SHSK Old Girls

We are thrilled to have 80 alumnae signed up to attend the Anniversary Reunion on Saturday 6 June. We can't wait to welcome you all back! For any Class of 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006, 2016 or former staff who would like to join us, please book on by 21 May. Find out more and sign up through shsksociety.org.uk/events. Any queries to [email protected] - see you soon!

SHSK Society Grants have been used towards exciting initiatives by our alumnae award recipients recently. You can read about them on the SHSK Society website and in our annual magazine. Applications for the 2026 Grants are now open to our alumnae community.

Congratulations to alumna author Alice Jolly, who has been nominated for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. What a wonderful achievement and best of luck in June. You can read more about this in the BBC article below. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8jj79r834o

The SHSK Society Magazine 2026 is now available to read digitally. https://shsksociety.org.uk/pages/old-girls-magazines
Thanks to all those who contributed to it.

Calling all 1980s leavers! Which year was this photo taken? Likely 1980s, but can anyone tell for certain which year? Looks like a leavers' photo. Thanks for any help...

Rewind 30 years... 1996 leavers' photo. We can't wait to see you at the 30-year Anniversary Reunion on 6 June. Find out more and sign-up: shsksociety.org.uk/events

It is with sadness that we share the news of the death of Yolande Paterson, former Headmistress of St Helen and St Katharine, who died last week.

Yolande Paterson led St Helen’s from 1973 to 1993, during a period of significant change in both education and wider society. Educated at St Paul’s Girls’ School and St Hugh’s College, Oxford, where she read Geography, she brought a deep sense of academic purpose, integrity and commitment to her role as Headmistress.

Her headship coincided with a time when schools were navigating shifting expectations, social change, and increasing practical and financial pressures. Yolande met these challenges with determination and clarity of purpose, guiding the School confidently through a demanding and formative era.

Her leadership was marked by an ambitious programme of development, much of which continues to shape the School today. On her retirement, a fellow Head that worked closely with Yolande reflected: “Her main aim was to make St Helen’s as good a school of its type as possible and in this she triumphantly succeeded.”

We extend our sincere condolences to Yolande’s family, and to all those in the St Helen’s community who remember her with respect, gratitude and affection. We intend to hold a memorial service for Miss Paterson at St Helen’s, and will confirm further details in due course.