JUNIOR SCHOOL

At the end of the Summer Term, the School said goodbye to their founding Headmistress, Mrs Rosalind Hayes, who is retiring. Previously the Headmistress of St James's in West Malvern, Mrs Hayes was instrumental in leading MSJ through the successful merger of Malvern Girls' College and St James's in 2006 and MSJ has gone from strength to strength under her leadership.

The School marked the occasion with the annual Commemoration Service held in the Priory, followed by Speech Day and Prize Giving at the School's Sports Centre. Guest, Jo Salter, the first female fast jet pilot in the UK who, at one time, was one of only five female fast jet pilots in the world, gave an inspirational key note speech.

Chairman of Council, Mrs Anne Borrowdale, paid tribute to Mrs Hayes and said, 'We are indebted to Mrs Hayes for her strong and visionary leadership. She has been an outstanding Headmistress. She established successfully Malvern St James as a leading all-girls' boarding and day school whilst keeping alive the traditions and spirit of its component parts'.

Mrs Hayes thanked the School for its support and loyalty over the past four yearsand gave special thanks to her Leadership Team. She said, ''I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their unshakeable belief in Malvern St James and the support they have given me in so successfully meeting the challenges of the last four years. The ‘outstanding', overall judgment, rarely given in Ofsted boarding inspections, is testament to their clear direction and the strong leadership provided in their individual areas of responsibility. Mrs Hayes also paid tribute to the support from her family. Husband, Tom and son, Edward, were in the audience as were Mrs Hayes' sister and mother, who celebrated her 89th birthday that day. Mrs Hayes closed with a welcoming message for her successor, saying, ' I am confident, that under the leadership of your new Headmistress, Mrs Patricia Woodhouse, I leave you in good hands and that the School will continue to go from strength to strength'. To view Mrs Hayes' speech in full, please click here.  To view additional photographs, please click here.

Deputy Headmistress, Mrs Musgrave , presented Mrs Hayes with a cheque from the parents and the staff had presented her earlier in the week with an oak bench for her garden.

Commemoration and Prize Giving was a beautiful and fitting close to an exciting and challenging four years and the School wishes Mrs Hayes every happiness in her retirement which promises to be anything but quiet; she has already started to train for a challenging Himalayan trek in order to raise money for The Parkinson's Disease Society and plans to visit Australia.

The School looks forward to welcoming Mrs Patricia Woodhouse when she takes up the position of Headmistress from 1st September.