We are really sad to announce that Donna Ashman died peacefully in her sleep on Monday 14th July. As with all of her life, in her last months, she defied all medical opinion and lived far longer than expected with courage and dignity. Up until the last moments, Donna's sense of humour, her warmth, interest and love of people continued to shine through. She would often reminisce about her time at Queen's, recounting fond and hilarious memories of both staff and students. 

Donna joined Queens in 1992 as a history teacher and assistant house parent in Jack Tigg. Her humour and down-to-earth approach was an integral part of helping transition the boarding house from all-boys to a mixed house and then into an all-girls house.  A boarding house trip to the Czech Republic in 1995 was a highlight for Donna and students alike.

As a history teacher, she was adored by those she taught in part because she was irreverent, mischievous, hard working (a manic marker of prep), who took the subject seriously but was also aware of its facile nature - it is just storytelling after all, with Donna being a superb and entertaining raconteur!

Many students decided to take history for GCSE, A Level and even at University simply because of the love and passion for the subject that "Miss Ashman" passed on to them. 

Donna loved travel and enjoyed taking many students on overseas trips to Berlin, Paris, Brussels and Madrid. She organised exchange trips to Calabasas school in Los Angeles but her all-time favourite trip was to Costa Rica. 

Within the UK, Donna organised regular trips, especially loving the visits to Clearwell Caves where she could be found scrambling around small tunnels with the students.

Alongside her teaching role, Donna took onboard being a Queen’s exam officer as well as setting up and developing the EPQ for 6th formers. Her commitment to see each student excel and produce an outstanding EPQ was second to none. She had a never-ending curiosity for each student's chosen topic, sitting through countless presentations with enthusiasm and interest. 

Most of all, Donna will be remembered for being a highly intelligent, fiercely loyal and inspirational woman for whom teaching at Queens was not just a career but a life's vocation. Queens flowed in her very blood, and she was extremely proud of all that her students accomplished both in school and onwards. 

I think you will agree that we have lost one of life's treasures, a uniquely beautiful person whose battle with chronic illness gave her a lot of compassion and care for staff and students alike. She will be dearly missed by the Queen’s family. 

Here is a link detailing the funeral arrangements on 18th August and the charity that Donna wanted any donations to go to   https://donnaashman.muchloved.com/

If any Old Queenians would like to attend the funeral and wake please could they let Michelle Howell (mch@queenscollege.org.uk) know asap so the family have an idea of numbers.