Queen Mary’s High School is an outstanding girls’ grammar school with a reputation for the highest academic standards where the individual needs of able students are met. It is a school where the development of the ‘whole person’ together with the enjoyment of learning and a growth mindset approach lie at the heart of its ethos and culture. Queen Mary’s High School has a commitment and responsibility to its own community and communities locally, nationally and internationally.
Queen Mary’s is a school where students’ needs are met through the quality of teaching and learning, pastoral care and guidance and the breadth and richness of the curriculum, both formal and informal, which supports students with individual learning needs or particular talents. The achievements of everyone in the school community are celebrated.
The school has a leadership group which is forward-thinking and able to respond quickly and flexibly to change. It ensures that teaching methods are always developing and provides the best possible resources and physical environment for teaching and learning.
The high expectations for teaching and learning and positive relationships between staff, students and parents are clear in all induction procedures, in staff development and performance management. Students can expect consistently high-quality teaching and in return commit to the responsibilities of their school work and membership of the school community. Staff can expect the best possible working and employment conditions and career opportunities. Parents are supportive of the school’s ethos, systems and procedures and can expect to be fully informed about their child’s progress, feel comfortable to come in to school to meet with staff and be confident that the school is providing high quality learning experiences for their child. Governors receive clarity and transparency about school matters and sufficient training and links with the school to ensure they are able to play their part in its strategic development. The school demonstrates its commitment to the wider community via support for local schools and organisations and a commitment to charity fund raising. The school’s reputation, culture and family atmosphere are such that all who are connected with it are happy to continue an association with Queen Mary’s High School long after they have ceased to be connected with it on a daily basis.
The ‘Spirit of Queen Mary’s’ is demonstrated through our core values:
I graduated in 1981 from Royal Holloway College, London University, with a degree in mathematics. After taking a PGCE my first teaching post was at King Edward VI Sixth Form College in Stourbridge where I taught A’ Level physics and mathematics. Part-time teaching followed the birth of my children as did a move to Wolverhampton Girls’ High School where I moved from being a part-time physics teacher to being Curriculum Deputy Head via roles as Head of Science and Head of Sixth Form.
I took up my post as Head Teacher at Queen Mary’s High School in September 2009, and have never looked back. From the moment I set foot in the school I knew that it would become a huge part of my life. I am grateful to have been given the privilege of leading such an outstanding educational institution with such an impressive tradition of achievement.
Further study has always been my passion and I graduated in 1999 with an MEd in Management and Policy Studies, studied on a part time basis with the University of Birmingham. After completing my NPQH I then decided to pursue an EdD in Leaders and Leadership in Education and graduated formally in July 2013.
I was designated as a National Leader of Education in February 2015 and as such have carried out school improvement work, in particular creating a local leadership strategy that will ensure the development and retention of school leaders within Walsall.
I am delighted to take on the role of Executive Director for Standards, Improvement and School to School Support for the Mercian Trust and am confident that I can play a positive role in the ongoing drive for excellence that the Trust has adopted as one of its key objectives.
