Jayne Triffitt – Former Headmistress

Communities are created by those who live and serve in them and it is with great sadness that I report the death of Jayne Triffitt, the former Headmistress of St Mary’s Cambridge.

Jayne died peacefully on Monday morning having battled cancer for the past year. Having spent the first seventeen years of her teaching career in the maintained sector, she became Head of Sixth at St Mary’s Ascot before her first headship at St Mary’s Cambridge and her second at Woldingham from 2007 until her retirement in 2016. During her time at St Mary’s Cambridge she brought stability and firm management to the school, continuing to build on a confident lay leadership that had been established under various previous heads since 1989.

As an Oxford Chemistry graduate, she focused on raising the profile of, and academic standards in, science teaching. Moreover, one of Jayne's greatest contributions was her ability to spot a good candidate at interview. She made some really significant appointments to key positions which led to the creative development of Music and Art at St Mary’s School. Mindful of her own background as a scholarship student at Truro High School, Jayne started to build a bursary provision at St Mary’s which has been subsequently built upon in the form of the Sister Christopher Bursary Fund.

Jayne also invested in pastoral care for girls and their families and was supportive of the staff. Under Jayne’s auspices, St Catherine’s Junior School became re-united with St Mary’s as our Junior School. Our school has much to be thankful for regarding her legacy of dedicated service and leadership and we give thanks to God for a life well lived.