Friends & Former Pupils

Sheffield High Old Students and Staff Association (SHOSA)

Are you, or is a member of your family, a former pupil of Sheffield High School? If so, SHOSA would like to hear from you.

SHOSA’s main aims and objectives are to encourage continued interest in Sheffield High School, to reinforce friendships between former pupils and their peer groups, to maintain SHS archives and to foster links with current SHS pupils. Any fundraising for the School contributes to bursaries for those attending SHS. SHOSA also shows its support and encouragement for current SHS girls through its annual trophies for Music, Science, Rounders and a Junior School Prize. An International Sports Award is also given in memory of Miss Lucas.

SHOSA produces an annual newsletter with news of the whereabouts of its members and organises an annual gathering for former SHS pupils at School. To download a copy of the latest Newsletter, please click here

If you are interested in joining SHOSA (£6 per year), or if you would like to trace your former classmates, please contact the Headmistress, Mrs Valerie Dunsford (vdunsford@she.gdst.net) or on (0114) 266 0324 and she will put you in touch with SHOSA.

SHOSA Annual General Meeting 2011

In June, SHOSA held its annual meeting in school and we welcomed around 40 former pupils back to school. The main focus of the meeting was to mark the retirement of our then Business Manager Kath White, who had worked at the School for 44 years. Kath was presented with a cheque by two former headmistresses, Mrs Whittington-Smith and Miss Skilbeck and many old girls who were not able to attend also sent their good wishes.

This year also saw a number of former pupils returning “25 Years On” and they enjoyed sharing photographs and memories of their time with us and since. SHOSA members also enjoyed guided tours by some of our senior girls to see many of the recent improvements within school, including our new reception area.

There was also a group of ‘old girls’ from the Cliff College days when the school was evacuated to Derbyshire during the war and it was it was delightful to hear their recollections of the fun they had and the scrapes they got into in those difficult days.

During the meal which preceded the formal part of the meeting, SHOSA members were richly entertained by musical and singing performances led by our Director of Music, Val Linnemann. Clare Rees-Zimmerman in Year 10 played ‘Czardas’ by Monti and Vanessa Frampton, also in Year 10 sang ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square’ and Max Reger’s ‘Maria Wiegenlied’ – ‘The Virgin’s Slumber Song’.

SHOSA Chairman’s Report 2011

“It is always a great pleasure and privilege to meet with former staff and students at the SHOSA Annual Reunion. As the SHOSA year traditionally begins with the June reunion, my annual report will look at events and successes from June 2010 onwards.

At last year’s reunion, SHOSA’s 25th anniversary, which was attended by 40 SHOSA members, we were delighted to have Eileen Stamper as our Guest of Honour. Miss Stamper has not missed a reunion in all SHOSA’s 25 years and is very fondly remembered by the many SHOSA members she taught as a Scripture and Classics teacher during the 1950s and 60s.

As usual at the Reunion, SHOSA members enjoyed being shown around the school by current students, spotting the parts of the school which have remained largely unchanged over the years, as well as seeing our many new developments. Over the last 7 years we have added a new Infant building (housed in no 4 Melbourne Avenue) an extension to Moor Lodge and the Science block with new Physics and Chemistry laboratories and a new Art Studio and ICT Suite.

In September 2010 we completed a major extension to our Sixth Form Centre on Melbourne Avenue to provide new tutorial rooms, a kitchen diner, outdoor decked seating area and learning resource centre.

At our annual Prize Giving in September 2010 we welcomed Pam Garside (SHS 1963-1972) who is co-director of the Cambridge International Health Leadership Programme and runs her own management consultancy – Newhealth – which specialises in developments in Health Care. Pam gave an inspirational talk with the key message to current pupils that it is not enough to do well but they should be aiming also to do good. We are always pleased to welcome SHOSA members to our annual prize giving; this year’s event will be held on Thursday 15 September at 7.30pm at the university’s Octagon Centre and our guest speaker will be Helen Fraser, CEO of the Girls’ Day School Trust.

At last year’s Prizegiving SHOSA prizes were presented to:

• Young Scientist – Ella Jackson
• Music – Cathy Collett
• Mathematics (David Wraith Prize): Clare Rees-Zimmermann and Sophia Rodriguez

The past year has been another very busy but very successful one for the school. Numbers continue to remain high, with 1026 girls on roll which makes us one of the largest independent girls’ schools in the country and the second largest GDST School. Academic results continue to be as strong as ever, with 76% of all grades at GCSE being A*/A and 77% of all A level grades being A*/A or B. In Sport the girls had an exceptional year, reaching the national finals with 8 teams in 5 different sports (trampolining, gymnastics, tennis, rounders and badminton) and becoming national champions in trampolining and rounders.

In Music our chamber choir is regularly in demand to perform in public and we now have a very popular joint Sixth Form choir with Birkdale School.

One of our major achievements this year was to reach the finals of the Independent School of the Year awards. Although we didn’t win the overall school of the year award, we were delighted to win the category “Best Independent/Maintained School Collaboration” in recognition of our partnership work with local maintained schools.

Sheffield High School girls continue to travel far and wide on school trips. This year they have visited France, Germany, Spain, Majorca, the USA, Austria and India. They keep their parents up to date while on their travels with diary accounts and photographs which they post on blogs accessed through our school website. For those SHOSA members who are up to date with the latest technology, SHOSA now has a Facebook page and you can also follow the school on Twitter

I would like to thank the SHOSA committee who continue to work tirelessly to keep SHOSA alive as an organisation and to meet the requests of old girls who want to be put in touch with former classmates.

Maggie Chilton is doing an excellent job of putting together two newsletters a year, and she relies on news from old girls so please keep sending her any snippets you have. Norma Smith does a fantastic job as SHOSA treasurer and membership secretary, along with her husband Trevor who has the difficult job of minuting our meetings.

Kath White, our School Business Manager for over 40 years and a great supporter of SHOSA, has been a familiar face to SHOSA members at almost every reunion and also a great source of information about the school and all the girls and staff who have passed through the doors since the 1970s. Kath retired at the beginning of April but we are delighted to have her back with us for the 2011 AGM as our Guest of Honour.

Thank you all for coming today and for the continued support you give to the school. I would also like to thank all members who have contributed in any way either to our Annual Fund or to the school’s bursary fund. This year the Annual Fund has enabled us to purchase additional equipment for ICT, Art and Science, reference books for the Sixth Form Learning Resources Centre and new trophy cabinets and honours boards around the school.

We have also been able to support an additional 15 girls through our bursary fund who would otherwise not have been able to benefit from the excellent opportunities offered at Sheffield High School.

I hope you will enjoy being back at Sheffield High School today. For anyone not able to attend, I am always very happy to welcome former pupils and show them around the school if they are passing by.”

Valerie Dunsford
SHOSA Chairman
June 2011

Former Pupils can follow us on

The GDST Alumnae Network

The GDST Alumnae Network is developing ‘CareerStart’ which offers training in generic, transferable skills through seminars in schools. Liz Rhodes, Director of the National Council for Work Experience says how important it is for girls to have valuable work experience. The GDST Alumnae Network is also compiling a register of ex-Trust girls who are willing to provide advice on or actual work experience for Sixth Formers. Anyone who can help Sheffield High girls to gain work experience please make contact through the GDST Alumnae Network

We look forward to a future not only of consolidation but also of expansion. SHOSA survives and thrives with the enthusiasm offered by younger ‘old girls’ joining the Association to complement the wisdom and experience of our older members.

SHS Annual Fund & Corporate Sponsorship Programme

• Have you thought that you can continue to support the School by contributing to our Annual Fund or by being involved in our Corporate Sponsorship Programme? The Corporate Sponsorship Programme takes the form of sponsoring an event in School or sponsoring a piece of equipment or advertising in one of our publications. For more information, please click to download details. For more information on our Annual Fund, please click here