Heather Mckissack
Broke down barriers between state and private schools
HEATHER MCKISSACK, who has died aged 64, was an inspiring teacher at one of London’s leading independent schools, widely admired for her work in raising aspirations for state school pupils from less privileged backgrounds, for which she was appointed MBE in 2016.
She taught chemistry for 41 years at King’s College School Wimbledon, which already had a good reputation when she joined, but which she helped propel to outstanding status in the rankings.
When a new headmaster, Tony Evans, arrived at King’s in 1997 he quickly promoted Heather Mckissack to become the first woman in the senior management team, with a mission to build relationships with state schools in south-west London, whose pupils were not always from affluent middle-class backgrounds.
The policy bore fruit in a partnership, in 2002, between King’s and Coombe Girls’ School in the London borough of Kingston upon Thames. The head teacher at Coombe, Carol Campbell, and Heather Mckissack forged a bond which broke down barriers between state and private education.
Latin was introduced to the state school’s curriculum and there were joint classes in GCSE revision, advice with applications to Oxbridge and combined teacher training. The arrangement broadened horizons for both schools.
So successful was this link that a failing boys’ school was taken under the umbrella and turned around. The project then grew, in 2003, into the Wimbledon Partnership, bringing seven state secondary schools and many other sixth forms and primary schools into the fold.
Heather Lyn Mckissack was born in Croydon on November 5 1953. Her father worked for Standard Chartered Bank and when she was two the family went out to Africa, where they moved around frequently, as he opened branches in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe).
Heather boarded at Nagle House Convent in Mashonaland and, after returning to England in 1972, took a First in Chemistry at Sussex University. Intent on further research in molecular science, she went to Brasenose College, Oxford, but, after a term, found her vocation and switched to a teaching qualification.
She was the first full-time female teacher at King’s when she was appointed in 1976 and soon built a formidable reputation. The current headmaster, Andrew Halls, described her as “the school’s equivalent of a national treasure”.
She had a highly developed sense of where King’s boys’ talents really lay – if not purely academic, then in drama, sport or art. And she had the gift of motivation. A colleague in the common room had only to express concern about an underperforming pupil and a quiet word from “Miss Mckissack” often put him back on track.
She was also appreciated for her kindness – and her ability to communicate her passion for Chemistry to her young charges. She was a driving force behind the introduction of the International Baccalaureate as an alternative to A-levels and, when the school went co-educational in the sixth form, she became a natural mentor to new generations of King’s girls.
Heather Mckissack was a talented sportswoman – a junior tennis champion in Zambia and, later in life, playing golf off a handicap of eight. She completed four marathons and climbed Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc and Cotopaxi in Ecuador. She rarely allowed herself the luxury of sitting down, rising at five on weekday mornings to run or walk round Richmond Park or swim 100 lengths of the school pool.
Though she was always known as Miss Mckissack at King’s, she was also Mrs Heather Ray, married to Ian Ray for more than 40 years. He survives her.