Mrs Low tells LEH girls to aim high (From Watford Observer)

Mrs Low tells LEH girls to aim high

3:02pm Thursday 14th October 2004

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THE new headmistress of the Lady Eleanor Holles School has three teenage children of her own, giving her an intimate understanding of her students' lives and problems.

Gillian Low, 49, took over at the Hampton school, one of Britain's oldest and most successful independent girls' schools, at the begining of term She said: "It is a great privilege to lead this impressive school into its fourth century and I am thrilled to be here. It is filled with talented, lively, interesting girls who achieve superb academic results. I expect them to think for themselves, to question and explore and benefit from the dedicated staff and excellent art and sports facilities."

Mrs Low lives in south London with her three teenage children. "It means that I have a personal, and current, understanding of bringing up teenagers, and of how school impacts on home. This is a very great help in my professional life, although sometimes my children wish I didn't know all their own headteachers quite so well!" she said.

Lady Eleanor Holles School ranked fourth nationally at A-level and sixth at GCSE in the league tables this year. It offers a balanced education for 865 girls aged seven to 18. The ethos, developed by the former head Elizabeth Candy, who retired this summer after 23 years, is for girls to leave as confident young women, well prepared in the broadest sense for higher education and independent adult life.

Mrs Low added: "I want the girls to aim high, develop a strong set of decent values, play a significant part in the community - and have lots of fun along the way."

She joins Lady Eleanor Holles from Francis Holland School in central London, where she was headmistress for six years, having been deputy headmistress of the Godolphin and Latymer School in Hammersmith from 1994 to 1998.

She read English at Somerville College, Oxford. After a period as a management trainee in industry and a year teaching in Italy, she qualified as an English teacher at Cambridge University in 1981, passing with distinction.

She loves to travel and has particular interests in the arts, art history, antiques, and mosaics.

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