girls worked really hard to make this such a successful play, setting the haunting scene with minimal props, thus relying on their acting skills to create a truly memorable performance of this classic. The audience were incredibly appreciative and impressed with the overall result - well done to everyone involved!

Kamp Vught and the Corrie ten Boom House among other significant places. Everyone had a great time, and the girls behaved impeccably…even when there were some last minute changes to the return journey!

WIZARD OF OZ This year’s musical production was The Wizard of Oz. Lots of girls were involved, from Years 6 to 13, and they put on a spectacular show! The set was fantastic and colourful, and provided the backdrop for some wonderfully talented singers, actors, acrobats and musicians. The cast and crew worked tirelessly, performing over four nights, the first of which was a special gala night celebrating the start of construction on The SPACe. Well done to everyone involved in making the show such a success!

AMSTERDAM TRIP Our RS department ran a trip to Amsterdam in February half term. This was an insightful and moving trip, taking in the Anne Frank House,


CAREERS FAIR In March, we held our third Careers Fair. Over 40 exhibitors from various industries came along to talk to girls from Year 9 to 13, and their parents, about career opportunities, training prospects and Higher Education. Exhibitors included Boots plc, Freeths LLP, Rolls-Royce plc, Balfour Beatty, Gleeds, PKF Cooper Parry, Browne Jacobson, the Armed Forces, and various top universities, including Oxford and Cambridge. Thanks to everyone involved for making the event such a success, including the alumnae who attended as exhibitors!

OUTDOOR LEARNINGOur new Outdoor Learning Area is now up and running, complete with an obstacle course and fire pit - ‘Fire Pit Fridays’ are already a firm favourite! An outer wall of the Sports Hall has also been transformed into a climbing wall, which is a huge success with girls from Year 4 upwards, and it’s really encouraging to see so many girls enjoying the great outdoors.

SPORTS AWARDS In April we held our first Sports Awards Evening, where we were joined by over 300 girls and parents for a thoroughly enjoyable night as we congratulated and recognised the many students who are involved in our sports teams. Jo Jackson, Olympic swimmer, came along to present the awards. Congratulations to all involved in what will surely be the first of many celebrations of sport here at NGHS!

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YIFEI PAINTER, YEAR 12 Congratulati ons to Yifei, current Year 12 student, who beat off competi ti on from more than 2,000 students to win the TARGETjobs Nati onal Schools’ Challenge 2015, a competi ti on which identi fi es young people with leadership skills. Yifei says she’s thrilled to have won, taking away prizes of £1000 for the school, and £500 for herself. “Fellow students who took part were tough competi ti on but everyone at my school was really supporti ve, and I think everyone involved gained really valuable experience from it.” The school is extremely proud of Yifei’s achievements and NGHS Head, Sue Gorham, said “There’s a really high calibre of students who take part in the challenge so it is no small accomplishment. Yifei is a really dedicated student and there’s nothing she can’t do when she puts her mind to it. The competi ti on has given her invaluable practi ce and fi rst-hand experience of the recruitment process and business world that will stand her in strong stead for the future.”

Selena is one of the few elite set of engineering students who have been awarded the presti gious award as the IET and its partners invest a further £1.2m in the UK’s up and coming engineering talent over the next fi ve years to tackle the lack of female engineers.

The scholarship will provide Selena with at least £1000 per academic year, and she will also benefi t from mentoring and work experience placements through the IET’s extensive networks, in an att empt to close the ever growing skills gap which has increased for the ninth year running.

This year, sixty-nine scholarships have been awarded to students who started either a Masters or an Undergraduate engineering degree at a UK based university in the autumn of 2014, and nearly half of these have been awarded to female candidates (42%), up from just 19% of scholarships which were given to female applicants last year. Currently, just 6% of the UK’s engineering work force is female.

William Webb, IET President commented: “The number of women in the engineering work force is appallingly low, so we are really pleased that so many young women are making use of the fi nancial help that is available via our scholarships."

Congratulati ons Selena - we wish you all the best as you embark on your career in engineering!

SELENA DENG, CLASS OF 2014 - DIAMOND JUBILEE SCHOLARSHIP FROM THE IETCongratulati ons to Class of 2014 alumna, Selena Deng, who has been awarded the Diamond Jubilee Scholarship from the Insti tuti on of Engineering and Technology (IET).

We are conscious that there are many alumnae with whom we have lost touch. We are keen to re-engage, involve and communicate with as many alumnae as possible and would urge you to let your networks know about us. If you know of friends and contacts who do not hear from us, please encourage them to get in touch and leave us their details in order for us to update the database.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

We want Connect to be a vibrant magazine, refl ecti ng all of the amazing things that our alumnae are involved in - but we cannot do this without you!

Please visit our Facebook page and get involved. FriendsofNGHS


MEURIG OWEN THOMAS1 November 1934 – 22 April 2015

Meurig was born at Tan y Bryn farm in Llanarmon yn Ial, Denbighshire, the youngest of five children of Gwylim and Eleanor. He had a brother, John, twin sisters, Gwennie and Lilian, and a sister, Brenda. He was educated at Graianrhyd Council School. Aged ten years, he gained a scholarship to Brynhyfryd County Grammar School where he passed his School Certificate at fourteen. His father died of a heart attack in 1950 and after the sale of the family farm, Meurig moved to Widnes where he completed his A Level studies at Wade Deacon Grammar School. He was only seventeen when he went to study Physics at the University of Wales in Bangor, graduating in 1955. Teacher Training followed. It was as a third year student at Bangor that Meurig met Merle (second year English) and they married in March 1959. Their son, Vaughan, was born in 1966.

Meurig joined the RAF in 1956 and was granted a permanent commission in 1958. He had a long and distinguished teaching career within the RAF attaining the rank of squadron leader. He had postings to several bases but most time was spent at Cranwell. During his RAF days he gained an MSc from Southampton (1965) and an MEd from Nottingham (1972). He left the RAF in 1985 to be Head of Physics at Nottingham Girls’ High School. He “retired” in 1995 but then taught briefly at Kings School Grantham, and then until 1999 at Leicester Grammar School. He was an A Level Moderator in Electronics until 2009. Meurig joined the Doctorate in Education programme at Lincoln University in 1998. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 2002.

Meurig and Merle had many interests. They shared a great love of Scotties, particularly their own dogs, Jock, followed by Jamie. They loved cruising, enjoying visiting places, lectures and entertainment on board and, perhaps most of all, meeting and talking to fellow passengers.

After settling in Harlaxton, Meurig became a school governor and, along with Merle, was actively involved in the local Parish Church. Meurig also maintained his links with the RAF, regularly attending meetings, dinners and concerts. He was also Chairman of the NGHS Former Staff Association.

Meurig suffered a heart attack in 2010 and was diagnosed with cancer in 2011. Throughout his ongoing treatments, he continued to live an active life with his usual zest and enthusiasm. He was a devoted and supportive husband and father; a good friend and colleague; a gifted teacher; a kind and hospitable man. He was never slow to express an opinion, but always with good humour. He will be greatly missed, but remembered with respect and much affection.

In Memoriam

8

Performing Arts CentreWE’RE BREAKING GROUNDThe vision is now a reality. Construction has begun on this fantastic new Performing Arts Centre for NGHS.

Our construction team, Balfour Beatty, have the skills, experience and know-how to deliver this exciting new resource for the school.

The build is scheduled to take approximately 18 months, so we’re looking forward to its completion in the autumn of 2016.

FACILITIES THE SPACE WILL PROVIDEIt will feature a flexible 345 seat performance space, orchestra pit and large floor lift to provide multi-purpose use, music rehearsal and theory rooms, dressing rooms, ballet barres, professional lighting, control rooms with professional mixing desks and multi-use acoustic design for spoken word and musical performances.

PRESS LAUNCHAt a press launch in March, surrounded by our very own munchkins from our production of the Wizard of Oz, Rosemary proudly announced that the new centre was to be named The Squire Performing Arts Centre (The SPACe) in recognition of her support for the fundraising campaign.

Fellow alumnae Jenny Farr, MBE and Dame Stella Rimington, former Director of MI5, are also involved in the project. Dame Stella is a member of the Development Board and Patron of fundraising campaign and Jenny will have a large rehearsal room named after her.

Nottingham Philanthropist, Sir Harry Djanogly, has lent his full support to the project. The SPACe’s main auditorium will be named in honour of his wife, Lady Carol Djanogly. Generous support from The Garfield Weston Foundation will be recognised with the naming of The SPACe’s 75-seat studio theatre.

As you will know, the GDST are supporting this multi-million pound project for the school, but NGHS has been tasked with raising £1.5m towards the build costs. With the generous support of our ‘Raise the Curtain’ Development Board, alumnae, parents, girls and friends of NGHS we have raised over £1.3m to date. A huge thank you to all of you who have supported our fundraising campaign and got us to this point.

Our Chair of the Development Board, Rosemary Squire OBE, co-founder and joint CEO of the Ambassador Theatre Group, has spearheaded the campaign. As an alumna, she is proud of her Nottingham roots and has been unswerving in her support of the school and the ‘Raise the Curtain’ campaign.


As well as performance facilities The SPACe will be used to give students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, learning the skills of professional theatre technicians such as lighting, sound recording, box office and back stage.

HOW CAN WE RAISE £200,000 AND REACH OUR FUNDRAISING TARGET?Support the Donor tree!

Join many other alumnae, parents, girls and friends of the school and buy a leaf on the tree.

Not only will it create a stunning piece of artwork in the new Performing Arts Centre when it is built, but the donor tree has fantastic potential to raise the £200,000 we need to reach our fundraising target of £1.5m.

Alumnae have been very keen to get involved - buying a leaf on our beautiful donor tree. The leaves celebrate their time at NGHS, or are donated in the memory of a loved one. We also have groups of former classmates getting together, such as the ‘O Level Group of 1986’ who now have a lovely inscribed silver leaf on the tree. The leaves are all engraved and

displayed on the donor tree in perpetuity - a lasting testament to the generosity of all our supporters. The donor tree will take pride of place in the new Performing Arts Centre when it has been completed.

If you would like to support the donor tree, either as an individual or as a group, there are 3 different leaves to choose from:

Leaf type Bronze £150

Silver £300

Gold £450

Gold Super-leaf £10,000

Add an extra 25% to your gift, at no extra cost to you!

Our lovely catering staff got together and bought a bronze leaf.

How do I buy a leaf on the tree?Decide on the colour of your leaf, then click on the Performing Arts tab on our website www.nottinghamgirlshigh.gdst.net and follow the link to the Donor Tree and complete the online form - don’t forget to tick the Gift Aid box to maximize your donation! Once you have made your donation, we will contact you to discuss what you would like engraved on your leaf.

Thank you for your support.

10

The girls’ last day is always memorable, colourful and lots of fun! This year it was something of an emergency - sirens blaring, lights flashing and Arboretum Street crawling with cops, robbers, fire and rescue folk and a whole array of interesting props!

Passing drivers and girls from younger year groups stopped at the real life traffic lights, negotiated the human road cones, evaded the speed cameras and, if they were lucky, escaped a soaking by the fire extinguisher!

The costumes were brilliant, spirits were high and the whole thing was a lot of fun. Leaving the crime scene, the girls then headed to the Dining Hall for some restorative breakfast before the traditional group photos on the courts. The final assembly was, as ever, a mixture of laughter at shared memories and the staff video, and tears at the realisation of what they were leaving behind.

Good bye and good luck in your exams Year 13, and best wishes for whatever the future holds.

Class of 2015 Leavers

12

Alumnae EventsSPRING LUNCHOn Saturday 25 April, we welcomed back over 130 alumnae and former staff to the school for the annual Spring Lunch reunion. Many visitors had not been back to the school since leaving, so it was wonderful to be able to show them around and to hear their stories of their time at NGHS. We had 50 leavers from the Class of 1995 with us - thanks to Lizzie Huckle for rallying everyone! - and 29 from the Class of 1967, thanks to Anne Maclachlan and Rosemary Ingram’s efforts in reconnecting with their former classmates. We also had other leavers from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s in attendance, as well as over 20 members of our Former Staff Association. A big thank you to everyone who joined us for such a lovely afternoon!

Former Staff


SAVE THE DATEREUNION ACROSS THE DECADESSaturday 7 November 2015

Please see the enclosed invitati on for booking details.

140TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONSSaturday 7 May 2016

We will be holding an event as part of our 140th anniversary celebrati ons. More details will be sent out in due course, but for now please save the date!

Class of 1995

NGHS REUNION ACROSS THE DECADES

1970 195

0 1960

1990 197

0 1980

2000 19

80 1990

2010 19

90 2000

1980 19

60 1970

ARTS FESTIVALSaturday 2 July 2016, 12.00noon - 5.00pm

We’re planning an exciti ng Arts Festi val to celebrate our 140th anniversary! It will be an occasion for all the family to enjoy, including art and design, music, dance, arts and craft s and much more - there will be something for everyone and we hope that you will be able to join us. More details to follow.

We’d also be keen to hear from any alumnae who would like to be involved - perhaps you run an art, design or craft business and would like to have a stall; maybe you have a musical talent and would like to perform… you could even get your former school band back together! Please get in touch - contact Laura McAdam at [email protected] or 0115 941 7663.

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NGHS HostelAnne StAmper (HowArtH, 1953)

I came as a ‘new girl’ to NGHS in September 1946. Just after the end of the Second World War was a time of change for many families like mine. My father had been in the army and my mother and I had been living with my grandmother in Lancashire, where I had been at Bury Grammar School. Now my father had returned to his job as a textile chemist in Nottingham and my parents were buying a new house in Sherwood.

Negotiations had been made between Bury Grammar School and NGHS to transfer me. I was 12 and would be moving into the lower Fourth. However as the summer progressed it was clear that the new house would not be ready by the start of the new school year and perhaps I should stay at BGS until after Christmas. However Miss Merrifield explained that it would be much better for me to start at the beginning of the academic year and I could stay at the School Hostel.

The hostel was in Derwent House and had been set up in this post-war period to allow girls whose families had to relocate to stay and complete examinations. There were some girls who only stayed during the week and others who stayed over the weekend as well, and I joined them.

I loved the whole idea - I had read lots of books about boarding schools and thought it sounded fun! During the week I shared a four bed dormitory on the first floor, overlooking the Arboretum, and there was one girl, Corinne Seldon, who was in my form. However, at the weekend I had the room to myself as the others had gone home. I cannot remember how many girls stayed there, it could have been about twenty-five in the week but at the weekend it reduced to about five. The others at the weekend were sixth form girls, completing their Higher School Certificates, but they were wonderful with me. I remember Christine Pownall in particular, but also a girl called Felicity who was planning to go into the Wrens, so we renamed the hostel HMS Derwent. The single story room on the side of Derwent House

was used during the day as a classroom for the Preparatory Department but after school it was our dining room and common room. There was a wall mounted blackboard and over the weekend we used it to produce a Newspaper called HMS Derwent News. On it we wrote and drew our news of the week much to the amusement of those who returned after the weekend.

Looking after us was Miss Tucker - I think that was her name and I think she was the sister of another Miss Tucker who taught in the school. During this term my father stayed in lodgings somewhere in Nottingham and went back by train to join my mother at the weekend. On Thursday evenings he came to visit me and we were allowed to sit in Miss Tucker’s office. These were awkward occasions - he had been abroad in the army for four years so I hardly knew him and we felt like strangers.

I was only at the hostel for one term, our house was completed and we moved in January 1947 in deep snow - it was a notoriously cold winter - and were reunited once more as a family. But that term as ‘a boarder’ has stayed with me as an interesting experience. I don’t think the hostel continued for much longer as the need for it reduced.

THE SCHOOL IN 1947When I came to the school I was in Lower IV T; the T was after our Form mistress, Miss Todd. Our form room was in what is now the Head’s office! Miss Todd taught classics and we got an early introduction to Latin as we had to answer ‘adsum’ to the register, this confused the games staff when they took the register and thought we were saying ‘absent’! Our form room was also used as an overflow at lunch time - lunch being served in two sittings in what was then the hall next door. There would sometimes be some cutlery left about and I recall Miss Todd asking us for the Latin name for a spoon (coclearium), and knife (culter)!


I quickly made friends with Jenny Smith - who I have just stayed with during my visit to Nottingham and who brought me to the reunion lunch - and Brenda Mason, Audrey Eite, Helen Cresswell, and a year or so later Jennifer Holliday joined us when she came to the school. We stayed friends during our school lives which is why these are on most of the accompanying photographs. They seem to be taken on school trips or field classes. I did A Level Geography, Botany, Zoology and Physics so field courses were an important part of my school life.

Geography trip to Lyme Regis, outside Coram Court where we stayed.

Back row: - - Judith Sanderson, Gillian Slight - - - Muriel Foster (became Cope), Audrey Eite, Shirley Peppal, Patricia Wood.

Next to back row: Hilary Newing, - - Marion Kent, Margaret Start, Gwynneth Gillot, - Barbara Topliss, - -

Next to front row: Margaret Griffiths, Margaret Marshall, - - Miss Kirkland, Miss Ballisat, - Margaret Smith, -

Front row: Jennifer Smith, Anne Howarth, Wendy Watson, Margaret Truman, - - Joan Reith, Mary Cocks.

After I went to University I never lived in Nottingham again and most of my information has come via Jenny who stayed in the area. I had only been back to school once, many years ago until this recent visit. I was amazed at all the changes and the huge area the school now covers. I was impressed by the science labs - the Biology lab in my day was at the top of A building and we shared microscopes one between two!

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MEMORIES FROM THE 50SAnne has shared this great collection of photographs from her time at school. We always enjoy receiving pictures from alumnae, so please send in your photos and memories to school or email [email protected].

School visit to Lincoln 1951 Top: L Fairbank, Miss Rawnsley, Miss Pretty,

Miss Lewenz Bottom : S Bellamy, E Hibbard, J Smith, A Howarth, B Mason and H Cresswell

The staff on the Geography Field trip l-r Miss Ballisat and Miss Kirkland

(and her friend Dr Cole)

Sixth Form Geography Field Trip to Alston, 1951

Left to right: Margaret Griffiths, Jennifer Smith, Joan Reith, Wendy Young, Audrey Eite

and Patricia Wood Left to right: Anne Howarth, Helen Cresswell, Audrey Eite, Brenda Mason, Jenny Smith at

Kenilworth Castle


Jenny Smith, Anne Howarth, Helen Cresswell, Audrey Eite, Jennifer Holliday

Prefects 1950 Back to front left to right

M Tulley, A Bancroft, J Snith, N Dixon, I Smith, P Cox, M Underwood, M McGregor,

S Glossop, J Smith, R Bell, J Holliday, B Newman, M Thomas, D Haige, E Elliot,

E Hall, E Humber, A Birch, R Barry, S Reigns, A Howarth, N Atkin, S Youngman

Upper Fifth trip to Stratford to see Julius Caesar, our set book for School Certificate

English Literature. Audrey Eite, Helen Cresswell, Jennifer Holliday

Brenda Mason, Anne Howarth

Monday Night dancing classes with the High School boys, C 1952

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Staff photo c1952

Upper Sixth 1952Brenda Newman, Jennifer Smith,

Nora Dixon, Anne Stamper

Upper Sixth scientists 1952Enid Martin, J Fletcher, Brenda Newman,

Ethel Roberts, Joyce Tebbutt, Audrey Fleming, P West and C Baxter (photo taken by Anne

Howarth who was also in this group)


Memories of SchoolDiAnA HArt (FielD, 1978)

I went for my first interview for entry to the NGHS in 1965 aged 5. Before I left my mother at the door, the story goes I was in one of my 'moods' and assured her I wasn't going to speak to anyone or say anything at all. There were pleas. There was coaxing. I believe bribery was involved, but true to my stubborn word, it was nil by mouth. I didn't get in. Clearly in a better mood two years later, a place was offered.

School was basically fun in the prep department. My favourite things were all practical experiences and outdoors if possible. Basket weaving in the small garden was a real highlight, knitting a pair of mittens, (I was rubbish but loved it all the same - I seem to remember my baby sitter had to finish them off for me), exploring Nottingham's back to back housing with a divine student teacher whose 'hands on' learning ideas were quite new for us back then, and creative movement lessons with the same student. She picked me out to show something I was doing well, a new experience in itself for me, and I'm sure that boost to the soul must have had a lasting impact - after training to be a primary school teacher myself, I set up my own company teaching creative movement to primary aged children which, combined with a drama element, I still teach to this day... thanks, Miss! There were rather fraught art lessons in a cold cell of a room where silence was mandatory; you literally were not allowed to speak the moment you set foot in the room. I understand now that the staff were way out of their comfort zone and felt they were but a hair's breadth from paint based anarchy, but I still loved the feel of the thick powder paint brushing onto the paper. Julie Pike brought in a mouse house her father had made for her, a large, glass fronted series of passages with snakes and ladders style access to the different levels. It sat in the art room and we were allowed to go in and watch the white mice scurrying up and down. We whispered to each other as if an overheard voice would bring ruin to our young lives, which let's face it, it probably would.

My job in first form was to put live worms onto

a needle and thread and feed them to the newts in the science room tanks at lunchtime. Curiously, I loved this, aware that everyone else was repulsed by the activity, it gave me some sort of pride in my ability to do something necessary but difficult. Talk about preparation for life... thanks worms, your deaths were not in vain!

First form also brought the shame of being the only person unable to master the recorder, I mean, how do you do it? 54 years of life and teaching myself to play the piano have not resulted in being able to blow a single clear note, and believe me, I've tried. Teaching dance and drama in primary schools for 34 years has meant ample access to the full range of musical instruments in small rooms where children are not allowed to roam. Look carefully and you might find crouched between a xylophone and a triangle, the greater spotted Mrs Hart, gently pursing her lips in the hope of bringing the recorder to life… no, it ain't going to happen.

And who could forget the divine Mr Jones, the caretaker, who made me a beautiful painted wooden dog in a kennel for helping him to crowd manage the tuck shop queue at break time? It was touch and go whether the Eccles cakes would be further squashed by a hundred or so girls pressing up against the counter top or the Wagon Wheels sent rolling down The Covered Way, desperate to make a final escape towards The Arboretum where unbeknownst to them, a host of old men in rain macs sat waiting for teenage girls to come out and play netball... they never stood a chance, neither the Wagon Wheels nor the old men. We used to laugh our heads off at them which sent them scuttling away, one hand holding their trousers up whilst we bit into the Wagon Wheels and discussed our latest crushes.

It was school, it was my school and I loved it. The familiarity, the camaraderie, the high jinx and secrets, the friends, the not friends and just everyone you knew, we were all in it together, a big melting pot of humans and hormones and stories and lives.

20

They say school is the best years of your life. This doesn’t just mean the content of your school days, but also what you learn about yourself. For me, that was certainly true. I came to NGHS when I was fourteen after having spent three years at a declining state school. I had never been in a same-sex environment or one which valued education so highly. And I had no idea of what was to come.

It was a time of fun; it was a time of work. It was a time of friendships; it was a time of fallouts. It was a time of exams; it was a time of extra-curricular activities. It was a time of homework… it was definitely a time of homework! NGHS put me through my paces so that I could find a balance which suited me in terms of ambition to do well academically but also to grow as a person. Yet NGHS also exposed me to a range of people in a place where we had to learn to get along or at least acknowledge our differences. So, along with the academic excellence, NGHS also means - in my memories - a time of finding out who I was, what I liked, and what I was good at.

I never realised this at the time; it became clearer when I went to university. I studied History at Homerton College, Cambridge from 2011 until 2014. Going to Cambridge had always been my dream since I discovered it is one of the best universities in the world; NGHS helped me comprehend that I could achieve that dream. Not only did it give me an academic grounding and conscientious attitude to work; teachers, staff and pupils were supportive at times when I needed some self-confidence.

I wouldn’t change a thing!CorDeliA JACkSon (2011)

Finding that self-confidence was integral to getting the best out of the Cambridge experience. There is a fine line between believing that you are capable or becoming arrogant. NGHS had made me understand what I could do and what was possible; it’s a place where teachers and staff are determined to show the girls that the sky’s not the limit, and neither are the stars or planets! But I had also begun to learn my limitations and know when to accept that someone was better. Academically, Cambridge was a tough ride and so the lessons NGHS had taught me served me well. In such an intense and critical atmosphere, I managed to battle on and remember that I was worth something even when my supervisor had just attacked my latest essay. And it all paid off! In May 2014, I began to enjoy my revision for my Finals and actually look forward to cracking the exams. In June 2014, I came out of my last Final exam and was sprayed with Cava by my crazy Cambridge friends. In July, I graduated from Cambridge with a strong 2.1 in History. By August, I was employed.

University is not all about the work and academic side of life, just as NGHS was not all about GCSEs and A Levels (though no doubt we sometimes felt as though it was!). Just as I had begun to learn about myself as a person at NGHS, I found out even more at university. Despite having an amazing English teacher while at NGHS, I had never plucked up the courage to show her any of my poems. At Cambridge, I ended up publishing in different student publications and even met Carol Ann Duffy, Gillian Anderson, Melvyn Bragg and


Rowan Williams. My last year at NGHS had involved fun nights out but it was at Cambridge where I joined the Wine Society and discovered a new passion. Within a year, I was on the committee, and in my third year organised a dinner with Prince Robert of Luxembourg and his Chateau Haut Brion, involving Magdalene College and Samuel Pepys’s diary. Turns out there is a lot more to wine than just drinking it!

Recently, I found a rolled up slip of paper from my last few days at NGHS. It was an exercise where we wrote our names at the top of the slip and then passed it round our year group, each girl writing what they thought that person might achieve or a particular attribute they associated with them. Not only were my fellow NGHS girls very uplifting in their summary of my character, but many of them predicted I would be involved with antiques. So it would seem that, at the age of eighteen, the girls I spent my NGHS years with knew me better than I knew myself. It’s been a roller coaster of self-discovery since I walked into Mr Macfarlane’s form room when I was fourteen and I wouldn’t change a thing!

Sport had been a release while at NGHS and at Cambridge I discovered my love of cycling. I found that it was completely acceptable that I was twenty and enjoyed classical music; it didn’t mean that I was a social outcast. I discovered how it was fine to admit how much I loved books, museums and nature. Yet I also found that it was fine to be young, naïve and often idiotic. I made some of the best friendships of my life which I hope will endure for many years to come. So while I experienced the privilege of being a Cambridge student I also learnt the freedom to be young.

Many Cambridge graduates go straight into City jobs which are highly paid but extremely demanding. It’s challenging to turn against the tide but I was offered a job working at an auction house in Derbyshire. I took it. My role at Bamfords is as a Junior Valuer and Cataloguer and I am training to be an auctioneer. There are days when I handle millions of pounds worth of items and sell them via phone bids to people in Shanghai and New York. Then there are days when I am valuing items which are, sadly, not worth much. NGHS and Cambridge gave me the skills to deal with a range of people and I truly enjoy it. I saved and bought my first car and am currently looking to buy my first home. I may not always stay in the business of antiques but I am excited about the future, not just in terms of career but also in how I will grow as a person and the people I have yet to meet.

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Way back in 1989 the Junior department of NGHS was located on Arboretum Street in the building which I believe now houses the sixth form centre.

Back then school life started in Prep 2, in the year in which the girls were six with a few five year olds joining a year early. For some time there had been talk of starting a Prep 1 class, (the equivalent of reception today), so that we had the same age groups together and I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time as the decision was made to go ahead, and I was appointed their first class teacher by Mrs Christine Bowering, Head of School, and Miss Alison Evans, Head of the Junior School.

There was very little space to make a classroom and so we utilised the coffee bar area with one door and a beautiful, bright red curtain separating us from the corridor. We had all the little chairs sprayed red along with the radiator and we had just enough room to get two rows of five tables for the twenty girls selected for the class. It was very cosy!

I had found a three sided "Wendy House" in the dungeons, which was also sprayed red, which I took home, to decorate. There was very little money for extras and so I decorated it with some spare Laura Ashley wallpaper from my kitchen and made matching curtains. I also bought some dolls and made outfits for them so that the girls could have some creative play. My own two children by now were ten and thirteen so I was able to use their toys, games and books in my new classroom along with lots of jumble sale and charity shop purchases, and the GPDST (as it was then called) provided all the reading scheme and maths workbooks.

One of the interesting features of life for those early years girls was "rugs". Each girl in the infant department had to provide a soft rug and a small pillow all of which were stored in a small cupboard in the dungeons, opposite what we used to call Prep Hall which now contains the older girls' lockers. It was deemed

necessary that all the infant girls needed a rest after lunch and so a member of staff, (we had a rota), armed with a selection of stories, would take the girls for "rugs". We all trooped downstairs, unpacked the pillows and rugs and each girl found a space on the floor on which to lay her rug. Out of the windows, above our heads were the older girls having fun in the playground and so it became very difficult to keep their attention and it was not unknown for some of the girls to "caterpillar" round the hall, slowly and stealthily whilst the member of staff read on, manfully. Thank goodness for everyone's sake "rugs" was eventually scrapped and to my knowledge no girls fell asleep during afternoon lessons through want of a lunchtime snooze.

That was one of my very favourite years at the High School and I can still remember all the names of the girls in that class. One of them played the violin at my daughter's wedding and just recently I met the parents of another girl who is now a professional French horn player in an orchestra. Happy days!

Prep 1CHriStine SHeFFielD, Former StAFF (1988-2002)


Fellowship AwardDr wenDy ewArt (HenSon, 1969)

We are delighted to share the news that, following a long career in biomedical science, Dr Wendy Ewart has recently been awarded the honour of a Fellowship of the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College. Dr Ewart is a senior research executive, with Board level experience as a strategist, experience of leadership in the NHS and a successful academic career in biomedical research. She has held a range of roles such as Deputy CEO and Chief of Strategy (Medical Research Council), Head of Research Strategy (Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London), and Scientific Programme Manager (The Wellcome Trust).

Furthermore, it was announced in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2015 that Dr Ewart has been awarded an MBE for services to medical research.

After leaving NGHS in 1969, Dr Ewart studied for her undergraduate degree at the University of Southampton, completed her PhD in

Left to right:

Professor Jenny Higham Vice Dean for Institutional Affairs, Faculty of Medicine

Professor David Holden FRS

Dr Wendy Ewart, Fellowship Awardee

Dr Rino Ruoppoli, Fellowship Awardee

Professor Gavin Screaton Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College

Physiology at the University of Bristol and also studied at the Henley Management College. We offer her our warm congratulations on being awarded the Fellowship and MBE, which are great accolades to her successful career.

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Head-Hunter to Story-TellerJo Bunt (olDroyD, 1993)

I was class of ’93. It seems impossible that it has been over two decades since I was at NGHS. I have such a lot to be thankful for about my time there. For one thing, I developed a love for English Language largely thanks to my teacher Mrs Jose. I became fascinated by the way that language could be manipulated to cause an effect on the reader/ listener. I enjoyed learning about the history of the language, the power of language and more than anything, I found I loved to write.

Twenty years later I have rediscovered my love of writing and it is something I do every day. I tentatively self-published a novel nearly two years ago which has been well received. This gave me the confidence I needed to pursue my goal of being a writer but it’s taken me a while to get to this point.

On leaving NGHS I embarked upon a BA in European Marketing. I really didn’t take to the ‘European’ side of it, my French being nowhere near strong enough and I transferred to Business Studies instead. This degree had the benefit of being a sandwich course and I had twelve months work experience in community regeneration as a funding officer. This meant that, come graduation, my CV was looking pretty good and I secured myself a job at the newly formed National Lottery Charities Board (now the Big Lottery) in Nottingham as a Project Officer. Within a year I was promoted to Senior Awards Officer setting up a small grants scheme. Not long afterwards I moved to London to work as Lottery Fundraising Manager for the Royal National Institute for Deaf People.

From there I was head-hunted by PricewaterhouseCoopers to be a Recruitment Consultant. In particular my work centred on the Charity sector and Regeneration sector bringing in my experience from previous jobs. This was possibly the most challenging and rewarding job I have ever had. The work was exciting and varied. I enjoyed each aspect from head-hunting, interviewing and writing adverts. There is something innately satisfying about finding the right person for the job.

At the time I couldn’t see a reason why I would ever want a different job but then several things happened which changed my outlook on life and my ability to perform under such pressure. Firstly my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was far advanced and initially thought to be inoperable. I made the trip from London to Derby two weekends out of every three. I was with her for each session of chemotherapy and, eventually, the mastectomy and radiotherapy. PwC were amazingly supportive during this time. I was told to take as much time off as was needed and I relocated to the Birmingham office to be closer to Mum.

My mother is, thankfully, now in remission against all odds. I, however, became very ill and was sent for numerous blood tests and scans. The diagnosis, when it came, was most unsatisfactory. I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis).

While it was good to get a name for how I was feeling (fatigue to the point where climbing the stairs would leave me in tears) I was no closer to getting better. I assumed that I was burnt out from looking after Mum and thought a couple of weeks off work would sort me out. Ten years later I still have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome but I have learned to manage it a bit better.


An overhaul of lifestyle and diet has allowed me to lead a relatively normal life again. I have never returned to PwC, which sometimes saddens me, but I now have the most amazing twin boys who keep me on my toes. Once they started school and I had a bit more time on my hands I was stuck for something I could do that was challenging without being exhausting, and fulfilling without taking my focus off my health and my family. Funnily enough there aren’t many high powered jobs that are 10am - 3pm for 3 days a week!

That’s when I wrote my first book ‘Daughter of the Winds’. It was a glorious feeling to be writing again. It is about the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and a woman’s quest to find her family. As I was born in Cyprus the year after the war, the story came easily. After that, I started to take my writing seriously. I developed a following on Twitter and Facebook and set up my own website.

From there opportunities just presented themselves to me. I became the social media co-ordinator for England Touch Rugby, started proof-reading documents ranging from tenders to dissertations. I’ve written adverts and articles for local businesses, short stories for radio and I started a second novel. In fact, I’ve got three on the go. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for everything I want to write. My health has taken a bit of a nose-dive again so I’ve started a blog called BACK2HEALTH charting my journey to wellness. I just can’t stop writing.

I can’t say I make a huge amount of money from my writing (it just about paid for us to go on holiday last year) but the satisfaction is priceless. I play with words every day and am still at the school gate by 3.30 to pick up my boys. I get to see my Mum often and am able to support my husband in a job that is often stressful and takes him away from home.

I still hope, one day, to see my book in the window of Waterstones but it is the simple joy of writing that brings me to my desk each day.

This isn’t perhaps the career I envisaged when I set out to University all those years ago but I wouldn’t change a thing. When you are open to change it is amazing what opportunities present themselves.

Daughter of the Winds by Jo Bunt can be found on Amazon.

Follow Jo on twitter @buntymomma

Follow her blog at www.jobunt.me

Follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jobuntauthor

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The Archives

1878 Lower III Class with Miss Stevenson

1893 Sixth Form with Miss Skeel

Designed and produced by Sian Crisp, Laura McAdam and Sarah White.Printed by iprint, Leicester www.iprintb1.co.uk

Friends of NGHS brings together alumnae, parents and other friends of the school. Whether you join to make new contacts, build on existi ng relati onships or reconnect with old friends, we hope that Friends of NGHS will help you to stay involved in the life of the school.

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connect july 2015

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