Old Girls at home and abroad join in with 'bonkers' St Kate's Day Celebrations

Many have described St Kate's Day as 'bonkers' with its mix of traditions and quirkiness. The whole day is given over to fun, fundraising and festivities and is such an important part of St Helen’s school life that Old Girls from all over the world continue to join in once their school days are long over.

To start the day's celebrations, Revd Elizabeth reminded current students during the Eucharist of the feisty intelligence of St Katharine and the steadfastness of St Helena, two attributes which help to define who we are as a school. Live streaming of the School hymn ensured that Old Girls were able to join in and sign regardless of their location. 
 

'Singing along in Putney! Very nostalgic and brings back lots of memories of my school days!' Anne Allison.

After eating a great many celebratory KitKats, the fundraising part of the day began with the legendary 2p race on the tennis courts. The whole school rushed to line up their 1p, 2p and 5p pieces into lines of hundreds of 'm's for Mercy Ships our School Charity of the Year for 2018. Mercy Ships is a faith-based international development organisation that deploys hospital ships to some of the poorest countries in the world, delivering vital, free healthcare to people in desperate need.

In the afternoon it was over to Church Farm for the highly anticipated lacrosse match versus Abingdon School - some swapping of sports kit was naturally involved. A victory for St Helen's was always going to be the outcome and Headmistress Mrs Dougall gleefully tweeted the result.

Scores of alumnae from across the country and further afield in France, Germany and Australia raised a KitKat to the current students and reminisced over their own memories of  St Kate’s Day whilst watching – and taking part in –  livestreaming of events such as the 2p race, the St Helen’s-Abingdon Lacrosse match and the Sixth Form entertainment later on in the afternoon.

In the run up to St Kate’s Day we sent out over 150 Kit Kats to Old Girls for their own planned celebrations. Other celebrations were more impromptu. Saskia Hill and Emma Quarterman met up unexpectedly in Bristol.

 

'When two old school friends bump into each other on St Kate’s Day, you know it’s meant to be #haveakitkat'.

 

Another Old Girl, Natasha Schoeler, was thrilled to know she had just moved to a new village with where another Old Girl, Claire Morrell, lives.  
 

'When you move to a new village and find a fellow Helkat lives there too :) Happy times and Happy St Kate's Day! Traditions to pass onto the next generation too. Sorry, we may have munched the Kit-Kats pre-photo!!'

The Upper Sixth's riotous and witty production of 'Private School Musical' and a fiercely competitive House dodgeball tournament rounded off another spectacular St Kate's Day - celebrating the spirit of the St Helen and St Katharine community.

We captured current student recollections of St Kate's Day in a beautiful memory book which featured alongside a special archive display on the history of St Kate's Day within the School.

We'd love to add your memories into the book, so do let us know by commenting below if you'd like us to add an entry on your behalf.