Kathleen Griffin (schoolteacher)
Kate Griffin MEd, BSc, FRSA (born as Kathleen Fenwick, 15 March 1946, South Shields) was the President of the International Confederation of Principals 2006-2008 (the worldwide organisation of headteachers and school principals), and was the first British holder of the office.
Biography
Kate Griffin was educated at South Shields Grammar-Technical School for Girls (and for a short time at South Shields Grammar-Technical School for Boys in order to follow higher mathematical studies). She attended Leicester University (BSc & PGCE) where she was elected Vice President of the Students' Union. She also holds the degree of Master of Education from the University of Newcastle.
She was headteacher of Greenford High School, a highly successful comprehensive school in west London, from September 1991 to December 2008 and is now an OFSTED inspector and an independent educational consultant. She was appointed by the UK government to the board of the Learning and Skills Development Agency and sat on the board of its successor organisation, the Learning and Skills Network, which was a support and development organisation for post-14 education and training.
She is a director of PLP (Principals Leading Principals) an international consultancy for educational leadership development. She is also a board member of the Catholic Education Service, the educational agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, a member of the Westminster Diocesan Education Commission and is a trustee of WorldWide Volunteering. From 2002 to 2003 she was president of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) (then the Secondary Heads Association - SHA) which represents the senior leadership of post-11 schools and colleges in the UK. She was elected an associate member of HMC, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She is a member of the G100 group of internationally outstanding headteachers.She has written extensively on school leadership, and lectures and leads professional development events both nationally and internationally.