Saturday 12th May 7.30pm
St Catherine's Presents
Guildford Chamber Choir
Will Todd’s MASS in BLUE and works by Chilcott & Lauridsen
Conducted by Steven Grahl with The Will Todd Trio & Bethany Halliday (soprano) 

Auditorium of St Catherine's Anniversary Halls
Tickets £12 (in advance), £15 (on the door), (Students  - £5)
Tourist Office, Guildford 01483 444334
Record Corner,Godalming 01483 422006
Info Tel: 07734 701239
Foundation Office 01483 899692 or association@stcatherines.info
In aid of the Fountain Centre

Friday 22nd June 2012
Reunion for Leavers of 1980S

For further information about any of these forthcoming events please contact the Association Office - association@stcatherines.info

A Reunion for Leavers of the 1970s and former Teaching Staff was held at St Catherine's on Friday 24th June, 2011. There was a great turn out of 101 Old Girls and 44 former staff - with some of the Old Girls having been taught by returning members of staff in the 1970s.
 
Those attending enjoyed a day of catching up with old friends and seeing the School as it is today. A full report will appear in the next issue of Non Nobis.

On Saturday 8th May 2010, the Headmistress and other members of staff travelled to Cambridge for a Reunion Dinner. Following the success of the Oxford Dinner in 2008, we invited Old Girls who are Cambridge graduates/undergraduates, those living in the local area and former members of staff. Appropriately enough, our party of 30 met at St Catharine's College where we enjoyed a drinks reception in the Old Combination Room before going downstairs for a 3 course dinner in the Senior Combination Room. It was wonderful to catch up with Old Girls of all generations and the proliferation of 'wheels' at St Catharine's College made us all feel at home!

St Catherine’s has been proud to educate pupils from Hong Kong for over 40 years.  Alice Phillips (Headmistress) and Christina Foord (Head of Boarding) were delighted to celebrate this long standing link by welcoming over 40 current parents, former parents and Old Girls to an evening Reception in Hong Kong on 28th January 2010.

Guests enjoyed chatting over drinks and canapés before the Headmistress gave a presentation on life at St Catherine’s today.  The idea of a St Catherine’s Association South East Asia Group was warmly received and the group now has its own Facebook page.  This inaugural Hong Kong Reception was a resounding success and further events will be arranged in the region in the future.

One recent leaver wrote: “I really enjoyed the reception. It was a delight to see Mrs Phillips,Mrs Foord and so many old school friends.”  A current parent told us:  “My daughter has newly joined St Catherine’s and it will be the first time we can meet both of them.”   And a 1978 Leaver reports: “I had a wonderful time meeting Mrs Phillips and Mrs Foord tonight. We were amongst the first to arrive and the last to leave...so this shows you how much we enjoyed the function.”
Christina Foord travelled to Hong Kong from Australia where she also hosted a small alumnae Reunion in Perth.  A 1956 Leaver wrote: “Thank you so very much for hosting a lovely little get-together. It was great to meet up and it is exciting to know that other people are living in this far off land, all of whom had the same (or similar, as it seems to get better!!) schooling!”.

Originally conceived by Felicity James (Francis) (1963) and former Association Director, Sara Dowell, this Reunion was a long time in the making but on June 12th over 60 leavers returned to St Catherine’s for their long anticipated get together. Old Girls returned from as far afield as Australia, the United States, Ireland, Italy and Spain to name but a few.

The day began with coffee on the front lawn before being called to Chapel by the bell, rung, as by tradition, by former Head Girl Elizabeth Bunker (Gabriel) (1958) who had joined us from Australia. Drinks and Lunch followed in the Gymnasium where some returners were caught by surprise to hear the building they thought of as the ‘new gym’ had reached the end of its working life and would soon be demolished.  Both current Head Girls and a number of the prefects and members of the sixth form had volunteered to help at the Reunion, assisting Mrs Phillips in telling our guests a little about life at St Catherine’s today and leading tours of the school after coffee. A must-see stop on the tour was a fascinating display from the Archives mounted in the Conference Room by school archivists Rosemary Christophers (1960) and her husband Richard. Many thanks to the Christophers for a super exhibition which delighted all who visited it.

Everyone met again at tea time for some refreshment and cake before departing. Our thanks to Deirdre Clarkson-Webb for her help in the run up to the Reunion and, whilst it was a great shame that illness and distance prevented all four Francis sisters from attending, it was very good to have Deirdre and Susan with us for the day.