Fortunately for the young female residents of Chesterfield, a group of influential businessmen, satisfied with the arrangements for the education of their sons, decided they wanted to improve the opportunities for their daughters.

The original school building, located at East Bank, Sheffield Road, Chesterfield, still exists today and is now used as offices.

The school was to remain at East Bank until 1911, and during that period secured a reputation for providing a good all-round education for its pupils.

In the Midland Railway Guide of 1899 a full page advertisement was devoted to include a sufficient variety of subjects to ensure proper development of all the faculties of the pupils.

In 1909, plans for the new school buildings were passed and work started, though it was not an easy site to develop owing to the severe slope of the land on the east side down to Infirmary Road.

Masons were employed to dress the considerable quantity of stonework with the exception of the window sills which were cut by a special machine recently invented.

The foundation stone was laid on 30 August 1909 by Dr, George Booth, a local medical practitioner, described as being to doyen of educationalists in Chesterfield He was to have a long association with the school as chairman of the governing body and always encouraged the education of girls.

Behind it was placed a bottle containing a parchment giving a description of the building, the circumstances of its erection, the names of the governing body together with newspapers and coins of the realm.

Miss Wilkes, alas, was never to benefit from the new school for she retired owing to ill health in 1910 and died on 10 December the same year.

Miss Linnell became Head Mistress in January 1911 and in September that year the new building was opened by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

Though the school was at this time was fee-paying a surprising number of pupils were awarded grants by the County Council to cover all or part of their fees.

A study of the occupations of the parents shows that the pupils came from varied backgrounds, for the September intake of 1911 the fathers' employment covered a wide variety of jobs.

Miss Stevens, who had been with the school since its foundation, relinquished her position as second mistress in 1912 because of failing health and eventually had to retire in 1914.

The subjects taught at this time were History, Science, Classics, Modern Languages, Art, English, Scripture, Music and Singing, Gymnastics, Games and Dancing – a wide curriculum for the young ladies of 1918.

The County Council did not altogether approve of being manoeuvred into buying a property in this hasty fashion but, after a letter which gently rapped the governors' knuckles, they seem to have co-operated over the adaptation of the House for school use.

Lack of teaching space saw the conversion of the covered playground at the south-east corner of the building into one form room and two Biology labs.

The School Magazine ceased to be published because of the shortage of paper and the staff were initiated into the tiresome task of fire watching.

An air-raid warden's post was built just inside the main gate of the school and still exists, though today it now contains down-to-earth things like gas meters.

National Savings groups were formed and the school adopted a Navy Motor Boat, sending the crew letters, books and at Christmas, cake which must have required some ingenuity in the making owing to the rationing of food.

Some of the VIth form decided to start a chess club ad they met in different houses each Saturday afternoon, or if the weather was good, they went on rambles instead.

It covered the terraces with a layer of grit and soot which provided interesting conditions for those playing netball on wet days.

The problem was only solved when the Royal Hospital moved to Calow in 1984 by which time a new chimney had been built on the Technical College site on the other side of the courts.

The Derbyshire Advertiser reported "St Helena School of Chesterfield won unstinted praise from the Lawn Tennis Association for their display in the Aberdale Cup.