Helen Sheldon

Helen Maud Sheldon (15 October 1859 – 16 May 1945) was a British headmistress of Sydenham High School and an educationist.

Her parents Ann (born Sharp) and John Sheldon arranged for their daughters to attend Handsworth Ladies' College and remarkably three of the girls went on to higher education in Cambridge.

[1] In 1898 she became the head of the Girls’ Public Day School Trust (GPDST) in Dover.

She introduced the idea of senior girls becoming prefects and she divided the school into houses.

Sheldon's family had left her money and she used some of this to offer her school interest free loans.