Old Girls' Newsletter 2024

Welcome to interactive presentation, created with Publuu. Enjoy the reading!

www.alumni.fhs-sw1.org.uk

Alumni Events 2023

Old Girls' Lecture with alumna,

Theatre and Television Director

Sarah Esdaile

Although not her first visit to Francis Holland in recent years,

Sarah felt ‘pretty overwhelmed’ as she addressed her audience

at 2023's Old Girls' Lecture, many of whom were old friends

and teachers she hadn’t seen since her school days. Especially

moving was her reacquaintance with former English and

Drama Teacher, Patricia Metham.

Speaking with warmth and humour, Sarah described how

Francis Holland encouraged tenacity, risk and resilience,

qualities that she honed and solidified during her school years

which have stood her in immensely good stead to forge a

career in the competitive and cut-throat creative industries.

It was during Sarah’s years at FHS that she first fell in love with

the idea of telling stories for a living. Two particular occasions

had a profound effect on her: the school play competition,

affording Sarah her first real attempt at directing, and a school

trip to see a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Young Vic.

“The seeds of that passion were sown in this very building, and

I am also grateful for that and for the privilege of working out

- by the time I was 18 - what I wanted to do with my life”, she

commented.

Sarah spoke candidly about her career, eruditely discussing

how pushing out of her comfort zone and making bold and

courageous decisions had gifted her the most rewarding

life experiences. She generated laughter from her audience

by telling stories from her days as Director on the set of

EastEnders and spoke of her prescient decision to move from

directing theatre to television, just before the emergence

of Covid-19. Sarah revealed the struggles she has faced as

a female director and, before taking questions from her

audience, her future aspirations as a film director and novelist

(preferably while living by the sea!).

Our heartfelt thanks go to Sarah for engaging our alumni,

parent, and pupil communities with such an inspirational talk.

Sarah (second from right) photographed alongside her

former classmates and former teacher, Anne Margetson

(centre)

Alumna, Dame Rose Tremain

engaged staff and pupils as special

guest of the Sixth Form Speaker

Programme

In April 2023, we were honoured to welcome Dame Rose

Tremain to our Speaker Programme. Upper Sixth pupil, Sofia G

wrote this account of the event:

“Rose spoke to the Sixth Form girls about her life and her

inspirations for her widely acclaimed novels. It was inspiring

to hear from an old FHS girl how her life at our school shaped

the person she is today. In particular, Rose emphasised the

encouragement she received at FHS to write, to channel her

young creativity and energy into stories. Rose told us all about

her process in writing historical fiction, how she writes so

descriptively and accurately about different settings, through

research and travel, and how she creates such compelling

characters. We were even lucky enough to hear the world

premiere of her book, ‘Absolutely and Forever,’ to come out

later this year. In asking many insightful questions, the Sixth

Formers received some hugely helpful tips for writing both

short stories and novels.

We are so grateful to Dame Tremain for imparting her wisdom

on us.”

The Dame Rose Tremain Short

Story Prize

Dame Rose returned to Francis Holland in July, having

previously agreed to sponsor a writing prize at FHS. Launched

in November 2022, ‘The Dame Rose Tremain Short Story

Competition' offered a £500 prize and drew entries from

across the Senior School. These were shortlisted, and the

winner and runner up chosen by Rose, who presented the

award in person at July’s Prize-Giving Ceremony.

Made with Publuu - flipbook maker