The UK’s first Black headteacher.
It was announced that Yvonne Connolly had sadly passed on the 30th January, we wanted to pay tribute to her.
Yvonne was the headteacher of Rings Cross Infant School, Holloway in 1969 when she was 29 years old.
For ten years Yvonne had to travel to work with a bodyguard, as she received racist abuse when her appointment became public.
Can you imagine the toll on her mental health? The term wasn’t even around then let alone used in the Black Community.
Part of the Windrush Generation, Yvonne arrived in the UK in 1963 and completed three years of training and went on to have a 40-year career.
From 1977-1986 Yvonne was an Ofsted inspector, then went to be an active voice in the home secretary’s advisory on race relations.
In 2001, Yvonne retired from teaching and remained chair of the Caribbean Teacher’s Association. In October 2020 Yvonne received honours for her services to education with the Honorary Fellow of Education.
HRH Prince of Wales declared that Yvonne had character and determination which helped her break barriers for Black educators.
Yvonne died of myeloma, an incurable blood cancer she had been fighting for more than 10 years.
May her soul rest in peace and we at Adeptales, salute you, Yvonne Connolly.
