We were thrilled to receive a gift of £10,000 in support of our bursary fund, from alumna Julia Cousins. Ms Cousins is an actor, writer and teacher who attended the school from 1946 to 1960 and remembers fondly the teachers who inspired her career path.

Julia recalls her English teacher, Winifred Young, who fostered in her a passion for TS Eliot and Shakespeare, and who encouraged her to write. Meanwhile, Winifred Cockburn, Julia’s Classics teacher, clearly sparked Julia’s interest in antiquity, which led to her becoming the Administrator for Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum in 1980.

Commenting on her decision to support our bursary fund, Julia said: ‘It was thinking back to all the inspiring women who taught me at SCHS, and how fortunate I was to gain that sort of education, that made me want to do something tangible by way of thanks.’

The school has seen an increase in applications for bursary places this year, so we are particularly grateful to Ms Cousins for her donation. Interestingly, it was the recent talk by fellow alumna Elsie Owusu that motivated her to give back at this time. Ms Owusu, an eminent architect, spoke so eloquently about the barriers young people of colour continue to face in her profession, and it led Julia to conclude that there is still much work to do to ensure equity in education and life chances.

To find out more about supporting bursary provision at SCHS, please get in touch with Chris Conneely, Development Director: c.conneely@schs.gdst.net or visit https://schs.gdst.net/your-journey/alumnae/#support-your-school