This is the student who was found dead in a boarding school a few weeks before her GCSE exams.
Caitlyn Scott-Lee, 16, a year 11 student, was found late Friday night in a wooded area near a playing field at £44,000 a year Wycombe Abbey School.
It is clear that her parents’ banker Jonathan Scott-Lee and his accountant wife Tara were abroad at the time and had to fly back to Britain after the tragic news.
In an email to parents in Caitlyn’s year, known as Upper V, headmaster Jo Duncan said this week: “They are a tight-knit group and, as you will understand, they are very shocked and upset.
“It is an extremely difficult time for everyone and we will do our utmost to provide the girls with the extra pastoral care they need.”
A charity event for parents and a weekend fair were canceled as a mark of respect.
Caitlyn Scott-Lee, 16, was found dead in a wooded area of the school last week
It is clear that her parents’ banker Jonathan Scott-Lee and his accountant wife Tara (pictured) were abroad at the time.
Wycombe Abbey School have said they will do their utmost to provide the girls with the extra pastoral care they need after Caitlyn’s death
Mrs Duncan ended her letter by saying: ‘I am sure you will join me and everyone at Wycombe Abbey in expressing our deepest sympathy to Caitlyn’s parents, siblings and the rest of the family who are in our thoughts at this sad time. and prayers are.’
Two years ago, Mr. Scott-Lee, a senior executive at HSBC in markets and acquisitions who also specializes in cybersecurity, wrote an article with his wife, a chartered accountant, promoting the school on its website.
He recalled Caitlyn having spent time at various schools when the family lived in Singapore, but added, “Caitlyn has always had an affinity for the UK and she had it in her mind to really want to go to boarding school.”
‘During our time in Singapore, Caitlyn was always the one who worked hard to get into a boarding school.
‘We did extensive research from abroad and looked at the best boarding schools in the UK and Wycombe Abbey in the UK was a great fit for Caitlyn.
“However, it was Caitlyn’s exemplary work ethic and motivation that ultimately led to her being offered a place at Wycombe Abbey UK.”
He praised Wycombe Abbey Hong Kong’s handling of the pandemic and concluded: ‘If you want your children to be both highly academic and learn to fine-tune a character that you would be proud of, Wycombe Abbey is the school for you.
‘There is a clear heritage of academic excellence with an emphasis on developing well-rounded students with character.
“It has been an amazing journey for my daughters at Wycombe Abbey, and we look forward to being part of the Wycombe Abbey family for years to come.”
Tara Scott-Lee, who studied at Royal Holloway, University of London, and spent her early career with Grant Thornton, now works as a bookkeeper for the MIND charity in Buckinghamshire.
A parent’s charity event and weekend fair were canceled by the school (pictured) as a mark of respect for Caitlyn
Her husband Jonathan describes himself on LinkedIn as currently working in Ontario, Canada, and as a Neurodiversity Ambassador (Mental Disability) for HSBC.
In the most recent report from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI), Wycombe Abbey was rated ‘excellent’ for students’ academic achievement and personal development.
Founded in 1896, Wycombe Abbey has 650 female pupils aged 11 to 18 and each girl has her own ‘housemother’, a girl in the year above in the same house who looks after her, especially in her early days at school.
It regularly ranks among the top girls’ schools in the country and the summary of the Good Schools Guide (GSG) reports: ‘”Workload is immense” was the overriding theme of parents; “It’s hard for girls to fit it all in.”
‘Conflicting views of parents about whether the school allows for completed education. We heard from some girls with resumes so full they didn’t have room for that little bit of DofE Gold on the UCAS form, and from others who’d been limping around for seven years with no time for anything but hard grafting.’
The entry continued, “In the Olympics exam results, Wycombe is going for gold. Parents report (mainly, but not exclusively) ‘flawless’ teaching, with the main aim being a clean sheet of excellent grades at GCSE and A levels.
‘It doesn’t happen by accident,’ students think. “Staring out the window is simply not an option, the teachers are completely occupied with it.”’
On pastoral care, the GSG reported that: ‘Not every parent we spoke to was full of praise, but for those with daughters who really needed help during their time here (with mental health issues, eating disorders or SEN diagnoses, for example), the hymns poured out. ‘
In 2019, another of the school’s students, gifted violinist Katya Tsukanova, 17, died at her father’s Kensington mansion after ingesting a deadly cocktail of cocaine and ketamine.
She was one of Britain’s brightest musicians and had given a concert at the Royal Opera House just days before her death.
Her father, former Russian banker Igor Tsukanov, found her unconscious in the family home in the early hours and she was rushed to hospital, but the doctors were unable to save her.
Among the school’s notable alumnae are actors Rachael Stirling and Sally Phillips, former top judge Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss and Lady Nicholas Windsor, daughter-in-law of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.
A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: ‘Thames Valley Police were called to Wycombe Abbey School at around 11.40pm on Friday after a 16-year-old girl sadly passed away.
“Her death is being treated as unexplained but not suspicious and a file is being prepared for the coroner.”
Wycombe Abbey School declined to comment.
Caitlyn’s funeral will take place next month at Greenacres Chiltern, a woodland cemetery and ceremonial park in Buckinghamshire.
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