Page 79 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

extraordinary challenge for Guildhall School. Through the pandemic,

Guildhall School staff and students have been endlessly resilient and

imaginative in overcoming hurdles, and our community has emerged
strong and focused on new beginnings for our arts training, for our public

engagement and for our creative industries.”

She added: “Our strong senior leadership team has been an integral part of

this, and is well equipped to meet our ongoing challenges and

opportunities, and steer the school through our post-pandemic recovery
plan. I will miss this thriving institution greatly and although I’ll be moving

back to Australia and on the other side of the world, I will follow the

school’s future success with great interest and affection. It has been such an

important part of my life and has given me so much pleasure and

fulfilment.

Williams joined Guildhall as principal in January 2017 and over her tenure

has overseen a number of major developments, including the

implementation of an anti-racism action plan and a plan to boost equality,

diversity and inclusion, as well as overseeing the school’s move to online

teaching during the pandemic.

Chair Vivienne Littlechild and deputy chair Graham Packham said she had

“accomplished a huge amount, latterly in the most challenging of

circumstances”, and that she would be leaving the school “as an energised

and inspired institution”.

Before joining Guildhall in 2017, Willians was the director of Australia’s

National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Guildhall’s governors said it would now consider “its next steps in

appointing the school’s next principal”.