Garden House School - Alumni news & contact

Celebrating the Journeys of Our Alumni

The Garden House School Alumni Association brings together former pupils and staff, helping lifelong connections flourish long after leaving the School. Managed by the School, the association provides opportunities for alumni to stay in touch with one another and remain part of the wider Garden House community. We are delighted to offer an Alumni Discount for the children of former Garden House pupils. For further details, please contact the Bursar.

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We always enjoy hearing from our alumni and former staff members. Whether you are excelling at senior school or university, rowing alongside old Garden House friends, celebrating a special occasion, or simply keeping in touch with former classmates, we would love to hear your news. Photographs and stories are always welcome. Below is a selection of updates and achievements from members of our alumni community. We hope you enjoy reading them and perhaps even spot a familiar face or name from your time at Garden House. If you have news to share, please do get in touch and become part of the next update.

Alex Evans

Some of my fondest memories are reading with teachers by the window and discovering a love of storytelling. Their encouragement gave me the confidence to pursue creative writing, and I’ll never forget being recognised for a poem inspired by Stevie Smith’s Not Waving, but Drowning. Memorising poetry each weekend and reciting it on Monday mornings taught us to find and take pride in our voices.After Garden House, I attended Wycombe Abbey and Columbia University in New York before working in film development and eventually becoming a writer.

Today, I write romantic comedies, holiday films and YA stories. My holiday film A Frosty Christmas is currently in development, with Chrishell Stause attached to star.I split my time between Los Angeles and New York with my husband and daughter, Persephone, who I hope will one day wear the Garden House uniform herself.

Wishing our 2025 Alumni Gappies Julia Butter, Iris Kimmins and Iris Mowbray (2018 Leavers) a fond farewell!

Iris M is off to explore Kenya, South East Asia and Europe and will be returning to study Fine Art at Edinburgh University. She was an art scholar from her GHS days, so no surprises there! Iris K is going to Australia, South East Asia and Brazil and in September will go to Exeter University to read Biology. Julia is interrailing around Europe in the Summer. She will return and go to the Courtauld to read History of Art. The girls have remained great friends since their GH days, reflecting the warmth and happiness that define GHS!

Fencing & Football

Garden House alumni continue to shine in the sporting arena! Many congratulations to our alumni: Henrietta Westin, Guillermo Hahn and Yasmine Lang who won medals at the Fencing National Championships! A special mention to Layla Lang for reaching #1 in ladies U17 foil in Great Britain!In addition, the following alumni were selected for national squads; in U17's Layla Lang, Meyra Bakla, Henrietta Westin, Isabella Cruickshank; and in U14's Selin Shahverdiyeva, Guillermo Hahn, Yasmine Lang and Luna Gubitz. Many adventures were enjoyed around Europe!

We also offer congratulations to Koray Gurpinar (2011-2016) who might be Garden House's first footballing pro! He has just signed a professional contract with Wycombe Wanderers. Might we see Koray playing in the Championship next season?

Year 11 (2020-21 Leavers) Get-together

It was fantastic to see over forty of our Alumni who are currently in Year 11 get together for a spot of basketball on the final exeat weekend of November. The 2020-2021 leavers enjoyed the opportunity to show off their sporting skills at the Chelsea Barracks. The event was kindly organised by previous class representatives. They are already looking forward to meeting up again soon!

Prefects at Cottesmore

Congratulations to Garden House old boys Alexander Demeroutis and Max Curtis who have both completed a successful year as prefects at Cottesmore. Alexander is off to Charterhouse and Max to Eton. We wish them both well on their new adventures!

Cecchetti Classical Ballet Awards

Mable Ryan wins Cecchetti Classical Ballet Awards

Alec Brooke (2010-2012) - International and Commonwealth Gold Medalist Fencing

Alec is a student at Westminster School. Alec has been fencing since the age of five and attends Knightsbridge Fencing School.Alec was selected to represent England in the Junior Squad Epee in the Commonwealth Fencing Championships in August 2022 in London. Alec did not disappoint the selectors. He enjoyed 100% success in his competitions, winning three Gold medals over a period of five days: Junior Men’s Epee individual Gold, Cadet Men’s Epee individual Gold and a team Gold in the Cadet Men’s Epee. Alec made a significant contribution to Team England’s overall win with a haul of twenty-two Gold medals. This was not the first time Alec has taken pole position on the podium. In October 2021, after a long break from international competition due to the Pandemic, Alec came out of the blocks quickly, winning Gold in the EFC Epee event in Budapest. Alec, aged only 16 at the time, emerged victorious out of a field of one hundred and forty-eight fencers. Coming straight on the heels of this success, Alec won a second Gold in the EFC Cadet Men’s Epee Competition in Belgrade. Alec emerged supreme out of a field of over one hundred and eighty competitors. His coach believes Alec’s extraordinary mental strength brought him victory in this highly-competitive competition. Although only 17 years of age, Alec is competing in Men’s Epee as well as in Cadet and Junior competitions. This runs alongside his ambition to achieve excellent 'A’Level results and thereafter to head to university.

Laura Scott nee Lambert (1996-2003) - award-winning journalist and BBC Sports News Correspondent

Former Garden House School pupil Laura Scott nee Lambert is becoming an increasingly familiar face on the BBC. You might have seen Laura reporting on the tennis at Wimbledon 2022, the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham or outside Birmingham Crown Court reporting on the trial of footballer Ryan Giggs. Laura reported on the historic retirement of Serena Williams, 23 times Grand Slam Champion at the US Open in September 2022.Laura attended Garden House School from 1996 to 2003, before heading to Heathfield School. Laura took a BSc in Geography at Bristol University, graduating in 2014. Clearly intent on a career in journalism, Laura continued her academic studies, taking a Masters in Newspaper Journalism at City, University of London. Alongside her academic studies, Laura worked for Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, wrote features for the Wimbledon Tennis website and her articles on horse racing reveal her extensive knowledge of the sport.Laura started work at the Daily Mail in 2015. Within a matter of years, Laura was winner of Sports’ Journalist of the Year at the 2019 Press Awards. Also, Laura won the prestigious Hugh McIlvanney Award for Sports’ Journalism for her exclusive breaking of the story about the Saracen’s Rugby team salary cap breach for the Daily Mail. This ground breaking investigative journalism, secured The Daily Mail an award. In January 2020 aged 29, Laura moved to the BBC as a Sports News Correspondent.

Clementine Parrett (1995-2000) award-winning brand, marketing and PR Executive

Clemmie (1995 – 2000) continued her schooling at Godstowe Prep School, filling the intervening years between Garden House and Marlborough College. Clemmie returned to Garden House as a Teacher’s Assistant during her gap year between Marlborough and university.Clemmie graduated from Bristol University in 2013 with a BSc in Social Policy and headed immediately into the workplace. Clemmie worked at several agencies promoting luxury brands from motor yachts to restaurants before working in-house promoting the Bone Daddies Group, a restaurant chain and client of her previous agency Gerber Communications. At the end of 2019, Clemmie established her own agency with eight clients. The pandemic brought its challenges but Clemmie kept busy doing pro-bono work, hitting the ground running when the UK reopened in summer 2020.
The business has gone from strength to strength and aged only 31, Clemmie is CEO of her eponymous company, employing twenty staff, representing and promoting businesses and brands across the UK, the US and Dubai.In 2022, Clemmie was the winner of two 30 under 30 awards by the RMI and CODE. In 2021 she was awarded CEO of the year by CEO and shortlisted for the Forbes 30 under 30 Award. Her business was awarded Best Brand Development Agency at the Greater London Enterprise Awards.

Isabella Cruickshank (2012-2019) wins Gold in the 2022 National Fencing Championships.

Isabella Cruickshank attended Garden House School from 2012 to 2019. Thereafter Isabella attended Putney High School.Isabella won Gold in the 2022 Fencing National Championships. This is an extraordinary achievement. Isabella has written the following about her fencing story

"I started fencing at Garden House School and always really enjoyed the lessons. Prof Kent gave me a great introduction to the sport and after leaving GHS to join Putney High School, I continued to fence at a club outside school. I decided to focus on epee, (I had learnt foil at GHS) and have competed regularly at a National level and before Covid I had also entered a couple of international competitions which was really exciting to have the opportunity to compete with so many different nationalities."

Happily, there are multitude of friendships, fostered at Garden House which last into adulthood.

Happily, there are multitude of friendships, fostered at Garden House which last into adulthood. One such enduring friendship exists between Alice Naylor-Leyland, nee Dawson and Poppy Delevigne. The girls became great friends at Garden House in the early nineties. Both Alice and Poppy have busy careers as models for Storm and both are creative collaborators for various luxury brands including Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Poppy is a film actress. Alice is a writer and contributing editor to Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. Both are married and Alice has three children.More recently, they have joined together in a collaboration born out of lockdown. The girls’ new business was featured in September 2020 in the Financial Times, the Times and the Telegraph. Contemplating a further six months at home, Alice and Poppy launched a range of opulent but elegant tablescapes to celebrate being at home and entertaining small groups of family and friends, making it a memorable event as opposed to anything utilitarian or ordinary. Both girls talked of their lifelong friendship, started at School aged four. After Garden House, Alice attended Heathfield School and Poppy Bedales.

Garden House alumna and Cambridge student Olivia Millard was featured in a double-page article in The Times

Garden House alumna and Cambridge student Olivia Millard was featured in a double-page article in The Times on 20 May 2020 discussing British Universities. Olivia sheds light on one area which needs reform or at least a serious rethink. During the first lockdown, Olivia completed her second year as a French and Spanish student at Sidney College Cambridge. Pre-pandemic, Olivia’s third year was to be spent abroad in Bolivia, immersing herself in the Spanish language. Travel of this sort has been made impossible due to the pandemic. Cambridge University’s substitute was a ‘virtual year abroad’ which Olivia describes eloquently as an ‘oxymoron’. Instead of absorbing the culture and rhythm of the country whose language she studies, an immersive language practice course based in Cambridge was the proposal. Olivia requested an alteration in the course timetable – delay her year abroad, completing her fourth-year modules in her third year and taking the fourth year as her year abroad. Eminently sensible but the University refused, wishing to stick to its original timetable. Olivia was a pupil at Garden House from 2003 – 2010 and continued her education at St Mary’s Ascot. The Millard family is a Garden House institution. Olivia’s mother Isabella is Head of French and also teaches Spanish at Garden House School. Olivia’s two brothers attended Garden House School. A number of her father Martin Millard’s art works hang around the school.

Alumni news & contact