Head of St Pauls Girl’s School

Don't forget the article would have been edited and condensed.

However it is true that some parents are pushy and unrealistic about their child's expectations I've come across that frequently.

Far from... Sorry stupid phone.

To be fair this message of pushy parents is fair from new. www.telegraph.co.uk/education/11262228/Top-head-attacks-pushy-snowplough-parents.html

How do you know the message is right, have you read the book?

She’s always been skinny! She used to do a lot of running.

I don’t think being a very well paid head and having something to say about education are separate. One follows from the other. I guess she’s around 69 now so she wants to write a book and publicise it. Loads of professional people do this. The extracts will be sensationalised but the message is still right.

And. Releasing the book in the Autumn is perfect timing to go to the market with all those SPGS and other top schools hopeful parents. Never mind releasing it after Christmas when all the exam prep is virtually over!

And you can still be really intellectual and well spoken but not insightful. Or not suited for other jobs.

Yes I don't blame her for moving on. She must be so resilient to keep on going on that job for so long. It just feels uncomfortable she is all about monetising now on a subject that should be far away from money.

So it is tricky to get people to take you seriously from now on. Wonder what her book audience will be, a composite of the curious and the ones who are trying to learn everything about getting your girl into a new school. It is a pity because she must have something to say about building resilience and having passion for what you do. But no, the selling theme here is bashing the SPGS parents for being too pushy. That will get a few more books out the door...

As for her weight (poor thing she is really in the limelight but then, be careful what you wish for!) she does look a bit thin in some pictures but I honestly think she looked normal when I met her in person recently.

CF looks like she has an eating disorder, which is very much not the role model I’d want for my daughter, regardless of academics.

You never know what anyone will do when they move on! So I assume you think CF wasn’t sufficiently intellectual? That’s a bit snobby! Typical St P parent view perhaps? So she just was not good enough. No doubt us country bumpkins at lesser schools are easily pleased.

I agree with Rockylady. And I also suspect "the wrong college" was an entertaining retelling of an off the cuff remark: I've heard that indies are often advising applicants to focus on lower profile colleges now the pressure is on Oxbridge re diversity of intake. So many parents may be slightly surprised that their superbright DDs are steered to apply to less prestigious colleges than the ones they themselves attended, perhaps. But it sounds terrible (and far more interesting) when it's put as the newspapers have it. I daresay the newspapers have spiced up what CF has written in her book. When I attended CF's talks, I never had any impression of these views she has put across in the book (or as it has been reported, at least). But the new head is very sincere, intellectual and comes across very well -and not at all as a media-hungry head of the type we are seeing more and more of these days. Which is a good thing for the school in my view.

She may have been brilliant and done good in the past but I am highly suspicious her book is a lot more about monetising that experience than about the content and reaching out. I think she is divorced now but in any case a good publisher would have told her about how and when to plant good press and where, just ahead of the book release. It all sounds just about well timed.

She may be a governor at Winchester and well deserved but she knows a few influencers there and it is a school after all, so nothing new to her. I was not saying she is a lightweight on the contrary she seems very well spoken albeit contrived and playing the part, it is just that in other board environments I can see she may struggle if she does not get it exactly her way. And frankly my own experience of seeing her is that she was very well spoken but not very insightful and definitely (always) running an agenda.

Hopefully the book has some content and it is not just a money spinner. I know in her latter years, she was not that popular at the school (in fact this is public if you google too)

Well at our old school she was brilliant. Not overly approachable but she ran a tight ship. The girls admired her. What she brought was the sense that the school needed to move from a depositary for DDs who were the least bright in the family (and were expected to marry well) into
a school where all girls could be inspired to get a career for themselves. This was no idle statement. She improved teaching, aspiration and was seen around the school by the girls and led by example. She had excellent SLT. The head that followed was poor by comparison. Many of us missed her and some parents were shocked that she moved on!

Several years on from leaving St Pauls she has written a book. Good for her. She’s also a Governor at Winchester so I doubt she’s a lightweight! She always was getting into the press when she was chair of the GSA and probably it helped that her former DH worked for The Times. Putting her views forward isn’t new and she should do it. She has a platform and so many people want the pressure on DC to calm down. Often the brightest pile the pressure on themselves but parents should let the school do what is best.

I went to a grammar and my friend got 3% in a physics exam. The teacher said he gave her 1% for spelling her name correctly! Not getting overly concerned is better for mental health!

I remember a girl in my year at SPGS crying because she had got 93% in a Latin exam, rather than 100%. Equally you had me who got 36% in her geography exam and didn't care. Different people react differently to the same environment and pressures. There are always going to be some in any environment who deal with disappointment badly (and some who are just lazy or not interested).

FWIW, the current environment at SPGS seems to be very focused on limiting the pressure and stopping girls from doing too much unnecessarily. My DD is still only young but was really disappointed to find out that she wasn't allowed to write 3000 words for a recent project (which is what she had been planning) and was instead restricted to a pithy 500.

must confess I may buy the book too (when the price comes down, as I am sure it will, or second hand from other mums).
I met her once (non educational environment) and I asked her a mildly challenging question. I got the eyes of fire and no meaningful answer. She is a lot of presence, the personification of presence, confidence and presentational skills that you would want for your girl. But not sure what is below that.

(Oh I agree this interview is for no other reason than to promote the book- which I worked for me can’t wait to read!)

Op I couldn’t not comment although I don’t have children at SPGS I was aghast at the article! Her extreme example was a girl falling to the floor because she got an A. Ummm... falling to the floor? Wtf?

But... I’m going to be brave here... why such pressure and difficulty to get A* at GCSE? It’s selective, a top top school, I’m struggling to see why high grades on a population wide qualification wouldn’t be pretty much a breeze?!

Ah third revenue stream obviously consulting. But this will be done ever so discreetly as fees as inversely proportional to repute or risk profile of the project (eg big fee to support a new school in China but then that would carry a lot of reputational risks and they would more want her name and less her advice)

Here is the cynical in me, but I think her main agenda is to promote her book. Very timely article ahead of book release. Yes lets stir up the public media discussion on her subject. She is out of education. She has two gigs, the book and the board member positions. She has fabulous presence (new amazing hairdressing helps too) but she is known for shutting you down if you do not comply with her script so wonder how effective she can be in a board of grown ups once everyone can see beyond the window dressing and one hot name CV. Disclosure: I am not one of those pushy parents, in fact this is an outsiders view.

Bubbles I agree - though it is, of course, true for all the private schools. Only state grammars publish marks / cut-offs.

Fan I hope so, and it’s how I read the piece. I think she was trying to get parents to have a greater emphasis on overall wellbeing (while being clear that that doesn’t meant stopping catering for the fact these are girls who learn fast and are intellectually curious).

jeanne I don’t see that in the admissions criteria? Or do you mean the bit about ‘taking girls of outstanding intellectual potential’? In fact, its the only school I know of that asks on the application form if the child is being tutored, though of course lots of schools say they don’t want over-tutored candidates.

Thanks for the info. It’s very interesting . So parents don’t know how they choose. It’s not a published mark or cut off point. There is no way out of this other than parents calming down!

What option did CF have? By your own admission, there would be a furore if results dipped! She was employed to keep standards up. However that doesn’t mean parents have to micromanage the school and their DC. This is very much the thrust of what she is saying. The school can do it without parents being involved in every little detail! The wrong Oxford college is breathtaking!

Bubbles No scores or cut-off points. And the chemistry / history one had all the information you needed, no issue for a state primary child (my dd did it as a practice paper - she’s at a state primary). It’s more about thinking creatively (it wasn’t exactly chemistry, I’ve just looked at it again and it’s radiocarbon dating). If you want to have a look, that particular comprehension paper is here and the blurb about the whole process is here.

I think what CF wanted was parents to trust the school and back off. Two sets of pressure as well as self imposed pressure, isn’t great.

There are huge advantages about being a bright fish in a smaller pond if not so many bright fish. Less comparison. Less peer pressure to succeed and some schools are grateful for success. No DD has to be in a tank full of the brightest and the most driven with parents to match!