07 May
2020

Sadly Missed: Anne Percival

KEHS is mourning the passing of its former Deputy Head and Physics teacher, Anne Percival, who passed away on 6th May 2020.

Miss Percival taught at KEHS for more than two decades, assuming the role of Deputy Head under Jean Wilks. Together, they made a number of forward-thinking changes, including the abolition of Sixth Form uniform and the creation of the Sixth Form Committee. Miss Percival was integral to Miss Wilks' leadership. In Phoenix 1977, Miss Wilks wrote that Miss Percival and Miss Jacques represented "a long line of distinguished Second Mistresses whose enormous capacity for hard work, whose skill in organisation, whose tact and diplomacy, have enabled the headmistresses to do their job properly."

Miss Percival left KEHS in 1979 to become Headmistress at Camp Hill Girls' School. In that year's edition of Phoenix, Nisha Pillai wrote: "With the aid of her (pale green) notes of reminder and caution, she has kept the school on a steady course. ...she developed personal relationships with us all."

At Camp Hill, Miss Percival believed that a head's role was not only to lead, but to support and encourage her staff and pupils to develop their own new ideas. She immediately established herself as someone who both leads and cares.

Miss Percival remained at Camp Hill until her retirement in 1992. She was then the longest-serving member of staff in the entire Foundation.

Miss Percival will be sadly missed across the whole King Edward's community.