We are delighted to announce that Mrs Liz Sillitoe has been appointed as the new Chair of Governors at Norwich High School for Girls. Mrs Sillitoe is an HR specialist who has enjoyed a successful career in recruitment, people development and talent management for both British Aerospace and in the food and drink industry with Allied Domecq. She now works as an HR consultant supporting small businesses.

Mrs Sillitoe joined Norwich High School for Girls’ board of governors in January 2019. In this interview she speaks to us about her lifelong love of the school.

My relationship with Norwich High School for Girls spans three generations. My mother went to the school and was one of the Head Girl team in 1957-58, and indeed my father also attended briefly after the Town Close buildings were damaged in the war! I joined Norwich High’s Kindergarten aged three and a half and remained until I completed my A Levels here in 1986. My sister and daughter also completed their schooling at Norwich High and my niece is currently in Year 9.

There are too many to count, but one moment in particular stands out from my time in the Prep School, then known as Stafford House. Aged seven, I remember sitting in Norwich Cathedral, listening to the Senior Choir rehearsing ‘Jesus Christ the Apple Tree’ in preparation for the annual carol service.

It was mesmerising and, although only a junior pupil, I was utterly blown away by the quality of the music the older girls were making. I vowed there and then to join the senior choir. For me, that sense of looking up to the older students and wanting to emulate them was such a valuable part of the Norwich High School for Girls experience.

Norwich High School for Girls instilled in me the leadership skills and values which I rely on as an adult. The pupils have always been taught life skills alongside academic excellence. We were always encouraged to ‘have a go’ at every activity or opportunity. Each experience helped me learn where my strengths and interests lay. Norwich High enabled me to value and succeed in a non-linear career path, giving me the courage to learn from every experience and progressively identify where I wanted my career to lead. I also learnt to fundamentally believe in my ability to achieve my goals.

Leadership opportunities were, and are, available for students of all ages at Norwich High. Being elected by your peers for roles such as Form Leader, I learned early that people value trust, respect, loyalty and responsibility in their leaders. These values have been touchstones for me throughout my career and they still stand me in good stead. I’m delighted that the current students are still expected to elect their leaders, from sports teams Players’ Player to the Head Girls.

The school’s facilities are, of course, much better than they were in my day. When I toured the school as a prospective parent, both my daughter and I were amazed by the outdoor pizza ovens, mud kitchens, rowing gym and computer suites that students now enjoy. The technological facilities are fantastic – every pupil has a school device – and current students are building robots and racing cars!

The curriculum is delivered in a more flexible and fun way and there is much more breadth: there are many more academic subjects, vocational options, sports, clubs and societies than there were in the 1980s. The school has also massively developed their community service experiences for the pupils.

Norwich High still feels like home. The front of the school is unchanged: Stafford House and Eaton Grove are listed buildings, nestled in acres of green space and woodland, which still sit beautifully alongside the newer, state of the art facilities, eco-pond and Heritage Orchard.

There is the same feeling of warmth when you walk through the door. Teachers, students and support staff are so friendly and supportive of each other. It really does feel like one big family: even visitors say so!

Being part of the GDST strengthens this sense of continuity and community. Values of loyalty and friendship unite pupils across the Trust, and they are as strong now as they were in my mother’s time at the School.

Our role is to be both critical friends and ambassadors for Norwich High School for Girls. Many of the more corporate administrative elements of school governance are fulfilled by the GDST, which leaves us freer to act as advisors and a collective sounding board for Miss Alison Sefton, our Head, as she leads the school’s strategy.

Diversity lies at the heart of the governors’ strategic decisions. We strive to ensure that our students, staff and governors are diverse in terms of their viewpoints as well as their backgrounds and lifestyles. Such diversity is crucial to ensure the school is an inclusive, healthy and forward-looking environment for our pupils to learn in.

Sustainability is a major challenge. We have a duty at Norwich High School for Girls to work towards net zero carbon emissions. This is a challenge for any organisation, especially one housed in listed buildings, but we have to be a role model for our students and families in terms of protecting the climate.

Our greatest opportunity lies with our Sixth Form, which is the jewel in our crown. Norwich High School for Girls boasts a purpose-built Sixth Form centre, along with a private cafe and common room for the students. Sixth Form students enjoy a free dress code, and are taught seminar-style, in small groups, by teachers who really know them, providing them with the perfect stepping stone to the world beyond secondary education.

Leadership opportunities are unparalleled in our Sixth Form. From the Big Sisters programme to captaining sports teams, charity programmes or directing school plays, everyone has the opportunity to lead. Our students develop into incredibly successful and confident young adults but remain humble and modest, and never arrogant.

Sixth Formers at Norwich High School for Girls receive personal, 1 to 1, support with university and apprenticeship applications, far more than students elsewhere. After they leave, they have access to the GDST Rungway, which is a free online network of over 100 000 GDST alumnae, all of whom have actively signed up to support other GDST women in their career journeys.

Teaching and learning will be more individualised. The pandemic taught us the potential of technology to help us teach flexibly, with different resources for students who learn in different ways, and this process will continue to evolve. I hope there will be even stronger links between the GDST schools: as technology advances, classes can better connect across the country and I hope we can develop even greater centres of educational excellence.

The students and their values, however, will remain very much the same. Whenever I encounter Norwich High School for Girls alumnae in later life they are invariably leading, directing or organising. They may be leaders in industry or volunteers with their local sports club but all our alumnae exhibit that same ‘have a go’ spirit they developed at school, so often using their skills to serve their communities. And that’s never going to change.