IN ASSOCIATION WITH


School Bath Meet the headmistress


Elizabeth Thomas, headmistress of Stonar, pictured below, hated having to drink milk at school, thinks the education systems blocks more creative approaches to learning and is reading a book by David Nicholls.


Although this providedmewithmany fantastic experiences, itwas also quite disruptive. I alwayswanted to go to boarding school but my parentswere reluctant. I eventuallywent for to Sixth Formand, once I had got over the culture shock, thiswaswhen I finally started to achievemy full potential.


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used to volunteer to serve themilk as away of trying to avoid having to drink it.


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I loved English and history but always lacked confidencewithmaths. Iwaswell behaved formost ofmy school life though I did get into a fewscrapes duringmy teenage years,which I put down to all the disruption caused by changing schools so often.


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me as I had actually left school at 16 and been out atwork for a year. Shewas incredibly supportive in helpingme adjust to being back at school and to life in boarding for the first time at 17.When I had awobble a couple ofmonths in, she sentme andmy sister out to townwith somemoney for lunch and shopping – justwhat I needed. She spottedmy potential,made allowances and gaveme every opportunity to develop academically and as a leader, including makingme head girl. I amquite sure Iwould never have gotwhere I amtoday if she had not taken such an interest inme.


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most individual thing about Stonar is the sense of community and the way inwhich it develops a real ‘can-do’attitude in its pupilswho seem to knowwhen towork andwhen to play. It provides a huge range of opportunities and there is something very special about the quality of relationships between pupils and staff. I amalso really impressed by howpassionate parents andOld Stonarians are about the school.


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my handwritingmust have been neat. Later I justwanted to get as far away fromschool as possible butwhen I had completed Sixth FormI think I knewIwas destined for teaching. I did leave the profession for awhile but although Iwasmaking a lotmoremoney in IT it just did not provide the same job satisfaction so I soon came back.


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30 Did you always want to go into teaching?


Mymother says I stuck up a sign advertising a nursery school when I had only just started schoolmyself.We had enquiries so


How long have you been at Stonar?


I have just completedmy first year at the school. What is unique about Stonar?


The setting is stunning and notmany schools have an equestrian centre that operates on the same scale as Stonar’s but I think the


Did any individual make a lasting impact on you?


The headmistress of the boarding school Iwent to for sixth form, Miss Brown, known to all of us as PJB. She took a risk in admitting


Dayswhen I amstuck inmy office doing administration aremy least favourite; I ammuch happierwhen I can be out and about seeing the pupils and staff atwork and talking to them.


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that the curriculumhas become driven into narrowconfines.We are obsessedwithmeasuring sowe give greater value to the things that are easy tomeasure.The school year is dominated byweeks of external assessment and this is taking away the time and space for more creative approaches to learning.Whatever changes Imade, Iwouldwant to then ensure a period of stability for pupils and teachers; constant change is very stressful.


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amnot sure Iwant to see the film. I have also got some guide books for Provence aswe have just been on holiday there.There is a big pile of educational papers and circularswhich need to be read and the NationalTrust guidebook for this year.


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WILTSHIRE LIFE Schools Supplement October 2011 Who were your childhood heroes?


That’s a really difficult question, but the character of Jane Eyre is someone I thinkwho encouragedme to stick up formyself.


Which book is by your bedside?


I have a stack of books including Carol AnnDuffy’s collected love poems andDavid Nicholl’sTheUnderstudy; I lovedOneDay but


You are education secretary for a day – what changes would you make?


Iwouldwant to instigate a thorough reviewof our approach to evaluating achievement.There is such an emphasis on testing


What do you enjoy most and least about your job? What did your school reports say?


Theywere generally good.Mymother had taughtme to read before I started school so Iwas able tomake very quick progress.


What is your earliest school memory?


Not a good one I amafraid.Having nightmares about school dinners and beingmade to drinkmilkwhich I hated. I always


Where did you go to school?


My fatherwas in the RAF so Imoved schools every fewyears andwas educated in theUK, Cyprus, Singapore andGermany.


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