2013 - 2020: Mrs Clark

Mrs Clark was appointed in Autumn 2012 and took up her post in September 2013. A Cambridge graduate like many of her predecessors, she brought a broad range of educational experience, having attended a selective all girls Direct Grant School herself and worked in four comprehensive schools, a Further Education College and the Department of Education at the University of Sheffield.

Determined that the girls’ experience should be academically rigorous, but allow for diversity, Mrs Clark made changes to the curriculum, introducing Drama as a GCSE subject and a second language for all (German or Spanish) in the Lower Fourth. She then amended the options system, relaxing the core curriculum to allow girls to pursue their interests and passions and giving them more choice. Considered controversial by some, this meant that whilst most girls continued to study all three sciences, this was not mandatory. Latin became an option and the requirement to study a Modern Foreign Language gave girls a choice of French or their second language, or indeed both. She also reduced the number of GCSEs from eleven or even twelve GCSEs to ten, underlining the principle that girls and staff should have the opportunity to study for pleasure rather than simply to pass examinations at 16 which were merely steppingstones to future study.

Mrs Clark encouraged the expansion of the extra- and co-curricular programmes, a number of which were offered jointly with KES. Further opportunities were created for girls to perform for friends and peers beyond the stunning termly concerts and the Junior and Senior Productions, allowing beginners to perform in the Ruddock Performing Arts Centre in front of sympathetic audiences in addition to outstandingly talented and more experienced musicians and actors. The extended co-curricular offer gave staff and girls a broader perspective in which to contextualise their learning in venues such as Chepstow Castle, the Space Museum or at the Cotswold Water Park. A lecture programme was introduced and formalised with visiting academics across curriculum areas. The Parents’ Association sponsored an annual lecture with well known speakers such as Alice Roberts and Lewis Darnell.

Recognising that pressures on young women continued to be challenging, Mrs Clark ensured that girls’ wellbeing was at the forefront of the School’s thinking and approach. Staff continued to give generously of their time at recess and during the lunch break whether for academic or personal matters. The strong pastoral system was enhanced further by the employment of two school-based counsellors and latterly by a Mental Health Nurse, enabling girls to access support swiftly in School when mental health services in the NHS were under pressure. All pastoral staff were given training to become Mental Health First Aiders.

Recognising that the beautiful buildings were a key part of the School’s heritage, she oversaw upgrades to the fabric of the School, creating additional social spaces for girls and refurbishing classrooms and windows on a rolling basis. She convinced governors of the need for KEHS to have its own Design Technology suite and plans were drawn up for a new building to join the Peter Bennett Art Block to the main school next to the physics labs, emphasising the links between Art and the Sciences. Put on hold during the pandemic, this new building will, in time, offer bespoke spaces for girls’ creativity in Design Technology.

In common with her predecessors, Mrs Clark was deeply committed to the notion of accessibility, and the aim of the Delyvere campaign, launched at the House of Lords, was to raise funds so that girls could attend the school regardless of their parents’ financial circumstances. The generosity of alumnae and friends has supported this aspiration handsomely.