Newsletter 2009 - Francis Holland School

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Letter from the HeadmistressGenerations of Francis Holland Girls will, I am sure, remember walking along BourneStreet and wondering about the Grosvenor Club, right next door to the school buildings.What happened there? It always seems so quiet; does anyone ever go there? What a pitythe school cannot use this large building, named Carmel Hall. And indeed one cannotmiss the large building when walking across the playground. The Year 2008/09 willsurely go down in the school’s history as a momentous year – the year when the schoolacquired the Grosvenor Club building and began to plan how best it could be put to usefor the benefit of all pupils.During the early part of the year detailed plans were drawn up and approved bythe Governors and the local Council and work began in June 2009. By the beginningof the new school year in September 2010 the building works should be complete. Theredesigned Carmel Hall will house three teaching rooms, various offices and storagespaces, an instrument store, ten music practice rooms and another medium sized hallspace suitable for music and drama.The project has also provided an opportunity for expansion of the school hall and thedining room, both of which are much needed. For some years it has not been possiblefor Juniors and Seniors to join together at assembly owing to the increased numbersin the senior school and the dining room has become very cramped. The hall will belengthened, which has necessitated the temporary removal of the beautiful stained glasswindows. They will be reinstated, in a different position, at the end of the work. Thedining room will also be longer and more spacious.One of the other main events of the year has been the development and launch of thenew school web site. Please do take a look; it is packed with useful information and thenews section is always kept well up to date with short reports of all the events that havebeen taking place. (www.fhs-sw1.org.uk)A quick read of the newsletter this year will demonstrate magnificently that the FHSOld Girls’ Society is very much alive. The travel fund clearly provides much neededsupport for the girls who choose to take on adventurous journeys and tasks in gap yearsand the annual lecture is one of the highlights of the school year. I hope as many aspossible of you will be able to come to this year’s lecture given by Mark Shand.In her introductory letter, Sarah Mahaffy has drawn to your attention the change ofplan for celebrating the school birthday for 2011. The evening parties every other year arealways popular but some people find an evening event in London not suitable, hence thisnew idea. Please make a note of the date in your diary now!As ever, Old Girls are always very welcome to come to any of the school events andthey are all now published on the web site. A quick call, or email, to the school office firstwould help with numbers. (office@fhs-sw1.org.uk)Stephanie PattendenHeadmistress
A trip to RussiaGeorgia ForthThe day before I set off for Russia, London had been forced to a standstill by what the pressdescribed as the greatest snowfall in 18 years, about 20cm. There had been talk of our planenot taking off. How did Russia cope? When I arrived in Moscow, however, it was drizzlingreassuringly in that horrible, muggy way that I had thought was only possible back at home.By the time we reached the motorway this had evolved into what I’m sure was a full scaleblizzard. It felt fitting. What was I, who barely spoke rudimentary Russian and had next tono real teaching experience, doing sending myself into the depths of rural Russia to teachEnglish to “traumatized” orphans? Meeting the other volunteers, two super-confident thirdyear language students and a middle aged Australian lady who had spent the previous fouryears teaching Aboriginal children in the outback, did little to allay the growing feeling thatI was way out of my depth.About five hours into our journey the car began to swerve dangerously. Our driver, Vlad,immediately pulled over by a snow drift, opened the minibus door, and dived straight intoit. He slapped his face a few times then, satisfied that he was fully awake, he dusted himselfoff, jumped back in and continued driving. Later, when we stopped in a service station Isomewhat smugly discovered that not only could I make my request for a toilet (Russian fortoilet: tooaliet…) understood by the “babushka” working there, but that I could translateevery word of her surprisingly lengthy directions. Maybe those beginner evening classeshad paid off after all!Gradually, the blizzard died down, night fell and the road became an endless successionof tall trees lit by the (unheated) minibus’ headlamps. At last, we came to a stop in what atfirst appeared to be the middle of nowhere. I could vaguely make out a fairytale cottage inthe distance. We had arrived.Over the next few days my sense of unreality increased and we learned more aboutthis place we had come to. Although it is a home for orphans, this place was definitelynot a Russian Orphanage. According to the organisation, there are one million orphansin Russia. Many of them are “social orphans”, generally the children of alcoholic parentswho can no longer cope. The traditional impersonal, almost Dickensian, orphanagesystem is reportedly ill-equipped for the needs of these vulnerable children. Kitezhoffers an alternative, where children are fostered and raised in a family environment,in a therapeutic community specifically geared towards their needs. After the initial“honeymoon period” it can reportedly take around two years challenging “testing” of thenew family’s commitment before newly fostered children fully settle in and truly believethat they have found a permanent home.Before I left for Russia, I had been worried that the lifestyle could come as something ofa shock. Us pampered westerners, warned the otherwise accurate and extensive VolunteerHandbook, were ill equipped for the hardships of every day life in rural Russia, a longdrive from “civilization”. Although this was true on some levels, I found the standard ofliving little different to what I was used to, even though some of the Russians seemed not tobelieve this, asking questions such as “do you have mops in England?”
Page 1: fr ancis Holland SchoolOLD GIRLS’
Page 5 and 6: organised discos and performance ni
Page 7 and 8: Greenland 2007 - Disko IslandEmily
Page 9 and 10: In late 1919 my family moved to 37
Page 11 and 12: architectural historian, a head-hun
Page 13 and 14: 1930-1940Catherine Cowling (nee Hit
Page 15 and 16: Elisabeth van Blankenstein (left 19
Page 17 and 18: 1970-1980Isabella Laurent (nee Leve
Page 19: Olivia Fellows (left 2007). Is on h

Newsletter 2009 - Francis Holland School

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