Experts

Expert online advice for mums & dads from the MyDaughter panel of experts.

Susan Whitfield

Position: Former Headmistress

School: Notting Hill and Ealing High School GDST (1991-2008), Heathfield School Pinner, GDST (2010-2011)

Qualifications: BA/MA Cambridge University (New Hall). Natural Sciences and Physical Anthropology

Experience:

A biologist, Susan taught in three state schools including a girls’ grammar school and two mixed secondary modern schools, and then spent 11 years teaching at St Paul’s Girls’ School in London where her three older daughters were educated. She was Headmistress of Notting Hill and Ealing High School (a member of the Girls’ Day School Trust) for 17 years.
Susan has five children (including four daughters), two of whom attended boarding prep and public schools, and to date seven small grandchildren (including three girls) who are all now at nursery or primary schools, and whom she sees frequently.
She is now busy with various interests, including being a Governor of the school she herself attended.

Summary

Susan believes that girls should be able to grow up in an environment where they are happy and feel confident in themselves, so they can try out their ideas and ability in class and in their wider interests without fear of what others might think. As adults, they will of course face varied challenges, in most cases even into the 22nd century; their youthful experience and learning will give them the ability to address the complex issues of adult life with cheerful resilience, and the confidence to follow their hopes and dreams in ways which work for them and those close to them.
Susan believes that girls’ schools give the greatest chance for girls to have the most liberal and liberating education in the widest sense, so they will be free of any unwitting gender-stereotyping, make a number of close friends, and develop the personal confidence to understand how to make the most of the remarkable opportunities in their long lives in the ways that they wish, with strong moral values to guide them in their relationships with others.

Articles by Susan Whitfield:

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