Rhiannon Wilkinson is Headmistress and Chief Executive of Harrogate Ladies’ College
Rhiannon joined HLC in 2009 after spending five years at Haileybury College in Hertfordshire where she was Senior Mistress (Deputy Head) and a Housemistress and was instrumental in leading a significant improvement in Haileybury’s academic performance. She has a very broad and detailed knowledge of the school world, having worked both in the maintained and independent sectors and in two international schools. Indeed, few teachers will have such broad experience. Not only has Rhiannon had the opportunity of teaching very able pupils and acquiring a very strong track record of success at GCSE, A level, in the IB (International Baccalaurate) and in terms of Oxbridge entrance, she is also qualified in educational special needs and has spent time leading a learning support department.
Rhiannon began her career as a History teacher at King Edward VI School in Totnes, Devon. A spell at Bramhall High School in Cheshire was followed by six years at Sha Tin College in Hong Kong, where she was successively Head of History and Head of Sixth Form. After a brief return to the UK, when she was Director of Pastoral Systems (one of the Deputy Heads) at Cheadle Hulme School, Rhiannon spent four years as a Deputy Principal at Jerudong International School in Brunei before moving on to Haileybury.
Born and brought up in Manchester, Rhiannon attended a girls’ grammar school before graduating from St Hugh’s College, Oxford in Modern History. She also holds a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) “with distinction” from the University of Bath, and has completed an M.Ed in Educational Leadership and Management at the University of Manchester.
Rhiannon is married to Donald Wilkinson, also a historian and Oxford graduate, and who has nearly twenty years experience as a Head in the independent and international sectors. They have four children between them. Rachael is a doctor training to be a psychiatrist and is married to a doctor. Ian has returned to university to take a Master’s degree after a period working in the pensions industry. William is a Sixth Form pupil and Edward, who is autistic, is in the early stages of secondary school.
Away from work, Rhiannon has wide interests. She enjoys singing and the theatre and, dare it be said, the occasional bout of retail therapy. Her move to North Yorkshire has encouraged her to indulge her pleasure in walking. She is very keen on antiques and has an impressive collection of Staffordshire historical portrait figures. Living in a male household of well brought up young men, she knows more about Manchester United than she would ever have cared to have done!
“First impressions matter,” writes Rhiannon. “When I first saw Harrogate Ladies’ College, I immediately experienced its warmth, its concern for the individual. It felt like ‘coming home’, in a way that epitomised my educational philosophy. Great schools are based on relationships – between pupils and staff, between pupils and other pupils, between home and school. They thrive on high expectations. They promote learning for its own sake. They provide opportunities for every aspect of personal growth and development. They embody a vision.”