Head of St Pauls Girl’s School

Perhaps I’ll write my own review.

Oh well second Amazon reviewer is out and gives her 5 stars. Errr only he seems to be some university "Dr" who spends his life reviewing books (and being paid for it I wonder?) as he reviewed like 43 books on Amazon in August only.... 😂

So much for the endorsement, how good it would be if more normal readers reviewed it. I am learning a bit about the publishing world here too!

Some of the things I was particularly interested in were:

• The role of girls’ schools, the shock that girls who’ve been to this school sometimes get when they enter the workplace and gender identity issues that come up within the school;
• What it’s like to join an organisation / school as a new leader / head, building new relationships, consulting while being the one who ultimately must make decisions, managing information flow within an organisation;
• The process for recruiting a new teacher and the expectations of the teachers (they must be absolute masters of their subject who are prepared to go off the syllabus if the pupils want and who are able to adapt with very little notice);
• The importance of good food at school and the ways in which schools (and school buildings) can enhance pupils’ mental health;
• Coming to terms with perceived failure and managing the death of a pupil or someone close to a pupil; and
• Communicating with parents and building relationships with parents.

There was plenty of other stuff but this was what stood out for me.

Perhaps you can elaborate a little more on the other things you found useful, but don't worry if you don't want to.

Feel free to not read this book if you don’t think that you would enjoy it.

I did enjoy reading it. There’s a lot in there apart from the few things I mentioned.

Looks like it is as we said before the release - boring and futile. It also looks that it is not even interesting enough for the ones seeking some gossip either, based on your lines about the two things you found insightful.

Yes, the book is definitely a memoir. I'm sure that there are some very scholarly books giving an analysis of education but I had never expected that this would be one.

That's all right, we don't all have to like the same things.

Waiting for a copy to hit my local charity shop :)

Also I chuckled yesterday when I saw Amazon was trying to push the book with a sticker of "#1 bestseller in...." some narrow subject. (Who knows how they come up with this for new books, good influencing tool to push new things I guess beware....)

Well the sticker is not there today...

First Review from Amazon

"boring account of one school's year by month"
I pre-ordered this book based on the extracts in the Times on the problems of hothousing young girls. Instead of getting a decent analysis of education today (albeit a private one), this book is a whimsical memoir of the school year by month and a huge advert for her former school to boot. So unless you went to that school or have children there, give this one a skip. Nothing to see here folks and a waste of money.

It reminds me of what happens when you pop a balloon full of air.

Spgs has set a new national record with 99.5% students achieving 10+ A*-A (8/9) at gcse this year. The students work hard, why wouldn’t they want to aim for top Universities.

I know this is an old thread but I’ve just finished the book and really enjoyed it. There are some really interesting parts about how a new teacher gets chosen at the school, the reaction whenever a teacher leaves and governance structures within the school.

I don’t think there was any criticism of SPGS itself, although she did say that it’s quite painful telling parents that only applying to Oxford, Harvard and Yale is unrealistic.

No worries! I agree that it will probably be quite boring.

Sorry that was for @girlgone!

@glaciferous I agree it will be boring and generic. Spot on. Plus a pinch of Henry James and good vocabulary so at least you will learn something (I mean, you will get the chance expand your vocabulary). Obviously any promised or anticipated gossip will try to expand the audience into the plebe and the curious like us (although I will definitely buy second hand and not in a hurry to read the book). But as you imply, chances are this book will come and go very quickly.
I am secretly glad she will finally get some feedback from the audience that she cannot "control".
Be careful what you wish for!

they react defensively to, and take quite personally, any criticism of the school

It's not 'any criticism'. I have my own criticisms of my time there tbh, though it was a positive experience overall. It's a constant unrelenting barrage of sneering and nastiness. I expect it is not that noticeable if you happen not to be on the receiving end. Other schools and their pupils/alumni don't seem to attract the same kind of thing. I wouldn't be surprised if the loyalty and affection might well be partly created by having this common experience of the sneering etc!

Also, re only mixing with a narrow range of people, I would hope that all Paulinas have plenty of contact with a wide range of people outside school, although it's probably true that many don't. I can confidently say that my daughter does as that happens to be important to me. She has also taken part in quite a lot of outreach stuff at school with local state schools and enjoyed it (and made friends).

It is hard to believe that there is not a big emphasis put on results at the school given the results it gets

I appreciate it is hard to believe, but in my experience it is true (DD has yet to hit the exam years so ask again in a few years). There is a big emphasis on doing your personal best as there was some time ago but comparing yourself to others is not emphasised at all.

Jeanne16 we are jumping to conclusions that it is purely aimed at Spgs parents, which would be surprising as I don’t believe she would want to be viewed negatively. My guess it will be very generic ... and boring!

No, Girlgone, I don't have children at the school. As I work in a school, I'm just interested in how schools gain particular reputations! I know that the sort of intense experience provided by a school like SPGS must create feelings of great loyalty and affection in those who enjoy their time there. I also know that some negative comment will be unfair. It is working out to what extent a reputation might be deserved that is interesting.

It is hard to believe that there is not a big emphasis put on results at the school given the results it gets, though - it's all getting a bit mythical to argue the school is so much better in every way than any other school that it achieves its results without applying a lot of pressure itself on its students to achieve exam success. If nothing else, if you inspire that much loyalty and devotion in your student and parent body that they react defensively to, and take quite personally, any criticism of the school, you are creating a situation where they will put huge amounts of pressure on themselves to demonstrate they are worthy members of the community they so revere, and they will not find it easy to admit if it is not always positive for their mental health to do so.

I know from my own school experience just how easy it is to assume everything is as positive for others as it is for you. Many years since leaving my school, I am surprised by the number of people who tell me they were not particularly happy there and/or who found it unsupportive - I certainly didn't feel that myself and didn't notice it in them at the time as quite a number of them were very involved in a lot of school activities and seemed to be thriving. When there is a weight of expectation on you to be making the most of opportunities, to be seen to be resilient and to be achieving great results, it is not always easy to be honest about your real internal dialogue. So, whilst I am sure SPGS is a fantastic place for some, I still reserve judgement on where the balance lies between its detractors and supporters. I do know, like any school, it is not and can never be perfect, and that to refute all criticism can look like protesting too much.

Having girls that can work at accelerated levels opens the way for learning beyond the curriculum and creates a really stimulating classroom environment.

Sorry walkaround I haven’t read back to see if you have a Dd at Spgs, but the one thing you are mistaken in saying is that the school attracts a very narrow personality type. Have been there 6 years & the one thing that is quite remarkable is the very different personalities.

It is indeed true that there is not a school that is a great fit for all and any children. However, make the personality and ability type in a school extremely narrow and I think you begin to miss out on the valuable life experience of dealing with other types of people and personality - without even realising it, because that is your norm and you are, obviously, happy with it.

The previous Head of my DSs' Prep was a pupil at SPGS. This was the very first thing that she told us in her introductory speech at Speech Day at the end of the school year before she joined as Head.

For every Old Paulina who really wants their DD to go to SPGS, I know another who really doesn't. They nearly all think it's a great school, but they don't all think it's right for their DDs.

Completely agree with this. And that's as it should be, for any school. There does not exist a school that is a great fit for every single child.

I often found out from the quiet ones while discussing prospective senior schools. For every Old Paulina who really wants their DD to go to SPGS, I know another who really doesn't. They nearly all think it's a great school, but they don't all think it's right for their DDs. I've observed the same with many schools, e.g., Old North Londoners.