Old Girls visit

Old Girls visit Richmond Adult Community to relive memories of old school

Richmond Adult Community College was approached by Kate O’Sullivan on behalf of a group of ‘old girls’ from Twickenham County High School for Girls to have a reunion in its Clifden site in Twickenham. The buildings had formally been the Twickenham County High School for Girls which closed in 1978 but were taken over by Richmond Adult Community College when there was a re-organization of secondary education in the borough. The ‘old girls’ had attended Twickenham County High School during the 50’s and 60’.The Principal & Chief Executive and Bill O’Neill, Head of Estates welcomed them to the site on 18th May 2011 with a complimentary luncheon, tour of the old buildings and an afternoon of remembrance looking at old photographs and swapping school stories. In attendance was Cllr Malcolm Eady who had welcomed the event. Christina Conroy OBE, Principal & Chief Executive said “We were really pleased to welcome the ladies to the site and had some fun when we were on the tour as we had found some carvings in the brick on one of the outside walls from the 50’s and 60’s and I was able to see if any of the ladies knew who had done it. They were able to tell me that it was the Prefects who had been responsible. We also took them to the old Clifden School Hall where we still have the honour boards and some of the ‘old girls’ were able to see their names up with their exam achievements listed. They were able to tell me what all the rooms had been used for originally and it really helped to get an understanding of the history of the building. Coming to the Clifden building helped them to recall their school days and their inner schoolgirl was liberated with lots of giggles and excitement. At the end of the afternoon the ‘old girls’ collected £80 which I was able to donate to our fundraising charity , Portcullis Trust who are collecting funds to support disadvantaged adults to attend College.”

For further information on events and courses at RACC please visit www.racc.ac.uk.

Further Information contact: Janet Croney on 020 8891 5907 ext 7926, email janet.croney@racc.ac.uk