Helena Ranson Anthology.
Part 3

Helena Ranson

Helena Ranson (1937-1995) was one of Coventry’s outstanding teachers. During a career spanning more than 35 years at two city schools – Binley Park Comprehensive School and Ernesford Grange School and Community College – she touched the lives of hundreds of young adults.

As an English teacher and sixth form head, she displayed a unique capacity to discover the extraordinary qualities in each of her students, and she inspired many young adults to reach beyond themselves to achieve goals they and others had previously thought unattainable.

‘..it was the ethos created by Helena; a subtle mixture of enough permissiveness to encourage intellectual curiosity, combined with enough tough-mindedness to make something of it. Helena had a rare talent of spotting and drawing out the very best of ordinary people like me’. Colin Mills

‘Each of us brought some piece of ourselves that you believed in. You made each of us special’. Rachel White

Helena – teacher, friend, wonderful human being. She was a light, and always burned bright – like Blake’s Tyger! Marilyn Lester

‘Helena was a dynamo for change ….. totally without cynicism or self-regard. She challenged me to self-reflection in a way which has marked my life ever since’ Jon Harris

Helena was born in Jerusalem to a missionary nurse (from Lancashire) and a member of the Palestine Police Force (from Yorkshire). The light and colour of her poetry and painting reflect the influence of this early upbringing. The Goult family came to Coventry in 1947 and Helena was educated at Priory High and Lyng Hall schools. After graduating from London University (Queen Mary College, and the Institute of Education) she began teaching at Binley Park School in 1960. She was a passionate advocate of comprehensive education and was a living expression of the opportunities, hope and achievement which that education can bring to each of our lives.

When Helena retired she built a new career as a community arts worker at Ernesford Grange School, working with local artists such as Carran Waterfield, supporting local schools and offering the community a remarkable and always radical mixture of dance, theatre and the visual arts ranging from Mrittika Arts, Kokuma, and the Midland Youth Jazz Orchestra to ‘Metamorphosis’ by the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. The cultural dimension to all this arts work was always foremost reflecting the multi-ethnic richness of Coventry and included Asian dance, African music and Caribbean movement.

Helena died suddenly of cancer in June 1995. A Trust was established, and is now registered by the Charity Commission, to continue and develop her outstanding educational contribution to young adults and to the Arts in the South East of Coventry at Ernesford Grange Community School. It is in this spirit, and in recognition of Helena’s personal talents, that The Trust has published ‘Survivor Moon’.