An Amersham resident, who is the headteacher of St Mary’s Ukrainian School, was awarded an MBE for her services to education and the Ukrainian community on October 24.
Under Inna’s leadership, St Mary’s Ukrainian School in Holland Park welcomed hundreds of displaced children and their families to the Ukrainian cultural centre when war broke out in in February 2022. To accommodate its rapidly growing student population, St Mary’s expanded to encompass three additional premises and recruited 75 per cent of new faculty members from the displaced Ukrainian community.
Inna said: “Hundreds of children in crisis were arriving on our doorsteps. Having received this MBE, I feel empowered and even more inspired to continue supporting Ukrainians in the UK.”
Since the war, St Mary’s has set up several satellite schools so that displaced Ukrainian children settled around the country can study their native history and culture. One of these is St Mary’s in Woking, which was established in January and supports 99 children.
Now, Inna is looking to establish another satellite school nearer her own home in Amersham.
Inna told Amersham News: “Bucks Council has already agreed to support us. We’ve got Ukrainian teachers in Amersham who are eager to teach, and British friends who are happy to support us.
“Now, we just need a local school that’s happy to rent us their premises over the weekend.
“We hope that it could be a real opportunity for children in mainstream education, too, to learn about other cultures.”
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