Alumni returned to FHS on Thursday evening in a new capacity: as mentors to Sixth Form pupils. The programme intends to provide support to pupils following their transition from Year 11 in a previous school to Sixth Form here at FHS.

We felt that our new Sixth Form pupils would benefit greatly from our alumni mentors’ past experiences at FHS, as well as affording pupils the benefit of their wealth of expertise and professionalism from within a broad range of industries.

After a welcome from Headmaster Charles Fillingham and Director of Careers Jason Bosse, the evening began with mentorship training from alumna Marie El-Khazen and her colleague, Naomi Trentham, from emotion coaching company Mitos.work. Mentors were then introduced to their mentees, engaging in a brief ice-breaking exercise before getting to know one another. Mentorship sessions will begin with weekly online sessions via Teams, reducing to biweekly and then monthly from January to July 2021 – thus spanning the academic year.

Our hope is that the new mentorship initiative will provide focus and context to the new girls’ studies by enhancing their learning and developing their aptitude through academic achievement, career development and education.