Cecile Yvonne Conolly CBE (1939 – 27 January 2021) was a Jamaican teacher, who became the United Kingdom's first female black headteacher in 1969, aged just 29-years-old.
"[3] Undeterred, she moved to Canfield Gardens in West Hampstead, north London, where she took jobs as a babysitter, cleaner and typist, as well as securing work as a supply teacher.
In January 1969, and much to her surprise, Conolly was offered a promotion to become headteacher at Ring Cross Primary School on Eden Grove in Holloway, Islington.
Her appointment to the post attracted much attention from the British media, and she was subjected to repeated attacks in some national newspapers, as well as receiving hate mail at home.
Carrying the responsibility of being the first-ever female black headteacher in the country, it was the reason she gave for setting up the Caribbean Teachers Association.
[9] Conolly spent nine years as headteacher of Ring Cross Primary School and, in 1978, she left to take up a position as a member of the multi-ethnic inspectorate created by the ILEA (Inner London Education Authority).
[15] In the Queen's Birthday Honours in October 2020, Conolly was made a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for services to education.