Ahead of the Class : How an Inspiring Headmistress Gave Children Back Their Future - Hardcover

Marie Stubbs

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0719563356 ISBN 13: 9780719563355

Publisher: John Murray, 2003

Synopsis

This is the heartening account of how Marie Stubbs and her team transformed St George's School - made notorious by the murder of its headteacher Philip Lawrence into a school praised by Ofsted inspectors. Imagine a school where the staff are too fearful to leave the staffroom at breaktime, where stealing and absenteeism are rife, where vicious fights continually break out in the bleak playground, and children wander the corridors chatting on mobile phones. Now imagine a school where children turn up early to have breakfast and play football in a playground furnished with goalposts and attractive plants; where the corridors are empty and classrooms full during lessons, where classical music plays over the intercom and where pupils welcome visitors such as Lenny Henry, Ralph Fiennes and Cherie Blair to give talks. This is the transformation that Marie Stubbs effected at St George's, an inner-city comprehensive in London's Maida Vale. The school had gone into a decline after the murder of its head, Philip Lawrence, outside the school gates in 1995. When Marie Stubbs took over it was threatened with closure after a damning Ofsted report.St George's pupils had been depicted in the press as demons, but within 15 months this 61-year-old grandmother had given them back their self-respect. Attendance rose, examination results improved and in March 2001 the school received a glowing report from Ofsted. Marie Stubbs's approach combines conviction, imagination, old-fashioned discipline and modern management techniques. The heartwarming story of how she and her chosen task force turned round a school that had lost hope is inspiring.

About this title

About the Author

Lady Marie Stubbs was born and brought up in Glasgow. After working in Scotland and the USA she moved to England where her career has included running a secure unit for disturbed girls in South London and Headship of the Douay Martyrs School in Ickenham, which she took to Beacon status. For several years she was a member of the RSA Council and the National Council for Educational Technology, and on the Board of the Teacher Training Agency. Marie Stubbs has an original and determined approach to educating challenging children and is clear-minded about the role of schools in today's society. Today Marie divides her time between London and Banbury. She has three grown-up daughters and four grandchildren. She has been married to Sir William Stubbs, formerly Head of the QCA, for 40 years.

Review

'A story of triumph over adversity through determination and hard work' -- Independent 20030401 "A tough-talking Glaswegian who gives pupils and staff the confidence to raise standards." -- Observer 20030427 'With ingenuity and indefatigable energy, Stubbs created the sort of environment many of her students had never encountered before: a place of discipline and self-control, an alternative world!she has the sort of optimism that tends to become a self fulfilling prophecy' -- The Scotsman 20030401 "Enormously cheering! Vivacious and spirited book" -- John Carey, Sunday Times 20030401 "Marie Stubbs ... recognised the need and potential in the pupils, rallied dispirited staff, steamrollered 'petty bureaucracy' and restored self-respect to a school that had died of shame." -- The Times 20031227 'Read this book with horror, sympathy, and laughter' -- The Catholic Herald 20030401

About this edition

• Publisher: John Murray
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0719563356
• ISBN 13: 9780719563355
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272