Cheltenham Ladies' College Principal made to feel "slightly immoral"
Outgoing Cheltenham Ladies College principal Vicky Tuck says she was made to feel "slightly immoral" for running a fee paying school.
Mrs Tuck, principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College for 14 years, said: "I won't miss the problem of us having to defend ourselves.
-
Leaving: Cheltenham Ladies' College Principal Vicky Tuck
"Many of us in the independent sector work very hard and feel at times we have to apologise for what we're doing."
Mrs Tuck, 57, is now set to become director-general of the International School in Geneva.
On sabbatical in Brazil where she is studying education, she told The Times: 'There are things about England and British education that are quite irksome - you have constantly to defend independent education.
"You feel beaten up.
"All these things like arguments over visas for foreign students, the vetting-and-barring scheme for people wanting to work in schools. Over time, collectively, it becomes quite tiresome. Mrs Tuck said her new job was the only one that could have taken her away from Cheltenham, where she will remain head until next summer.
This will give the boarding school, which charges up to £31,000 a year in fees, time to find a replacement - the 11th head in its 156-year history.
Although lured away from Britain rather than wanting to escape, Mrs Tuck said she would not miss resentful attitudes in this country.
And asked if she felt the previous Government had been hostile towards independent schools, she said: 'At times, definitely.'
She went on to mention the Charity Commission's investigation into whether private schools should do more to merit their charitable status.
This left some schools fearing they could lose valuable tax breaks if they did not spend more on bursaries, which in some cases would need to be subsidised by fees paid by other parents.
A former head of the Girls' Schools Association, Mrs Tuck said it would be 'pure joy' to be speaking French and English and added that the lack of linguists in Britain was a 'pity'.
"In all the places I've visited there's a tremendous keenness to learn English, and that is just making it easier for British people not to learn other languages,' she said.
"The English are going to find it harder and harder if they had an introverted view of the world.'
In her new position Mrs Tuck will take charge of 4,000 pupils and hundreds of staff across three campuses, at the bilingual school that created the International Baccalaureate.
She will be the school's first female director-general.
Mrs Tuck said she was thrilled by the challenge of moving to Switzerland but had also been very happy and fulfilled at Cheltenham.
11 Comments
View all
by sceptical, Cleeve
Thursday, June 17 2010, 8:40PM
“Not immoral enough to turn the job down though eh....
Pot...kettle”
by Max, Glos
Thursday, June 17 2010, 7:40PM
“I sent my daughter to a fee-paying school, and aside from her complete lack of common sense it was the best thing that happened to her. She's an A-grade student, which she didn't get because of mummy and daddy paying, she got it through her own hard work.”
by Dont ya Know, Fod
Thursday, June 17 2010, 5:39PM
“Blimey Quasi, you've got you're communist cap on today haven't you?
Fee paying schools are certainly not immoral. If people want to pay £31,000 a year to send their kids to school, then let them. I personally wouldn't pay it, even if I could afford it.”
by Thrupp, Cheltenham
Thursday, June 17 2010, 3:11PM
“Quasi, Cheltenham - Dead right. Some people but new cars, some big houses, designer clothes. Hang on, isnt that the reason why people thrive to make themselves more (financially) successful. I would like the nicer things in life if I could afford it..... and I'm sure you would too!”
by Queen of Sheba, Gloucester
Thursday, June 17 2010, 3:05PM
“It's not only rich parents who send their children to private/indepedent schools - I know one or two parents who send their children and they struggle making compromises elsewhere. The reason they do it is because they believe the level of education is better partly due to smaller class sizes and also because of better discipline.”
by Harri, Montpellier
Thursday, June 17 2010, 2:26PM
“I was expecting this. By my reckoning, Vicky Tuck will not become eligible for the State Retirement Pension until two months short of her sixty-third birthday. Another five-six years at CLC could be too much. The slower pace of life in Switzerland is perfect and the mountain air is ideal for musing on moral philosophy.”
by Quasi, Cheltenham
Thursday, June 17 2010, 1:43PM
“Fee paying schools are immoral. They just reinforce the attitude of those with more money than sense that they can buy privilidge/success.”
by ren., cheltenham
Thursday, June 17 2010, 1:41PM
“The trouble with independent schools is that they are classed as charities.When they were censured for price fixing some years ago they were required to donate money to charity. Their solution? They set up a charity to benefit their own ex pupils,who are some of the most privileged young people in the land. They dont have to take the many badly behaved and low ability children that state schools have to teach, so it is hardly surprising that they do so well in the league tables.They should withdraw their charity status immediately.”
by Student, Gloucestershire
Thursday, June 17 2010, 1:37PM
“The first female director-general? I hope this does not mean that Council will appoint a male Principal.”
by Elise Gilbert, Jersey
Thursday, June 17 2010, 1:21PM
“Vicky Tuck has never wasted an opportunity to advocate single-sex education for girls. She has been equally outspoken about the merits of boarding education. I look forward to a full explanation of this move to a co-educational day school. I¿ll accept it in triplicate: English French, and Italian. Late submission will result in detention and an additional translation into Romansh.”