Happy St Kate's Day

Wishing all of our Old Girls around the world a very happy St Kate's Day on 26th November. Our celebrations are inevitably a little different this year but we are keeping with tradition as best we can. Yet this year more than most we are inspired by the sense of community and togetherness our Old Girls' affinity to the School and their interest in the well-being of today's students creates.

We hope that wherever you are spending St Kate's Day, you will enjoy following the merry chaos of the day's proceedings via our social media channels and through the content posted below. Sadly, we are unable post out Kit Kats this year and we know you can’t gather with friends but would love, as usual, to know that you are enjoying your own sweet treats and a cuppa solo, while enjoying our live streaming and recorded events.

You can also enjoy St Kate's Day across social media. We are @SHSKOldGirls on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Happy St Kate's Day 2020!

All for a good cause

There is a sense of celebration and enjoyment at the school on St Kate's Day, yet the task of raising funds for the school's charity of the year is taken seriously. This year we are supporting the wonderful CLIC Sargent, who work to help stop cancer destroying young people's lives.

In the run up to St Kate's Day, our fundraising activities have already raised over £5,000.

All members of the school community past and present are invited to make a donation to mark our St Kate's day celebrations. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated by everyone at the school.

Donate

Watch the St Kate's Day service

We are pleased to share a recording of the St Kate's Day service. We hope you enjoying viewing it and being part of the day's celebrations.

St Kate's Day sing-a-long!

While we can't sing this in the usual way on St Kate's Day, we hope you will enjoy this recording and sing by yourself in your own lockdown setting!

Thanks to the vision of Old Girl Bethan Kelly, our music department and Chapel Choir took on a collaboration with other Old Girls across the country in the summer. The result was this wonderful remote performance of the School hymn. Each voice was recorded separately.

We know many of you will know the hymn off by heart, but you can click here if you would like to view the video and the words.

St Kate's Day 'messages of hope' from Old Girls

Email your message to oldgirls@shsk.org.uk or use #stkatesday2020 on social media

Our deepest fear is that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? (Found in old manuscript.)

Beryl Pearce-Carr

Ah! The St. Katherines Day Dance. For some of us in the late 1940,s it was the highlight of the Autumn term. I can't remember what we wore but we had great fun filling up our dance programmes with the names of those girls who we wanted to dance with. Not a boy in sight, I hasten to add. The music was provided by a gramaphone. The Supper dance was special. Miss Thompson and her catering staff 'went to town' and laid on a super spread for us. It was there where I was introduced to Penguin biscuits. A real treat. I can't remember Kitkats. Maybe they came in at a later date.

Oh! I should have mentioned at the beginning the special service in chapel.

All a far cry from today's celebrations, but in those days it was a special day for us,

May I wish all of you a very happy St. Kate's Day (especially in these strange times)

Mary Crooke (Gibson)

Everyone Sang By Siegfried Sassoon

Everyone suddenly burst out singing;And I was filled with such delightAs prisoned birds must find in freedom,Winging wildly across the whiteOrchards and dark-green fields; on - on - and out of sight.

Everyone's voice was suddenly lifted;And beauty came like the setting sun:My heart was shaken with tears; and horrorDrifted away ... O, but EveryoneWas a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

Sent in by Alison Donley

May you find the blessings each day outweigh the trials at this difficult time. May you have Joy and peace to overcome worry and fear.May you make everyone whom you come into contact with, feel positive because you and your God have touched them .

Happy St Katharine's Day.From Gill Ayres

I love this wonderful poem by Emily Dickinson. She captures it perfectly...

Hope is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soul,And sings the tune without the words,And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;And sore must be the stormThat could abash the little birdThat kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,And on the strangest sea;Yet, never, in extremity,It asked a crumb of me.

Have a wonderful St Kate's Day

Best wishes
Gail Bowen-Huggett (Group 48)

My message to you is, try not to worry about your future and your missed exams and interrupted studies. As Julian of Norwich said, 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.' Don't give up hoping. The opposite of hope is despair, and that helps no one. Things may be bad for a while, life may not turn out the way you hoped or expected, but the different may be better. I hope Latin is still compulsory, and that you can all translate this: dum spiro, spero.

I wish you all a very happy St Kate's Day, with lots of fun and KitKat, and I hope for you, that your hopes may not desert you.

A message to current students from Katharine Mendelsohn

There are good things coming out of this awful pandemic, because its beginning to teach us all alternative ways to live. You have had to make sacrifices for our generation and for this I would like to say sorry and to thank you. You are where my hope lies. Every one of you is part of the most tolerant, far sighted, and environmentally aware generation we've ever had. Carry on being kind to others and looking after this precious planet. Fulfil your ambitions to make a difference, take every opportunity, and above all be true to yourselves-and the world will become a better place for everyone.

Happy St Kates Day!

Katharine Weston Smith (nee Anderson)

I have such fond memories of St Kate's day when I was at St Helen's. The past year has reminded me the value of the community and for me, this day always felt like a reminder that we are part of our own community at St Helen's. Wishing all the staff and students at SHSK a wonderful St Kate's Day this year.

All the best
Kate Begley

My last St Kates' day was in 1988 but the celebration is still a very fond memory. I'm going to offer a quote from Michelle Obama, who I think is an inspiration for us all:

“You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own”.

Wishing you all a very happy St Kate's day.

Kind regards
Katherine Theobald (nee Godfray)

Happy St. Kate's Day from a fellow Old Girl Kate! Many fond memories of this tradition at school. My best advice for uncertain times, and in general, is to never compare your journey to someone else's; be kind to yourself; celebrate small wins and grab every opportunity (work out how to do it later)!

Kate Rogers

Hi Helkats!

Happy St Kate's Day 2020! I hope you all have a fantastic day. You're raising money for such an important and worthwhile cause - keep up the amazing work. You're awesome

A message for current students from Katherine Hart

Sending best wishes to all pupils and staff on St Kate's Day!

I remember all the activities and hilarity of St Kate's Day with affection.

This year has been so tough for everyone. If nothing else, the pandemic has taught us about the importance of friendship and caring for others; both qualities which I know are valued highly by all St Helen's girls.

Kate Cowell

Our deepest fear is that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? (Found in old manuscript.)

Beryl Pearce-Carr

Ah! The St. Katherines Day Dance. For some of us in the late 1940,s it was the highlight of the Autumn term. I can't remember what we wore but we had great fun filling up our dance programmes with the names of those girls who we wanted to dance with. Not a boy in sight, I hasten to add. The music was provided by a gramaphone. The Supper dance was special. Miss Thompson and her catering staff 'went to town' and laid on a super spread for us. It was there where I was introduced to Penguin biscuits. A real treat. I can't remember Kitkats. Maybe they came in at a later date.

Oh! I should have mentioned at the beginning the special service in chapel.

All a far cry from today's celebrations, but in those days it was a special day for us,

May I wish all of you a very happy St. Kate's Day (especially in these strange times)

Mary Crooke (Gibson)

Everyone Sang By Siegfried Sassoon

Everyone suddenly burst out singing;And I was filled with such delightAs prisoned birds must find in freedom,Winging wildly across the whiteOrchards and dark-green fields; on - on - and out of sight.

Everyone's voice was suddenly lifted;And beauty came like the setting sun:My heart was shaken with tears; and horrorDrifted away ... O, but EveryoneWas a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

Sent in by Alison Donley

May you find the blessings each day outweigh the trials at this difficult time. May you have Joy and peace to overcome worry and fear.May you make everyone whom you come into contact with, feel positive because you and your God have touched them .

Happy St Katharine's Day.From Gill Ayres

I love this wonderful poem by Emily Dickinson. She captures it perfectly...

Hope is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soul,And sings the tune without the words,And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;And sore must be the stormThat could abash the little birdThat kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,And on the strangest sea;Yet, never, in extremity,It asked a crumb of me.

Have a wonderful St Kate's Day

Best wishes
Gail Bowen-Huggett (Group 48)

My message to you is, try not to worry about your future and your missed exams and interrupted studies. As Julian of Norwich said, 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.' Don't give up hoping. The opposite of hope is despair, and that helps no one. Things may be bad for a while, life may not turn out the way you hoped or expected, but the different may be better. I hope Latin is still compulsory, and that you can all translate this: dum spiro, spero.

I wish you all a very happy St Kate's Day, with lots of fun and KitKat, and I hope for you, that your hopes may not desert you.

A message to current students from Katharine Mendelsohn

There are good things coming out of this awful pandemic, because its beginning to teach us all alternative ways to live. You have had to make sacrifices for our generation and for this I would like to say sorry and to thank you. You are where my hope lies. Every one of you is part of the most tolerant, far sighted, and environmentally aware generation we've ever had. Carry on being kind to others and looking after this precious planet. Fulfil your ambitions to make a difference, take every opportunity, and above all be true to yourselves-and the world will become a better place for everyone.

Happy St Kates Day!

Katharine Weston Smith (nee Anderson)

I have such fond memories of St Kate's day when I was at St Helen's. The past year has reminded me the value of the community and for me, this day always felt like a reminder that we are part of our own community at St Helen's. Wishing all the staff and students at SHSK a wonderful St Kate's Day this year.

All the best
Kate Begley

My last St Kates' day was in 1988 but the celebration is still a very fond memory. I'm going to offer a quote from Michelle Obama, who I think is an inspiration for us all:

“You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own”.

Wishing you all a very happy St Kate's day.

Kind regards
Katherine Theobald (nee Godfray)

Happy St. Kate's Day from a fellow Old Girl Kate! Many fond memories of this tradition at school. My best advice for uncertain times, and in general, is to never compare your journey to someone else's; be kind to yourself; celebrate small wins and grab every opportunity (work out how to do it later)!

Kate Rogers

Hi Helkats!

Happy St Kate's Day 2020! I hope you all have a fantastic day. You're raising money for such an important and worthwhile cause - keep up the amazing work. You're awesome

A message for current students from Katherine Hart

Sending best wishes to all pupils and staff on St Kate's Day!

I remember all the activities and hilarity of St Kate's Day with affection.

This year has been so tough for everyone. If nothing else, the pandemic has taught us about the importance of friendship and caring for others; both qualities which I know are valued highly by all St Helen's girls.

Kate Cowell