How rossholme started
How did Rossholme in Kenya start?
The story of Rossholme in Kenya begins in November 2013 when the BBC World Service launched its first list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world - the BBC 100 Women
Joyce Aruga, a remarkable, very determined and resilient trainee teacher from Kenya was on the list and invited to attend the first conference in London. Having escaped a child marriage, she had managed to secure sponsorship to do her teacher training in Nairobi, a long held ambition.
It was at this conference that she met Judy Webb, the former Headmistress of an all girls’ boarding school called Rossholme in the UK county of Somerset. Before taking on this role, Judy had a pioneering career in the British Army which is why she was on the list.
At the end of the conference, Judy invited Joyce to visit Rossholme in Somerset. It had closed as a school in 2005 but the family still lived in the building and there were plenty of school uniforms packed up in the cellar. Joyce had always dreamed of opening her own school. Judy gave her the uniforms and Joyce undertook to open a new Rossholme School, this one in Kenya.
In 2016, she opened the doors of Rossholme in Kenya in a small building in the Kiambiu slum area of Nairobi with just 6 pupils from 2-6, wearing their striking navy blue and yellow uniforms. It has been growing ever since.