Jo Duncan, Headmistress of Wycombe Abbey, on the importance of all-girls' education
“I have had the good fortune of people around me seeing things in me that perhaps I haven’t seen in myself.”
Jo Duncan has spent two decades in education, but her path to headship was shaped by people who saw something in her before she even saw it herself. A theology and English literature grad from St. Andrews, Jo started her teaching career at The Latymer School in North London before moving into her beloved girls' education at Benenden. She became a head at the tender age of 34 before taking the helm at Wycombe Abbey in 2019. Coming from a family of small business owners rather than educators, Jo brings a fresh perspective to leading one of the world's most prestigious and academically rigorous girls' boarding schools.
In conversation with Henry Faber, Jo shares how two conversations changed the course of her career, and why she nows makes it her mission to spot and nurture potential in her girls. She explains what makes Wycombe Abbey's approach to boarding different to others, including their mixed-aged dorms, where girls from different year groups share rooms, encouraging cross-year friendships. Jo weighs into the smartphone debate, the peculiar phenomenon of "sharenting" and why she believes boys' schools starting to take girls at 6th form does nobody any favours. With Wycombe's 130th anniversary approaching and new international hubs launching in Singapore and Bangkok, Jo reflects on where the independent sector is headed after a turbulent year or two.