Mrs. Julie Lodrick

FROM TUDOR HALL SCHOOL, OXFORDSHIRE

In this episode of Education Corner Podcast, we spoke to Mrs. Julie Lodrick, Headmistress of Tudor Hall School, Oxfordshire. Julie discussed Tudor Hall’s generous community ethos, supporting pupils to aim higher and the benefits of all-girls’ boarding.

Julie’s own education set her on the path to her current role, she shared: “My parents had the opportunity for me to go to boarding school and I loved every minute of it.” Whilst at school, Julie took music lessons and found a passion and talent which led her to study and teach music beyond her school years. After university, Julie sang professionally for a while before eventually returning to teaching: “It was that lightbulb moment where I realised that what was missing was teaching - I really missed teaching.” After teaching music for several years, Julie worked as a Housemistress and then Deputy Head before becoming Headmistress at Tudor Hall. The influence of her own education and experience is crucial to Julie and she believes that: “I wouldn’t be here today, doing what I’m doing, if I hadn’t had access to all of those phenomenal opportunities.”

The school’s motto is Habeo ut Dem (‘I have, that I may give’) and Julie believes that this ethos is “very much at the core of every aspect of life” at Tudor Hall. This meaning goes beyond just the charitable and encourages the girls to embrace school and community life. Julie explained: “It’s about giving of ourselves, giving of our kindness and then also going beyond, giving of our time, giving of our talents, making the most of all the opportunities that are available here.” There are many charitable endeavours both within and beyond the school community, with Sixth Form students volunteering in local primary schools and care homes, in addition to a global outreach programme, ‘Tudor in Three Continents’, collaborating with schools in South Africa and India.

Tudor Hall are conscious of the fast-changing future and world of work that their pupils will emerge into and work hard to prepare their students for this. Key to this is developments in technology such as AI. To navigate this, Julie believes that: “It’s going to be the human skills and characteristics that are going to be prized above all else, so we place a significant emphasis on the co-curricular.” The school’s large co-curricular offering includes over 100 activities per week and girls are encouraged to take part in a wide range: “We encourage the girls to really move out of their comfort zone, learn

I have, that I may give how to take risks and fail well.” Careers support is also significant and Tudor Hall pupils benefit from a wide and engaged alumni network, with many Old Tudorians returning to talk to the girls about their career and pathways. Julie emphasised that supporting personal development as well as academic success is at the core of their teaching, equipping girls with the skills to thrive beyond education: “This generation of young people are not going to have just one career, they’re going to have many. So it’s about getting them to think creatively and flexibly and thinking about all the things that they might want to do.”

Academic success is also significant at Tudor Hall, with the school on a High Performance Learning pathway and one of just fifteen independent schools in the UK on the way to achieving the World Class School accreditation. Julie explained: “What attracted us to becoming a High Performance Learning school is that actually, fundamentally, it’s a philosophy of empowerment, where children develop a set of cognitive skills with a set of values, attitudes and attributes that help them develop a set of skills and approach to learning that actually is around lifelong success.” The programme helps pupils to understand metacognition, to better understand their own brain, how they best learn and can overcome challenges. This encompasses the school’s individualised approach to learning and success, supporting students to embrace their own strength and needs without comparing themselves to their peers.

To support this, the school also has the Aim Higher programme, consisting of Saturday morning sessions open to all students on a wide range of topics, from science to pottery. “AIM stands for Able, Interested and Motivated.” Julie explained: “There are pupils who are talented, and there are pupils whose interest is ignited, they’re motivated to do more and talent then grows.” The message of the programme is that: “Everybody should be aiming high from wherever your starting point; you can achieve extraordinary things with determination and with resilience.”

The wide range of possibilities in careers and life beyond school are also demonstrated by teaching staff and Old Tudorians, including published authors, the school’s ceramics teacher (who recently reached the final of The Great Pottery Throw Down!) and Nemone Lethbridge, one of Britain’s first female barristers. Julie described: “It’s a culture and approach to [encourage] the girls that the sky’s the limit and to have your aims, have your beliefs and go for it!”

Part of the academic and personal success of the school, Julie believes, is the power of the allgirls environment: “It’s a very liberating place to be because in an all-girls’ school, there is room for them to grow and be themselves.” Free from the stereotyping of ‘girls’ subjects’ or ‘boys’ subjects’ or the common teenage social pressures, Tudor Hall girls are free to explore their passions unashamedly. Julie believes: By the time they leave Tudor Hall and

TURN BACK TO PAGES 22 - 23 for ECM Recommended Prep Boarding School Options they go to university, they’re very comfortable with who they are, confident that they have a voice and they feel that they can come to the table and share their thoughts openly and not feel daunted.”

Boarding at Tudor Hall also encourages a strong sense of community and encourages girls to get involved in all aspects of school life, with day pupils also given many opportunities to get involved in boarding life. This allows pupils to explore beyond the core curriculum; tutors create individualised programmes for each pupil, including prep sessions, clubs and societies each evening. Each house also has a sporting evening once a week, in addition to the many sporting events on Saturdays, before the many trips and excursions offered on Sundays. Boarding life is supported by a team of staff who know each pupil personally and support them in all areas, Julie stated: “We work very hard to make sure that actually there is a sense of family, of community, a deep sense of belonging.” Pupils in the lower school are given extra support as they transition to boarding life, with their own spaces to relax, more flexibility and more support. Pupils are also supported by one another, with peer mentoring across the community and many opportunities to come together throughout the year, including a very popular annual dog show, and ‘Tudor Fest’, the school’s music festival.

This community ethos is clear across academic, co-curricular and boarding life at Tudor Hall, and as the school approaches their 175th anniversary next year, Julie hopes that: “Tudor Hall will continue to flourish as a girls’ boarding and day school, that it will continue to value the traditions and that sense of community and that critical consciousness of the wider world and most importantly, be a school where girls can be themselves and excel as themselves.” www.tudorhallschool.com

We would like to thank Mrs. Julie Lodrick, Headmistress of Tudor Hall School, for giving up her time to speak to us.