Development Office, King Edward VI High School For Girls,
Edgbaston Park Road,
Birmingham B15 2UB
T 0121 415 2245
F 0121 415 2260
E oldeds@kehsmail.co.uk
Miss Barrie served as headmistress from 1925 until 1941. She too was a Cambridge graduate, who approached her work with feminine common sense and affection. Her motto was "be supple in things immaterial".
Her reign saw a number of educational changes, including the creation of the new HE Certificate. She had a number of ideas about the future of education, some of which were echoed in the 1926 Hadlow report. In 1930, the 11+ exam was created.
Miss Barrie was responsible for hiring a new Celtic trio in the English Department: Miss MacDermott (a Scotswoman whose nickname became little Mac); Miss MacDonald (Sandy Mac, originally from Ireland); and Miss Treener (a true Cornishwoman who chronicled her time at KEHS in her autobiography ‘A Stranger to the Midlands').
Miss Barrie also appointed singer Denne Parker, whose musical talent inspired girls and improved the school's standard considerably. Drama continued to flourish, with productions of The Tailor of Gloucester' and ‘The Seige of Ping'.
In 1928, KEHS became a branch of the Union of Girls' Schools for Social Service and adopted two nearby infant schools. Members helped the schools in a variety of ways, assisting with running play centres at Christmas.