This year’s St Kate’s Day festivities kicked off with a whole-school Eucharist in YPH. We were joined by Marie-Louise Kerr of Curator Without Museum, who spoke about holy female figures from Oxfordshire. The service ended with the traditional St Kate’s Hymn.
Next, everyone bundled up and headed out to the tennis courts for the 2p race, where students lay coins in patterns in support of the School’s chosen charity, Be Free Young Carers. Be Free Young Carers is an Oxfordshire organisation devoted to improving young carers’ well-being and opportunities, through the provision of recreational, emotional and social support. Year 11’s coin formation was the spitting image of Mrs Dougall herself.
The St Kate’s Day fair saw students use their creativity and imagination to raise money for charity. Crowd favourites included the ‘Sheep Race’, where students placed bets on which sheep they thought would win a pre-filmed race (featuring an actual student’s sheep), and aiming at targets displaying photos of teachers. Baked goods, face paint, nail varnish and hot chocolate were all on offer.
Celebrations in school ended with competitive inter-House netball and dodgeball tournaments before students headed back into YPH for a special Sixth Form play which was jam-packed with a hilarious St Helen’s rendition of the film Pitch Perfect, a TikTok-inspired video marathon and much more.
St Kate’s Day spread lots of laughter and smiles throughout the school.
St Kate’s Day Social
We were thrilled with the enthusiastic response from so many Old Girls to the invitation to join the St Kate’s Day celebrations at the Coral Room in central London.
On the night, there was a wonderful turnout of 40 guests who were able to enjoy an entertaining evening. We were delighted to see a broad mix of alumnae in attendance, the youngest group being the recent 2024 leavers, whilst the oldest had left school nearly 50 years before in 1977.
The most recent leavers had come up from their various universities to be HelKats united and compared stories from their first weeks in higher education. Meanwhile, the working HelKats not only spoke of their memories of school life but also discussed a variety of topics including AI, the changing nature of the workplace, politics and global affairs.
There was a noticeable buzz about throughout the evening with friends reuniting and people meeting for the first time and exchanging stories. Thank you to all those who joined us for your company and support in marking a special day for our school and its community. Happy St Kate’s Day all!
