Media and lifestyle critics have been engaged in a frenzy of comment these past couple of weeks over the film ‘I don’t know how she does it’, based on the 2002 bestseller book of the same title by Allison Pearson. The film stars Sarah Jessica Parker as the heroine Kate Reddy, who balances (or doesn’t) …
Category: Uncategorized
Sep 15
It is natural to feel conflicting emotions about your children going to university
With the new university term now fast approaching – and just started for some – it is natural for parents of first-time university students to feel very strange. Such a conflict of emotions – pride in your child for gaining a place and hope for the future, for new relationships and new horizons, balanced against …
Sep 01
How to ensure we don’t wait 70 years for equality
Two weeks ago I wrote about the recent report published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, ‘Sex and Power‘, which had calculated the rather gloomy statistic that in some areas of public life, we will most probably need to wait 70 years until there is equality of gender representation at the highest levels. Can …
Aug 25
A celebration of GCSE results … but can we ensure this is one of the last?
GCSE results are out, and they are fantastic – a huge congratulations to all girls at St Mary’s Calne, from Year 9 upwards, who have been awarded their GCSEs. A tally of 79% A*-A is outstanding – well done! Almost two thirds of the girls gained at least 8 A* and A grades. They worked …
Aug 18
Let’s celebrate A Level achievement!
Today brings news of many fantastic A Level grades, and I congratulate all the Leavers of 2011 from St Mary’s Calne. Nearly 40% of all their grades were A*s, half of them achieved an amazing full marks in one of their papers, and 1 in 5 of them is off to Oxbridge. An ENORMOUS well …
Aug 15
Proud to be a Headmistress: Moira Buffini’s ‘Dinner’ at the Edinburgh Fringe
The very last show I watched at the Edinburgh Fringe before heading back south for exam results week was a show for which I had especially extended my stay in Edinburgh by a day. It was the Fringe debut of a group consisting essentially of 2011 leavers from St Mary’s Calne, presenting an adapted version …
Aug 08
‘An Education’: Carey Mulligan and girls’ schools
A parent of a girl at my school said to me a few weeks ago that the Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning 2009 film ‘An Education’, starring Carey Mulligan, should be compulsory viewing for all teenage girls, and now that I have (finally) seen it, I entirely agree. The film takes us on the journey of a …
Aug 03
Anorexia in children – when will we wise up to what we are doing?
Monday’s front page headlines in both The Sun and The Daily Mail led on a story first published in the previous day’s Sunday Telegraph about the rise in eating disorders in children under 13. The frustration of most articles dealing with figures, facts and medical science is that they tend to obscure the reality with …
Jul 30
Opt-in not opt-out – why we need to press ISPs to block porn
A short article on page 4 of Thursday’s Times sent me scurrying to find out the truth behind the words. The article claimed that tens of thousands of parents have blocked their children’s access to suicide and self-harm websites on home computers, using TalkTalk’s relatively new HomeSafe service, which requires all new users to set …
Jul 14
Forced and early marriage – are we right to intervene?
Plan UK have recently launched their latest action as part of their ‘Because I am a girl’ campaign: a move to bring forced and early marriage on to the agenda of the UK government and governments around the world. 10 million girls a year are subjected to forced and early marriage, and although the countries …