Did you always have aspirations to become a headteacher?

(Laughs) No, definitely not! I started my career in advertising and worked for J. Walter Thompson. My claim to fame was that I was an Account Executive on the Andrex account - so I spent lots of my time working with puppies and Marketing Execs. Unfortunately though, I didn’t really enjoy living in London, so I looked into a one year course for teaching instead. Prior to teacher training, you have to do a compulsory week at a school and I just absolutely loved it. I’ve been extremely lucky with my career and how it has unfolded and I haven’t regretted one moment of it, even if none of it was really planned! 

Do you think being a parent helps you to be a good headteacher?

Yes, definitely. Being a parent and a teacher means that you may not necessarily be able to solve things straight away, but you do come at it from a different perspective because you have both the teaching experience and experience of the child and parent relationship too. I’d also like to think that it’s a comfort for the parents because I understand their concerns and worries about their children. You learn a lot about children over the years when you're in charge of so many - and I think that other people's children are always so much more delightful than one's own! 

So, you've been the Head at Cheltenham College for two years now, do you feel that there are more changes that you’d like to make?

When you come in as a new Head, people often think you come with a whole new, big plan laid out - but actually you don’t. You really have to learn to respect the institution and how it all works and what the strengths and weaknesses are, as these are not visible from the outside. I prefer to take a collaborative approach and take people with me and grow areas with the pupils feeding into the different things that we do. 

We have made a few changes which are significant inside the organisation (having a proper school council, a wider range of subjects and adding to the pastoral care systems that are already in place).

My mission is that we are viewed as being really modern in our approach, fresh-thinking and flexible - Covid has challenged us to demonstrate our fresh-thinking and flexibility,, in terms of us being able to try new things which we may not have dared to do before. There have been many successes despite the situation. Now I have had a chance to settle in and get to know the place and the pupils, I’m excited about being able to grow this ethos.

How do you compare Cheltenham to the time you spent as Head at Blundells? 

I was very fortunate to have had my first Headship at Blundells, it's very ‘down to earth’ and country-based and therefore has huge overlaps with us here at Cheltenham. The difference for me and why I came here, is that this school is a bigger school with more opportunity. It also has more depth and therefore has much more scope to do exciting things. I learnt a lot from Blundells which put me in great stead to take on Cheltenham to the best of my ability with the relevant experience under my belt.

How would you describe the cultural ethos at Cheltenham College?

I wouldn’t say that we have a certain ‘type’ of pupil; we are a very well-rounded school and I think our pupils reflect that. I think our ethos is a lot more grounded than some people think it is, so when people say that (as a school) we are ‘not on their radar’ I think they make the wrong assumptions based on what the school and its historic buildings look like. 

Our pupils are very practical and hard working and will roll their sleeves up at anything; they have a real sense of drive about them and I think in that way, the ethos is really about characterful pupils. If you were to sit next to an Old Cheltonian in years to come, I’d like to think that they would be interesting, gracious, let you speak and also take an interest in what you do; that for me, is the most important thing. 

We also need to foster their independence as there is no silk road for them to walk down and they need to create their own lives and paths; it’s a bumpy journey and they need to grab life with both hands and be responsible for themselves which I think they all are encouraged to do.

Would you consider yourselves to be a very competitive school in terms of sport and education?

I think healthy competition is good and I really love the fact that we have 1st/Senior teams, for both boys and girls and our 2nd 3rds and 4th teams in each sport all have a fantastic time and play matches every week. Unlike many other schools, pupils continue to do sport right up until the end of 6th form; there’s a real sense that you've missed out if you give it up. 

We celebrate pupils being good at all the sports across the board; for us, it's not just about the 1st teams. Being competitive is a part of life; that said, learning to know how to fail and what you learn from it is an equally important lesson. As part of our pupil development framework (known as Floreat) we have a saying that ‘Failure is feedback for learning’, which all the pupils know about - it’s important for them to recognise this I feel!

Do you think that mental health issues such as eating disorders, have become more of an issue over the last few years?

I’m really pleased because the pupils are talking about mental health issues much more freely these days; not because it’s more prevalent but because they feel it's much more acceptable to do so which of course, is a good thing. We have Chapel talks every week where pupils talk and they really do open up to 750 people; they're incredibly brave; during lockdown we videoed some of them doing their talks and I think it's really great for others to hear and see that. 

As we all know, speaking about problems is the way to solving them; not just burying your head in the sand. I think there is a lot more pressure on pupils these days from all avenues of life so being able to open up is absolutely key.

Following on from that, what are your thoughts about things such as TikTok and similar social media platforms?

As a Head, I have to accept that social media is there, so we need to manage it. It is a case of us having to educate pupils on how to use it properly and where the pitfalls are. I think during lockdown it really did help some people but personally, I find it sad that celebrities can use it in what I feel are often negative ways.  

One of our members of staff leads on ‘digital character’, Her work is wide-ranging, but as a part of it, she runs an Instagram account; using this, she teaches the pupils positive digital values and to practise  moderating themselves on Instagram which I think is hugely beneficial and the best way to manage the situation. 

Cheltenham pivoted brilliantly to homeschooling during lockdown. Microsoft Teams seemed to work really well; if you had to do it again (let’s pray we don’t) do you think that you would use this method again?

Yes absolutely. Just before lockdown happened and throughout the Easter holidays, we had a staff meeting to look into which applications we were going to use and this, in my opinion, has proved to be the most efficient platform for us. The functionality of having a Notebook and having the ability to load things up into Pages which we can share and discuss was just amazing. We are still using it now even though we don’t have to - it has revolutionised our teaching. 

What, in your opinion, were the positives and negatives about homeschooling and what lessons will you take from it to apply now to your teaching methods?

I think the main lesson we learned was that we could really get creative with our teaching methods and think ‘outside the box’ with getting certain things done. Take sport, music, singing and competitions for example - and even broadcasting Chapel services to everyone too! 

I think what was really difficult was not being able to mark the end of the year for the Leavers; that was a real shame and rather sad for everyone involved. - Maybe next summer we will be able to organise something to mark their leaving.

Are there any new subjects or skills which you are planning on introducing to the curriculum?

This year we have introduced a couple of new ones. We found that quite a few of the subjects at A-level were becoming too rigorous and exam based and we wanted to initiate some subjects which were more coursework-lead, so we have introduced two things called Cambridge Technicals so now we do a Business Studies A-level and a Cambridge Technicals in Business and we have the same for A-level in Computer Science and the Cambridge Technical version in ICT which is linked to the Business course. Both have proved to be very popular which is a great start. We shall look to introduce more but now may not be the time to do it! 

I’d love to do the Pru Leith cooking course for our pupils; at Downe House where I was before, we introduced that and it was extremely popular and very practical - hopefully one day we can sort it here but maybe I need to discuss it with our Bursar first!

Going back to Coronavirus, has there been a lot of concern for the international students? Have any of them not returned to school as a result of the pandemic?

We definitely had a lot more communication with our international students over the summer. When we returned to school this year we had 45 remote learners still; that is now down to about 20 so out of the 730 pupils, only having 20 remote learning is quite good at this stage and hopefully those remaining 20 will be back with us before January at the latest which is great.

If one of your pupils test positive for Coronavirus, how are you going to manage it?

If someone has tested positive with the virus, Public Health England is contacted and we undertake our own track and trace system. We know seating plans for all the classes and operate in-house class bubbles, so we know who the pupils are mixing with. We then analyse where they've been and also who they have had conversations with recently. If they have to self-isolate but can't go home, we have rented two staffed houses off-site, so they stay there. If ‘close contacts’ have to self-isolate then most people go home, but we can also isolate them here too where their lessons will continue remotely.

Can you see yourself wanting to stay Head for many years to come? 

Yes definitely - but not anywhere else but here! I am so happy here and I am not a massive lover of change, whether it's moving schools or houses. I feel it has taken me a while to get stuck into my role here; taking time to get to know everyone and everything, now I'm feeling so happy and settled and for me, this is a great place to be. I’ve got many years of my career yet to come and when I’ve been here five years I will really feel like I know everything and will hopefully have another five years to really make a big difference!

Finally, what do you like to do to relax?

I’m a mad keen (horse) rider so riding is my love and my sisters and parents have horses so I do that as much as possible. I have a dog, so walking, especially around Cheltenham in the hills, is wonderful. I am also a keen skier and I love to travel. I am lucky to have been able to do that quite extensively with my job too. Despite this, I’m really a bit of a home bird though and any time I can spend outdoors is a bonus!

Thank you so much for chatting to me today and wishing you lots of luck that things run as smoothly as possible for the rest of this term and the school year.