Visiting My Former School Richmond House on Book Tour

It’s a uniquely special experience visiting your former school as an adult, especially when your experience there made such an indelible impression on your life and career. Great education should have a long lasting impact.

That’s what Richmond House did for me.

This wonderful prep school instilled unflappable confidence in me from a young age, it encouraged me to speak up, to share whatever I’d learnt generously with others (I gave a speech to a younger class when my geography project on Australia was revered) and to commit to pushing out of my comfort zone whether that was on stage in plays, playing netball competitively or memorising Wordsworth in English.

During my formative time there, I remember following through with an idea I had to create the first school magazine, photographing every picture, and writing the editorial within it, celebrating the school. This was duly photocopied, laminated and given to prospective parents on Open Days and it also bagged me the Design Technology cup at prize giving. Many years later I became the editor of Film & Festivals Magazine. I suppose I embody the term multipotentialite, working across different sectors and having pivoted in my career from filmmaking to TV broadcasting, content creation and writing books.

I visited Richmond House yesterday to share my second book and bestselling debut children’s book Greek Myths, Folktales & Legends published by Scholastic UK and not only was it described as a high energy, fun, informative and creative assembly, it was deeply moving for me to retrace my steps and give something back to children who were once sat in that assembly hall, where I once was 35 years ago! 

Sharing a book reading, writing myths collectively as well as sharing exercises where children matched the myth to the TV show or movie followed by a signing and Q & A with the bright, affable and engaged students, it was a memorable day hopefully for all of the students in attendance in Year 3, 4 and 5, and undoubtedly for me.

The children adored the ancient Greek inspired hair piece Claire Austin England designed for me.

I look forward to returning again. Thank you Richmond House!

Below I share a piece I sent to the school on my memories of my time there along with a photo from all those years ago of my brother Solos and I!

I have many fond memories of my time at Richmond House. I loved performing and acting in lots of school productions held in the assembly hall. 

Playing Miss Honey in Matilda was a stand out moment for me, as were the various comedy roles I often invented, mostly as old men, in other productions (much to the rapture laughter from the parents in attendance)!

I had an idea to create the very first school magazine for Richmond House too, taking all of the photos and writing about the wonderful facilities and opportunities on offer at the school. Miss Pettingale, the Headteacher at the time proudly showed it to prospective parents for a long time after. I later became the editor of Film & Festivals magazine, writing for The Guardian during my time at university before then. 

Another highlight was giving a presentation to some of the younger years, where I shared my geography project on Australia, a country I’ve still not managed to visit yet! 

I won the Geography, DT and Art Cup at Speech Day during my time there, and still have the books given to me by the school as a keepsake when the cups were returned.  

Richmond House gave me the confidence to hone my voice, build self-confidence and stand proud in front of an audience. This has fared well in my career as I’m also a regular contributor on ITV’s Good Morning Britain news show, having worked with them for almost a decade, as well as appearing on BBC Radio 4 and 5 sharing my insights into breaking news affecting children and parents. I’ve even been invited to speak in Parliament several times on roundtables discussing the online safety bill, and maternity rights, respectively. 

My former English teacher Mrs Sullivan taught me to believe in my strength as a writer during my time at Richmond which has helped me as an author. 

My debut non fiction book Mumboss became a bestseller and was deemed one of the top 10 business books written by women by the Independent, and my recent children’s book Greek Myths, Folktales & Legends is already in its second reprint after just 3 weeks, when that usually happens after a year, so it’s proving popular with children and adults alike! 

As a British Greek Cypriot, it’s wonderful to pass on my ancestors’ magical, often weird and wonderful stories, adapting them to be more modern pieces that will hopefully resonate with young readers. Thank you for having me back at Richmond House, to share the incredible world of ancient Greece with you!

All professional photos by Ben Harris and shared publicly with permission.