We are always delighted to welcome our alumni back to Alleyn’s. As our Edward Alleyn Club magazine illustrates, members of the alumni community regularly come back to give up their time in the classroom, on the stage or in the workshop. We are incredibly fortunate!
This week is no different, as National Careers Week 2025 saw us welcome back Ewan Leslie (Tulley’s 2016) and Kate Ackland (Tyson’s 2011) to Townley Road.
Ewan revisited the Art Department to connect with Head of Art and Art History, Mrs Sally Reynolds, and pupils from across different year groups. A graphic designer specialising in creative direction, visual identities and motion design, Ewan inspired pupils with his reflections on working with a broad range of clients such as Jamie XX, Haai, On Running, the musician Fred Again and the international household names Nike and The New York Times.
Pupils were captivated by Ewan’s presentation, which showcased wonderful examples of his recent work to bring his points to life. He talked about his work at Daisy Chain Studio, explaining how he approaches different clients and how his personal practice is rooted in an experimental approach, allowing him to develop bespoke visual languages for each project he takes on.
After answering a range of questions, Ewan offered the pupils some additional motivational guidance for artistic success, but which indeed are very appropriate in all walks of life: don’t be afraid to reference others and to learn; you can’t win if you don’t play; and start by saying yes to every opportunity. Sound advice indeed - and perfectly aligned with our ROCCK values!
Out of the art studio and into the language lab, Kate was hosted by Head of French Mrs Wright and also happily managed to catch up with her former tutor, Mr Vince Strain. Kate shared with Year 10 pupils her insights on the benefits of learning a language and how doing so can make a huge difference in any career, not just those with a language focus. She also provided her valuable advice to Year 12 students, who are at an important stage as they consider their next steps.
Now a Senior Legal Counsel with pharmaceutical specialist Norgine, Kate studied French and Italian at university, learning the latter from scratch. She found it a really rewarding degree which taught her a lot about culture and history and helped her develop the skills that helped her to get where she is today.
Kate spoke about language learning benefits including the ability to listen well, pick up material points, develop good attention to detail, communicate complicated concepts and improve memory (particularly helpful for remembering complex legal information!). Today, Kate works in-house, which means she can see how her work feeds into different areas of the business and help ensure people understand the law.
Pupils were very keen to ask Kate questions about both her law and language experiences, such as what the culture was like at the different law firms she has worked with, and at what point she was able to understand French and Italian without having to think about it! The answer to the latter was during her year abroad (six months in Paris then six in Sienna) which she considers the best time of her life; daunting but an amazing opportunity that she now realises has given her a huge edge in her career in terms of confidence, experience, skills and relationship building.
We are so grateful to both Ewan and Kate for giving back with their time in this way. Current pupils gain so much from hearing about different professions and the various pathways into them, and especially so when those insights are shared by fellow members of the Alleyn’s community. If you would like to volunteer to support the careers programme at Alleyn’s in this way, do get in touch.
The Alleyn's Schools Group
We are delighted to announce the opening of Alleyn’s Regent’s Park and Alleyn’s Hampstead, from September 2025. These will be the first schools to join the Alleyn’s Schools Group. Learn more here.
Last updated on 06 03 2025 at 09:46
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.png&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "Lord Kakkar addresses IDEAS@Alleyn’s on Opportunity, Institutions and our Democracy")
