Minerva Circle Spotlight

The Minerva Circle recognises and thanks members of our community who choose to make a gift to South Hampstead through a legacy in their will.

Earlier this year, we spoke to one of our members, Patricia Yudkin (née Nabarro), who shared her reasons for supporting our bursary programme in this way. Patricia and her sister Rosemary were Trust Scholars and beneficiaries of the Direct Grant Scheme in the 1950s. Their mother had also attended South Hampstead and the family connection goes back over 100 years. Both girls were talented mathematicians at school and Patricia was one of the triumphant South Hampstead team members in the BBC competition ‘Top of the Form’ in 1958.

The sisters went on to have notable careers as educationalists: Patricia as a Professor and Researcher at Oxford University and Rosemary as a Maths teacher and consultant. They have published numerous research papers and academic books; The Nabarro Maths Prize, which is given to the top Sixth Form mathematician each year, is awarded in their name.

“I was born in 1941 and started at South Hampstead Junior School at the age of six. I was shy and quiet, but was comfortable in the orderly atmosphere of the school and felt no pressure to be other than myself.

I continued into the Senior School and made good friends there; I’m still in touch with several of them. Apart from academic work, I was in various sports teams, and there were many opportunities to take part in Music or Art, Debating or Acting. Subsequently, I gained a place at Oxford University to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

After my degree, I took a one-year course in Statistics and worked briefly in the Civil Service in Whitehall. After I married and returned to live in Oxford, an inspirational friend (a Doctor) recommended me to a medical department. He realised that it would be transformative to have a statistician working in medical research, for example, analysing whether particular treatments were useful or could be improved. It took time and persistence to establish this branch of research, but it is now flourishing and the medical school in Oxford includes a large department of statisticians.

At South Hampstead I was on a ‘Direct Grant’ place, funded by the Government. At that time, many of us were on Direct Grant places, but times have changed and such places no longer exist. This is why I want to leave a legacy to help support bursary places at South Hampstead in the future. A good education is a lifelong asset, and should be available to all. It is important that everyone gets a chance.”

A good education is a lifelong asset, and should be available to all. It is important that everyone gets a chance.

The Minerva Circle recognises and thanks members of our community who choose to remember South Hampstead in their will. A legacy is one of the simplest and most flexible ways of supporting the school. The GDST has partnered with free will-writing service FareWill , which is available to all members of our community.