Vicky Bingham, Headmistress of NLCS, on teaching girls to own the room without thinking they know everything
“The unexamined life is not worth living. I first encountered that in philosophy lessons aged 16, and I think that sense of reflectiveness is absolutely critical in life.”
Vicky Bingham is headmistress of North London Collegiate School – only the 10th head since the school was founded in 1850. At 11, she wanted to be a detective. By her final year at university, she was asking herself what knowledge she wanted to "take to her grave" and decided she wanted a job that would fill her head with interesting and inspiring things. She read classics at Keble College Oxford and has spent her entire career in girls' education after falling in love with the culture of girls' schools at her first teaching interview. It was Valentine's Day at Guildford High, where something about the atmosphere just clicked for her. In this conversation, Vicky explains why girls' schools have a culture that thrives on change, shares her concerns about young people not reading and reflects on what she actually wants to be remembered for: giving pupils a voice.
🎙️ Episode highlights
Vicky explains why she fell in love with girls' schools: they have a democratic culture, fewer petty rules and an openness to change that comes from a century of pioneering for it.
She describes the challenge of encouraging political discourse while remaining politically neutral, especially as topics like climate change become political footballs.
Vicky shares her phone policy: Year 7s can't even bring smartphones onto the coach, and all senior school girls use Yondr pouches.
She pushes back on the "let's just add it to the curriculum" mentality: if you teach people how to think, an intelligent person can work out mortgages for themselves.
Vicky reveals what she wants to be remembered for: giving pupils a voice. "I don't think leadership is about the leader. I think it's about the people that you serve."
Her theory on why NLCS heads stay so long: they say prayers for former headmistresses on Founders Day. "You want it to be something quite substantive rather than 'she really transformed the lunch queue.'"