We are saddened to learn of the sudden and untimely death of Dru James, a governor at King Edward VI Sheldon Heath School and formerly Headmistress at Camp Hill School for Girls. We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to Dru’s family.
Dru had a distinguished career in education. Before her appointment to King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, she had been Head at Wolverhampton Girls’ High School and, as a subject specialist in English, she encouraged a passion for literature in the many girls she taught earlier in her career.
After completing her highly successful professional career, she continued to make her expertise available to the King Edward VI Foundation and its schools. Notable among these contributions was her role, until recently, on the governing body at King Edward VI Sheldon Heath Academy where she fulfilled multiple roles, including Vice Chair, Chair of the Curriculum & Student Welfare Committee, Safeguarding governor and governor for Looked After Children. She was also the link governor for English.
It is a range of commitment that reflected the breadth and depth of her continuing commitment to education and her desire to maximise the opportunities it can provide to young people. As her Chair of Governors at Sheldon Heath remarked, ‘she was one of the nicest, kindest people one could wish to meet’ an opinion I can amply endorse from my encounters with Dru when she was at Wolverhampton Girls’ and, more recently, at the Foundation.
She will be greatly missed.
On behalf of the Foundation.
Hywel Thomas
Chair