The Old Girls’ Association is delighted to announce that the 2023-2024 Dorothy Lester Travel Scholarship has been awarded to Year 13 Sixth Form students, Reilly and Emily.

Congratulations!

Reilly is planning to act as a Counsellor and Mentor at Chestnut Lake Camp, Pennsylvania in June. Reilly then plans to study Psychology at Newcastle University with a view to becoming a Child Psychologist. She has funded the upfront costs so far by working at a local retailer and selling her artwork. Reilly will also have some free time to travel and is looking forward to doing so independently.

Emily is planning to travel to the Azores, Portugal (Sao Miguel Island) in September. Emily is going to explore and research a wide variety of geographical themes and processes before starting her university studies in October. Given the high tectonic activity and Mediterranean climate, this is a perfect case study of the powerful influence of tectonic activity and climate on the culture and human activity on the land.

The Old Girls’ Association kindly award this scholarship in memory of Miss Dorothy Lester, who was a much loved and respected Headmistress from 1954 to 1979. When Miss Lester died, the Old Girls’ Association wanted a way to ensure that we never forgot her or her contribution to the School. Miss Lester loved to travel and always believed that it broadened the mind and gave you experience and knowledge which would be of great benefit. For this reason, the Old Girls’ Association decided to award a Travel Scholarship to a Sixth Form student, in this case two Sixth Form students.

The Scholarship is awarded to a Year 13 student who proposes to use initiative and enterprise in planning to travel somewhere and to do something which is of educational value.

Previous recipients of the award have:

• Worked with pre-school children in the deprived areas of South Africa.
• Taught in Perth, Western Australia and Ghana.
• Worked in a YMCA camp in Alberta, Canada and with Camp America.
• Studied the benefits of using public transport in Berlin to reduce carbon emissions.
• Farmed in the Norwegian Fjords.
• Explored the language, literature and geography of Iceland.
• Participated in Gap Medics in a hospital in Tanzania along with time with a Masai tribe.
• Travelled to Nepal and carried-out scientific experiments in the Himalayas.
• Travelled to Norway canoeing on the world-renowned Fjords and taking twelve hour-long treks including the very demanding Trolltunga hike.

On their return, the winners of the award will write a report about their experience and will return to school to deliver a whole school assembly about their travel adventures.

We wish both Emily and Reilly a very successful trip and look forward to hearing about their adventures on their return.

Thank you to Diana Robinson, Chairman of The Old Girls’ Association for these words.